17 private hospitals partner with NHSO to offer patients with timely healthcare services
 
The National Health Securirty Office (NHSO) partners with 17 private hospitals in Bangkok and its metropolitan to offer necessary healthcare services to Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) beneficiaries.
 
Launched on 1 April, the partnership has provided nearly 600 extra beds to the capital’s public healthcare system and increased the scheme beneficiaries' access to healthcare services in private hospitals and on time.
 
The healthcare services include joint and hip replacement, hemodialysis, and vascular access for patients with chronic kidney disease — patients often wait for months to get these services in public hospitals.
 
As the UCS administrator, the NHSO has coordinated between public and private hospitals to facilitate inter-hospital transfers for patients needing healthcare services.
 

The NHSO secretary-general Dr Jadej Thammatacharee said that UCS covers nearly 5.5 million people in Bangkok alone. The number of the scheme beneficiaries can be more significant if counting immigrants.
 
However, public hospitals in Bangkok are inadequate despite the city's enormous population. Private hospitals are crucial in filling this gap by distributing health services to different parts of the capital.
 
The National Health Securirty Act, instrumental in enabling Thailand to achieve comprehensive population coverage, addresses the necessity to incorporate the private sector into the scheme and pave avenues for the NHSO to partner with private hospitals to ensure people’s access to healthcare.
 
Since the introduction of the UCS in 2002, numerous  private hospitals have partnered with the NHSO to provide  healthcare services to UCS beneficiaries in various healthcare programs.
 

The recent partnership with 17 hospitals include Kluay Nam Thai Hospital, Piyavate Hospital, Bang Na I and V Hospital, Sri Sawan Hospital, Mahesak Hospital, Mitrpracha Hospital, Vibraram pak Kred Hospital, Bang Po General Hospital and Bang Phai General Hospital,
 
Dr Jadej said that the partnership benefits both outpatients and inpatients rather than only being confined to outpatients as was the case with previous public-private partnerships.
 
The private hospitals can  claim the health service fees from the NHSO directly after providing services to the UCS beneficiaries.
 
This reimbursement is made possible by the NHSO’s implementation of an e-claim system enabling hospital staff to enter the healthcare service data and submit the claim online.
 

Approximately 2,930 patients have benefited from this partnership, according to the official record updated on 26 May. Of these, 526 are inpatients and the remainder being outpatients outpatients.
 
Over 130 patients suffering from chronic kidney disease received vascular access with shorter waiting times, allowing them to access hemodialysis faster.
 
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