Overview

The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 (Law No.15/2023/QH15) is a document regulating the rights and obligations of patients, practitioners and medical facilities, replacing the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2009 (Law No. 40/2009/QH12, as amended and supplemented by the Law on Planning No.21/2017/QH14). By this replacement, a number of important new points have been recognized by the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 such as: specific regulations on patient representatives, competency assessment is mandatory for practitioners, medical facilities must self-assess their quality annually, etc.

About the effectivity, most of the regulations of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 will be applied from January 1, 2024. However, some regulations will take effect differently from the above time in order to create conditions for relevant individuals and organizations to access and adjust according to the new regulations. In this article, TTVN Legal will update some important new points of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 so that relevant individuals and organizations can timely grasp information and proactively adapt during your operation.

New regulations

1. Expanding on subjects licensed to practice

One of the new highlights of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023, that is the change of granting practice certificates according to “professional qualifications” to grant practice licenses according to “professional titles”. Specifically, Article 17 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2009 stipulates 7 subjects to be granted practice certificates, including: Doctors, medicos, nurses, midwives, medical technicians, herbalists and holders of folk remedies or therapies. Now, Article 26 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 has expanded to 3 more subjects who are licensed to practice: Clinical nutritionist, (out-of-hospital) paramedic and clinical psychologist.

2. Changing the method of granting a practice license

Firstly, to enhance and standardize the skills of practitioners, the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 has changed the method of granting a practice license of reviewing dossiers to taking a competency assessment examination before granting a license. This regulation is mandatory for the following titles: Doctor, medico, nurse, midwife, medical technician, clinical nutritionist, (out-of-hospital) paramedic and clinical psychologist. The competent authority to carry out assessment, acquire and settle petitions, complaints belongs to the National Medical Council.

Secondly, the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 has changed the name of “practicing certificate” to “practice license” and stipulates the term of the practice license is 5 years. When the license expires, the practitioner is entitled to request an extension. The extension of the practice license shall be considered by the competent authority according to the provisions of Article 32 of the Law.

3. For foreign practitioners performing medical examination and treatment activities in Vietnam

Foreigners are encouraged to conduct medical examination and treatment activities in Vietnam when they meet the conditions for practice as regulations by law. In principle, foreigners must use Vietnamese in medical examination and treatment. However, the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 allows foreigners to use languages other than Vietnamese for medical examination and treatment in the following cases:

• The patient has the same native language with the practitioner; the patient is able to use the same language registered by practitioner;
• The patient is a foreigner and cannot speak the same language as the practitioner;
• Humanitarian medical examination and treatment in batches; transfer of professional techniques in medical examination and treatment according to cooperation agreements between Vietnamese and foreign medical establishments.

To conduct medical examination and treatment in a language other than Vietnamese, foreigners need to comply with the registration obligation and have an appropriate interpreter. The Vietnamese Government will specify this regulation.

4. Improving service quality of medical examination and treatment establishments

Applying technology to healthcare management, the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 stipulates that medical examination and treatment establishments are responsible for providing adequate, accurate and timely information to the Information System on management of medical examination and treatment activities. On the other hand, in order to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment, Article 57 and Article 58 of the Law stipulate that medical facilities must annually self-assess the quality of medical examination and treatment according to the set of basic quality standards promulgated by the Ministry of Health. Simultaneously, the medical facilities must actively update these self-assessment results on the Information System on management of medical examination and treatment activities to serve as a basis for the inspection and assessment of the quality level of the medical examination and treatment.

Moreover, the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 also expands the autonomic mechanism for medical facilities, whereby medical facilities are autonomous in their decisions on personnel organization, forms of resource mobilization, loan capital to invest in infrastructure, etc. in order to have investment sources to improve projects serving medical examination and treatment activities.

5. Some other regulations

*For practitioners

Firstly, a practicing certificate issued before January 1, 2024 shall be converted to a practice license and renewed every five years.

Secondly, the issuance of practice certificates for dossiers submitted before January 1, 2024 shall comply with the provisions of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2009.

Thirdly, cases in which the applicant for a practice license is not required to undergo a practice assessment test according to the provisions of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023:

• Persons applying for a license to practice under the title of doctor from January 1, 2024 to the end of December 31, 2026;
• Persons applying for a license to practice under the title of medico, nurse or midwife from January 1, 2024 to the end of December 31, 2027;
• Persons applying for a license to practice under the titles of medical technician, clinical nutritionist, (out-of-hospital) paramedicsand clinical psychologist from January 1, 2024 to the end of December 31, 2028.

Fourthly, a person who is granted a certificate in medical training at intermediate level after December 31, 2026 will not be granted a practicing license for the title of medico.

*For medical examination and treatment establishments

Firstly, medical examination and treatment establishments that have been granted operating licenses under the provisions of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2009 may continue to operate without having to re-issue their operating licenses.

Secondly, issuing operating licenses to application packages submitted before January 1, 2024 will continue to be handled in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2009.

Thirdly, issuing operating licenses to application packages submitted from January 1, 2024 to the end of December 31, 2026 shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023, except for the issuance of operating licenses for private hospitals.

Fourth, the issuance, re-issuance, adjustment and revocation of operating licenses for private hospitals from January 1, 2024 to the end of December 31, 2026 shall be carried out by the Minister of Health.

What can TTVN Legal support Clients?

Based on the specific needs of the Clients, TTVN Legal’s healthcare lawyer team will assist on providing:

• Healthcare consulting on the ability to meet the necessary and sufficient conditions for clients when investing in the medical field;
• Legal advice on conditions and procedures for establishing medical examination and treatment establishments in Vietnam;
• Regular legal advice for medical examination and treatment facilities in Vietnam;
• Consulting on conditions and procedures for granting practice licenses to foreigners when practicing medical examination and treatment in Vietnam;
• Consulting on conditions and procedures for transferring professional techniques in medical examination and treatment in Vietnam to foreign organizations and individuals;
• Advising and representing for patients in disputes related to technical errors;
• Consulting and supporting the implementation of other procedures related to the field of medical examination and treatment in Vietnam.

Contact us if you need further advice.

Note: This article is for informational purposes only and it is not legal advice. The content of the article represents its own TTVN Legal it is subject to change without prior notice.