Vietnam Ministry of Health implements medical equipment price controls

Vietnam's Ministry of Health is implementing new measures to control medical equipment prices through data interconnection and digital management. Deputy Minister Vu Manh Ha reported that administrative procedures in the medical equipment sector have been reduced by 66.7%, from 48 down to 16, with 100% of procedures now available as full online public services.

Rather than applying state-mandated pricing to all items due to the vast diversity in technology and configuration, the government will control prices through public listing and price declaration. This will be supported by a database that shares data between the health, customs, tax, bidding, and health insurance sectors.

Additionally, the Ministry is working on amending the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment to include a medical equipment supply chain management scheme. Key objectives include building a national database, standardizing data across the supply chain, and researching life-cycle cost assessments for procurement rather than relying solely on initial purchase prices.