More private clinics will from next week be recruited to join the universal health scheme's primary care network in Bangkok, to make treatment more accessible and cheaper for members.
Another 300 clinics are expected to join the primary care system from Oct 1, said Dr Jadej Thammatacharee, secretary-general of the National Health Security Office (NHSO), yesterday.
Some 200 such clinics are already serving patients presenting with mild ailments. They are referred to a larger healthcare facility if their illnesses require more advanced medical care. The capital has about 2,000 private medical clinics in the capital.
The clinics would be fully reimbursed for services provided to patients under the scheme two to three days following treatment, he said.
The NHSO has also decided to allow those clinics operating only from late in the afternoon into the evening also to join the scheme. "This is important because many clinics are run by doctors who work full-time at state-run hospitals, which means they are usually open after these doctors finish their work," he said.
Previously, private clinics interested in joining the scheme were told they must operate at least eight hours a day and have a full laboratory capacity, he said, adding that these requirements have now been lifted.
"We believe there are enough private clinics [to help serve our patients in the community], but many may have been barred by the rules or lacked sufficient incentive to join the scheme, so we've changed those rules," he said.
Improvements in the speed and rate of healthcare services should also help attract more clinics to work with the NHSO, he said.
After joining the scheme, the clinics will be plugged into the universal health programme's billing and patient data networks, which will allow them to record their activities and submit invoices in real time, he said.
In the future, the NHSO may allow private clinics in other cities to join the scheme, he said.
Bangkok is a priority now because hospitals there are far more crowded than in other provinces, he said.