Equitable healthcare through PSI Health M-Score is a project dedicated to evaluate patient satisfaction in major public hospitals in Vietnam. The first phase of theproject, which runs from September 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017, has a focus on 29 hospitals nationwide. VNI collaborated with the MOHto develop the survey tools and methodology which then has been adopted to survey and rank 29 hospitals all over the country. The call centre is an independent research agency with a strong focus on conducting quality survey (Mekong Development Research Institute). Their staff were trained to conduct the survey used in PSI via mobile phone. It conducted nearly 9,000 calls to patients who weredischarged from surveyed hospitals, asking them about specific areas of healthcare service experience, including perceived quality of care, attitude of healthcare professionals (doctors and nurses), service prices, informal payment, facility infrastructure. A website is designed so that information can be typed directly onto the platform, and data are analysed on the spot every month/quarter/year as desired.
In the second phase, to ensure the sustainability of this initiative, we aim at achieving three fundamental goals as below:
(1) To advocate for a change in the legal framework (Decision 4939/2016 <(>&<)> Decision 6859/2016 signed by MOH#s Minister). A revision of legal framework is a vital step to lay down necessary conditions for public hospitals to self-conduct the interviewon phone after patients# discharge. The Ministry of Health (MOH) also shares interest in developing a reliable patients feedback mechanism to ensure public hospitals are treating citizens with basic human rights access to public healthcare. The roadmap proposed by VNI is to integrate Patients Satisfaction Index into performance reviewof hospital managers, hospital rankings and/or fee ceilingswhich this hospital can raise from patients and allocation of health insurance pool into a hospital. With this, citizens voice shall have strong impact on budget allocation and spending in publichealthcare.
(2) To provide training for MOH#s officials and hospitals# staff in charge of quality management and patient satisfaction survey the methodology that we have developed in the first phase. As the hospitals will self-conduct the survey and input answers in the website hailongnguoibenh.vn (which has been developed in the 1st phase), it is extremely important to improve their knowledges and surveying skills as well as their compliance to the methodology required by regulations. Furthermore, public hospitals also have strong motivations to develop a cost-effective patient feedback mechanism given the greater autonomy granted to public hospitals while most of their funding comes from public health insurance and hospital fees thanks to the market-based health care reform.
(3) To co-host a Forum with the MOH to invite hospitals sharing their initiatives and budget allocation adjustments as their responsiveness to patient feedbacks. This annual forum will help build a community of pioneering hospitals that inspired others moving from the status quo to the patient-centered care reform. All information is publicly released to raise awareness of the society and to hold public health service providers to account, leading to a better and more equitable public health care.