Pursuant to Decree No. 109/2016/ND-CP on issuance of operating license for practitioner and operation license for medical examination and treatment facilities and Decree No. 155/2018/ND-CP on amendments to a number of provisions relating the business investment conditions under state management of the Ministry of Health: The family medicine facility for medical examination and treatment is one of organizational forms of the medical examination and treatment facilities.
Accordingly, Circular No. 21/2019/TT-BYT on the Guidelines for pilot family medicine practices provides as follows:
1. The positions, functions of the family medicine facilities:
The family medicine facilities shall be the first to accept, manage, take care of health initially, consult, prevent diseases, improve health, perform emergency treatment, examine and treat general diseases following the family medicine principles applicable for households and persons.
2. The tasks of the family medicine facilities:
a) Community health management:
- Prepare the personal health records as set forth under Decision No. 831/QD-BYT dated March 11, 2017 of the Minister of Health on the issuance of personal health management form serving initial health care;
- Manage and conduct health care following the family medicine principles for persons and households as assigned by the Health Departments of provinces and central-affiliated cities (hereinafter referred to as “the Health Departments”).
b) Health improvement and disease prevention advice:
- Give advice on nutrition, health activities, prevention of cigarette, alcoholic beverages harmful effects and other risks to health; give advice on disease examination and treatment to persons, households and community;
- Publicize, educate the people on health, raise their awareness of active and effective disease prevention, prevention of health risks;
- Provide guidelines on environmental hygiene and food safety;
- Participate in monitor, early detection and prevention of disease in the community;
- Vaccinate;
- Prevent non-communicable diseases: cancer, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and bronchial asthma.
c) Implementation of programs and activities relating community health care, community-based functional restoration, palliative care, end-of-life care; the programs relating health-population target, maternal child and elder health, population – birth control, combination of traditional medicine and modern medicine.
d) Medical examination and treatment:
- Perform first aid and provide emergency medical services;
- Conduct screening, early detection of illnesses, particularly the contagious diseases;
- Chronic diseases, non-communicable diseases;
- Take care, examine and treat diseases at home for patients mentioned in the list under the Annex issued together with this Circular No. 21/2019/TT-BYT;
- Provide technical services in:
- The basic medical service packs under Circulars of the Minister of Health;
- The technical lists of level 3, level 4 under Circulars of the Minister of Health on classifying specialized levels, technical list;
- Other specialized techniques, in higher levels once satisfactory to the regulations.
The maximum specialized operation range of the family medicine facilities and practitioners includes the services and techniques under this Point. Based on the actual facilities, equipment and personnel conditions (operating license, specialized certificates, certificate of training in family medicine of the practitioner) of each family medicine facility, the Ministry of Health, the Health Department shall determine the specialized operation range, the list of techniques suitable for each family medicine facility, the specialized operation range of the family medicine practitioners under their management.
e) Transfer of the patients to the higher levels according to the appropriate sector; accept the patients receiving steady treatment from the higher levels to continue the treatment as set forth under Circular No. 14/2014/TT-BYT dated April 14, 2014 of the Minister of Health on change of medical examination and treatment facility levels;
f) Participation in scientific research, training, technical conversion relating family medicine; acting as the practicing facilities in family medicine training as per law.
g) Implementation of other tasks specified by the competent authorities.
3. Requirements for the specialized degrees and certificates relating training in family medicine of family medicine practitioners
– Persons issued with the disease examination and prevention operating license who already performs disease examination and prevention relating family medicine before the effective date of this Circular shall continue to operate and shall have the responsibilities to participate in the re-training courses, continuous training courses to update on the family medicine knowledge for at least 03 months.
– The general practitioners, the specialized clinical practitioners issued with the disease examination and prevention operating license before and after the effective date of this circular shall exam and treat diseases relating the family medicine once any of the requirements are met:
- Possessing any of the following degrees: resident physician, first degree, second degree physician, masters or doctors in family medicine;
- Possessing the certificates relating the receipt of family medicine training and education for at least 03 months;
- Possessing the confirmation relating participating in courses whose contents are specified in the certificate, degrees or training, education courses relating family medicine for a minimum of 03 months.
Preventive practitioners issued with the disease examination, prevention operating license before and after the effective date of this Circular possessing the certificate for participation in the family medicine training, education for at least 03 months shall be able to examine and treat diseases relating family medicine at the medical stations of communes (level 4).
