Private hospitals urged to reduce drug prices and medical service fees
BANGKOK, 7 April 2019 (NNT) – Of a total of over 300 hospitals earlier advised to provide information about drug prices and medical service fees, only 295 hospitals have cooperated accordingly and about half of them have charged higher than allowed. Those hospitals are yet to consider reducing their prices and fees.
Internal Trade Department Director General Wichai Phochanakit said a working group had considered the prices of 3,892 drugs and 868 sets of medical supplies and the fees for medical services for 5,286 patients and notified all 353 private hospitals to provide information about their drug prices and medical service fees to compare with the producing and servicing costs.
He said 295 hospitals have cooperated accordingly while 58 others have not as yet. If found to have intentionally failed to cooperate, those uncooperative hospitals will be faced with legal action.
Half of the 295 hospitals which had cooperated were found to have charged within the prices and fees as fixed by the Food and Drug Administration and the Comptroller General Department while the other half have charged higher than the medium prices and fees. The working group will call those hospitals for reduction in such high prices and fees. Legal action will be taken if they finally fail to cut them down.
The medium prices and medical service fees will be posted on the website of the Internal Trade Department for people to compare.
Source : NATIONAL NEWS BUREAU OF THAILAND (NNT)
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