Financial Autonomy Mechanism at Public Hospitals under the Ministry of Health in Vietnam

Revamping management mechanisms, especially financial management for public non-business units, is a major policy of our Party and State. Specifically, in the healthcare sector, the financial mechanism in general and the financial autonomy mechanism of public hospitals in particular are of special concern. This research investigates the current state of financial autonomy in public hospitals under the Ministry of Health. The study surveyed 220 samples from 25 public hospitals under the Ministry of Health. The survey samples were categorized by gender, education level, and field of work. The survey results indicate that the financial autonomy mechanism for public hospitals is one of the mechanisms that brings many advantages and significant changes to public hospitals. This mechanism creates proactivity in exploiting the financial resources of public hospitals, attracting capital sources as a basis for increasing revenue for public hospitals while also forcing them to use their expenditures reasonably and effectively. Implementing this mechanism has brought about significant changes in the methods and organizational management work of public hospitals, improving the efficiency of operations as well as staff. Along with this is the diversification and enhancement of the quality of various types of medical services. The transparency of financial activities in public hospitals and workers' income in these institutions have also significantly increased recently.