Healthcare Legal Consultant Vietnam: Understanding Decree 148/2025 and Its Impact on Foreign Medical Investors

Vietnam’s healthcare regulatory landscape is not static. The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023, effective January 1, 2024, was itself a major overhaul, but the implementing regulations that give it operational effect have continued to evolve. Decree 148/2025/ND-CP, issued in 2025, introduced important changes to jurisdictional authority over healthcare facility licensing — changes that directly affect where foreign investors file their applications and how long they should expect to wait for a response.

This article, prepared by TTVN Legal’s healthcare legal consulting team, explains the key provisions of Decree 148/2025 and their practical implications for US-based medical investors.

Under the regulatory framework preceding Decree 148/2025, jurisdictional allocation between the Ministry of Health and provincial Departments of Health for healthcare facility operating licenses was governed by Decree 96/2023/ND-CP alone. While Decree 96 established the general rule that MOH licensed major facilities and provincial Departments licensed smaller facilities, practical application created inconsistencies — particularly for facilities in special economic zones, technology parks, and cross-provincial operations.

Article 7 of Decree 148/2025/ND-CP provides explicit, detailed guidance on which authority — Ministry of Health versus provincial Department of Health — is competent to issue operating licenses for different facility types and geographic situations.

Ministry of Health Jurisdiction:

• General hospitals with 300 beds or more
• Specialist hospitals of any size where the specialty is designated as a national specialist center
• Healthcare facilities located in industrial zones or export processing zones that operate under MOH direct management
• Facilities that form part of an MOH-managed network

Provincial Department of Health Jurisdiction:

• General polyclinics in the province
• Specialist clinics in the province
• Dental clinics in the province
• Maternity facilities
• Laboratory and diagnostic imaging centers
• All other outpatient healthcare facilities not under MOH direct jurisdiction

For the vast majority of US investors establishing outpatient clinics or specialist practices in Vietnam, the relevant licensing authority under Decree 148/2025 is the provincial Department of Health in the province where the facility is located — not the Ministry of Health in Hanoi.

Implication 1: Where to File Your Application

US investors establishing a clinic in Ho Chi Minh City must file with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health. US investors in Da Nang file with the Da Nang Department of Health. US investors in Hanoi file with the Hanoi Department of Health. Filing with the wrong authority is not merely a delay — it requires complete refiling after return, which wastes both time and the application preparation investment.

Implication 2: Foreign Practitioner Licenses Filed Locally

Under Article 7 of Decree 148/2025, a foreign practitioner intending to practice in a specific provincial city files their Vietnamese practice license application with the local Department of Health — not with the Ministry of Health in Hanoi. This is a significant practical improvement over previous arrangements that sometimes required travel to Hanoi for routine applications.

Implication 3: Multi-Location Operations

US investors operating clinics in multiple Vietnamese cities must obtain a separate operating license from each provincial Department of Health. Decree 148/2025 does not provide for a single national license covering multiple provincial locations. This is an important cost and timeline consideration for US medical groups planning multi-city rollouts.

The jurisdictional allocation under Article 7 of Decree 148/2025 also governs foreign practitioner practice license applications. A foreign doctor who intends to practice in Khanh Hoa Province (Nha Trang), for example, must apply to the Khanh Hoa Provincial Department of Health — exactly as illustrated in the sample legal advice prepared by TTVN Legal for a Turkish physician intending to practice in Nha Trang.

This local filing requirement has a practical advantage: provincial Departments of Health are generally more accessible, more familiar with local market conditions, and faster in their administrative processing than the central MOH offices in Hanoi. US investors who work with a local healthcare legal consultant — such as TTVN Legal in Ho Chi Minh City — benefit from direct working relationships with the relevant provincial authority.

The practical implication of Decree 148/2025 is that your healthcare legal consultant must have strong working relationships with provincial Department of Health offices — not merely with the Ministry of Health. TTVN Legal has established relationships with the Departments of Health in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa (Nha Trang), and other major investor destinations.

We monitor regulatory developments including implementation guidance, administrative practice changes, and processing timeline shifts at both national and provincial levels. This current intelligence is a critical component of the legal advice we provide to US clients — ensuring that your application is never based on outdated regulatory assumptions.