Hospitals colour coded based on prices of drugs and services
The Deputy of Internal Trade has finished categorizing 300 hospitals as green, yellow, and red according to the prices they charge patients for drugs, Prayoth Benyasut, deputy director general, revealed.
“We have listed 164 hospitals as green since the price of their medicines was low,” he said. “The department is preparing a certificate for them.”
Moreover, the department has already finished categorizing the remaining hospitals as yellow or red zones, where the prices of drugs are in the range of acceptable to expensive. “At the beginning of 2020, we will hold a meeting to create guidelines for hospitals in these two groups” he added.
In addition, for those private hospitals where more than 5,000 service items are deemed as being too expensive, the department is working to come up with a cost appraisal for around 200 to 300 services..
“We expect to announce the cost appraisal in the next year and the price of medical supplies will be specified last, as there are no appraisals we can use for reference,” he added. “The medical supplies price is currently being coded and the estimated budget for this project is around Bt4 to Bt5 million.”