BANGKOK, 5 June 2015 – The Ministry of Public Health has mapped out solutions to the costly medical services of private hospitals following the public outcry.
During a meeting of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), Public Health Minister Ratchata Ratchatanawin disclosed that the Ministry of Public Health and related agencies had set up a special committee to follow up on complaints about overcharging medical bills imposed by private hospitals.
Dr. Ratchata said the Ministry of Public Health has already ordered private hospitals to proportion their profits and drug pricing to the actual costs, adding that private hospitals must also keep the public updated on drug prices based on the market mechanism.
The Ministry has also planned to issue rules to enable patients to use doctors’ prescriptions to buy medicine at drug stores if they consider medications sold by private hospitals too expensive. All private hospitals were in addition ordered to make their own websites to post their treatment fee rate so that consumers can choose hospitals that suit their budgets.
Dr. Ratchata also revealed initial findings attributing the jump in medical service fees to several factors, including investment in property, purchase of newly-develop drugs and equipment as well as adoption of advanced treatment technologies.
