Current status of clinical pharmacy workforce, services and clinical pharmacist recruitment in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

OBJECTIVES: Clinical pharmacy practices in Vietnam have not been well studied. We aimed to describe clinical pharmacy practices in terms of workforce, activities and the recruitment demand for clinical pharmacists (CPs) in hospitals. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted, and 123 questionnaires were distributed to Heads/Deputy heads of Pharmacy department and Boards of directors in all of hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam between August 2018 and June 2019. RESULTS: There were 187 CPs in 79 participating hospitals, whereas the ratio of CPs per 100 patient beds was 0.67. The median number of CPs was 2 (1-4), with a significantly low median full time equivalent [0.4 (1, 2)]. The income of CPs was significantly low. Antibiotics were the most common medications that CPs discussed with physicians (93.06%). Interventions commonly performed by CPs were "Checking drug interactions" (77.78%), "Counseling physicians about the route of administration" (61.11%), "Checking drug allergies" (51.39%). The median number of CPs needed to recruit according to Heads/Deputy heads of Pharmacy Department and Boards of directors was 2 (1-3) and 2 (1-3.5), respectively. CONCLUSION: The shortage of CPs, which was likely attributable to low income, might lead to numerous obstacles for delivering comprehensive healthcare services. Thus, the hospital recruitment strategies should focus on salary and benefits to attract more CPs, especially those with postgraduate degree.

The economic impact of asthma treatment on patients, 2014-2017: The Vietnamese experience from a public hospital.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the economic burden of asthma treatment by quantifying direct medical expenditures at one of Southern Vietnam's public hospitals base on the hospital perspective. METHODS: A retrospective, prevalence-based, cost-of-illness analysis was developed using the hospital's electronic medical record data to calculate the economic burden of asthma (ICD-10 code J45, J46) through direct medical costs from January 2014 to December 2017. All costs were converted to US dollars and to the year 2018. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The potential correlations between variables were evaluated using the chisquare test and bootstrap difference. RESULTS: The average direct medical cost of asthma was estimated to range from $34.7 to $55.3 per - outpatient and $45.1 to $107.2 per - inpatient annually. The total economic burdens for 4 years from 2014 to 2017 were $110,387.4 from outpatients and $13,413.8 from inpatients. The most influential component was medication cost. CONCLUSIONS: Asthma places a high economic burden on individuals and the healthcare system in Vietnam. The findings of this study provide health administrators with important evidence to enhance surveillance of the disease and to allow suitable drafting of national health policy.

Analyzing the variation in treatment costs for colorectal cancer (CRC): A retrospective study to assess an underlying threat among the Vietnamese.

OBJECTIVE: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common, and the second deadliest, cancer documented in recent years, and numerous studies have addressed this issue. Nevertheless, little attention has been given to the CRC burden in Vietnam. Our study aims to analyze variations in cost for CRC treatments using the cost of illness (COI) method. METHODS: Utilizing medical records spanning from 2014 to 2017 supplied by a primary healthcare facility in Ho Chi Minh City, a population of 9,126 patients, diagnosed with and treated for CRC, was analyzed in terms of demographic detail and individual treatment cost. RESULTS: Among the 9,126 patients hospitalized with CRC, 3,699 patients were between the ages of 50 and 65. Colon cancer accounted for 56.4% and 60.4% of the total patients in Inpatient Department (IPD) and Outpatient Department (OPD). The total direct medical cost was calculated to be over ten million USD for IPD patients and over three million USD for OPD patients over a four year span of data. The per-patient cost was $2,741.00 (IPD) and $588.80 (OPD), with chemotherapy drugs being 53% (IPD) and 73% (OPD) of the overall treatment cost. Patients going through both treatment regimens incurred a mean cost of $4,271.20 (IPD) and $1,779.80 (OPD). CONCLUSIONS: There is a similarity in the costs of CRC treatment in developing countries in Asia. Despite many limitations, we are certain this study will be useful for future studies regarding the CRC burden in Asia in general, as well as in developing countries like Vietnam.