Doctors providing outpatient services are not allowed to see more than 35 patients a day.

According to the draft regulations on on-demand medical services, a doctor is not allowed to examine more than 35 patients per day.

The draft regulations on the organization of activities and pricing of on-demand medical examination and treatment services were released by the Ministry of Health for public comment on September 28th.The draft proposes the following standards: Each doctor should not examine more than 35 patients in an 8-hour workday; treatment rooms should not have more than 4 beds and must meet the required area standards; and adequate staffing and medical equipment should be ensured.

According to the draft, cHospitals are free to determine the prices for medical examinations and treatments based on demand, taking into account factors such as direct costs, salaries, administrative costs, depreciation, and accumulated funds for technological expansion and development. However, the price for examinations and hospital stays must not exceed the maximum price set by the Ministry.

Specifically, the ceiling price for on-demand examinations is applied as follows: 200,000 VND in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; 150,000 VND in Hai Phong, Da Nang, and Can Tho; and 100,000 VND in other provinces and cities. Similarly, the daily bed rate also varies from 300,000 to 2.4 million VND depending on the three aforementioned local groups and the number of beds in a room.

Hospitals are only allowed to utilize a portion of their infrastructure for on-demand medical examinations and treatments after meeting conditions such as each doctor examining no more than 50 patients per day (including those with health insurance and general examinations). Patients must not be placed in overcrowded rooms, and sufficient beds must be available for those not using on-demand treatment rooms.If a hospital has added more beds but still cannot meet the needs of patients with health insurance and more than 10% of the beds are occupied by two patients sharing a room, then it is not permitted to organize private wards in existing treatment departments.

Currently, to increase revenue, most hospitals have implemented on-demand outpatient departments or voluntary treatment rooms, or service-based treatment rooms. In reality, while many hospital beds are shared by two, or even three to four people, there are still one or two rooms dedicated to private services, with each patient occupying a separate bed; this creates inequality. Many hospitals dedicate an area for on-demand examinations and treatments, but the quality does not match the amount of money patients pay.

According to VNE