VietNamNet Bridge - Instead of doing blood tests, staff of Hoai Duc Hospital in Hoai Duc District, Hanoi, copied the blood test results of one patient and gave it to many others. Many people got the same test results, affecting their diagnosis.

Ms. Hoang Thi Nguyet, an employee of the testing ward of Hoai Duc Hospital denounced this brutal fact to the authorities.

In her denunciations, Nguyet said the incident took place from July 2012 to May 2013 at the Hematology Ward. The hospital director divided the staff of the testing division into two groups. The first group included three official employees, who were in charge of the State machinery. These people did not have many things to do because they conducted tests for only 3 to 20 patients per day.

The second group, included the ward chief, four hired workers and one trainee nurse were in charge of private machinery and they made tests for 200 to 300 patients a day, with 1,000-2,000 specimens, accounting for over 97 percent of the ward’s workload. The majority of patients had health insurance cards.

"Because the patients were overcrowded, they used false test results. They made the test for patients, then copied the testing results to give to other patients," Nguyet told an online newspaper.

According to Nguyet, the purpose of this was to take money from the health insurance fund. There were about 1,000 "duplicated" testing results given to at least 2,000 patients. On average, one testing result was returned to 2-5 patients. Many patients have different diseases and are of different ages but they had the same testing results.

For instance, indicators listed in the blood test results of a 22-month-old child were the same as the results of a 65-year-old patient.

A 68-year-old patient with high blood pressure also shared the same results as a 41-year-old patient who was suffering from an arm injury.

With 25-26 years of experience, Nguyet was very upset at this. "It very much affected the outcome of treatment. The test results are to serve the diagnosis. Doctors rely on the test to diagnose and treat," Nguyet said.

Health experts said blood tests played an important role in disease diagnosis and treatment.

The hematological testing reports of Hoai Duc Hospital for four different people, but the test results are completely similar.

"There is no test result  the doctors cannot diagnose accurately. Inaccurate test results cause the same thing. This is very dangerous because it leads to the wrong treatment, affecting health and even the lives of patients," said Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, director of the Thu Cuc International Hospital in Hanoi.

Doctor Ngo Manh Quan from the Ha Noi-based National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion was quoted by Lao Dong (Labour) Newspaper as saying that tests, including blood and urine tests, served as the first basic foundation of assessing a patient's health.

The test results would help doctors to diagnose different diseases such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis or diabetes, he said, adding that it was unacceptable to use test result from one patient for another.

Officials of the Ministry of Health and the Hanoi Department of Health met with leaders of Hoai Duc Hospital on August 6. After the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Trong Khoa, Deputy Director of the Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Agency, admitted: "It is a fact that false testing results were given to patients but the purpose of this is being investigated by the police. We have also asked the Hanoi Department of Health to clarify this matter."

However, head of the hospital laboratory Vuong Thi Kim Thanh said they often provided incorrect test results for relatives of health workers to help them complete their medical records quickly.

Head of the Viet Nam Social Insurance Department of Health Insurance Policy Implementation Pham Luong Son said that the main aim of their actions was to squeeze money out of the health insurance fund.

"The hospital would gain a huge amount of money paid for blood work by duplicating results for different patients," he said.

Director of Hoai Duc District's Social Insurance Fund Nguyen Mai Hong said payment for blood tests carried out by the hospital in the first half of this year had been temporarily suspended pending further investigations.

The hospital receives between VND600-700 million (US$28,500-33,000) for blood work from the district's Social Insurance Fund each month.

The investigation agency collected information and began investigating this case about two months ago. The police have seized a lot of related documents.  The police yesterday said those responsible would be prosecuted under the Article 281 of the Penal Code.

The hospital board yesterday suspended Vuong Thi Kim Thanh as head of the hospital's laboratory and Phan Thi Oanh as chief technician.

Chief Inspector Nguyen Viet Cuong of the Ha Noi Health Department yesterday said inspectors had visited the hospital in May after receiving news of the situation. Inspectors had discovered evidence of the claims, but were waiting on the final police report, he said.

Vice Chairwoman of the Ha Noi People's Committee Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc on Monday instructed the municipal health department to work with relevant agencies to investigate the case and punish those responsible.

Source: VNE/LD/VNS