Permanent Deputy Minister of Health Vu Manh Ha has officially signed an executive directive driving the rapid implementation of Circular No. 06/2026/TT-BYT, which regulates the coding of diseases and causes of death according to the ICD-10 international classification framework. The mandate was dispatched to Vietnam Social Security (VSS) under the Ministry of Finance, provincial Departments of Health, public hospital networks, and the Private Hospital Association nationwide to optimize clinical management, streamline health insurance (HI) reimbursements, and advance the medical sector’s digital transformation strategy.
The documented enforcement timelines, inter-agency task allocations, and clinical infrastructure standards feature:
-
Statutory Enforcement and Transition Roadmap: Circular No. 06/2026/TT-BYT was officially signed into law by the Minister of Health on April 2, 2026, and is scheduled to formally take effect on July 1, 2026. Notably, the specialized provisions enacted under Clause 2 and Clause 3 of Article 5 secured early enforcement beginning June 1, 2026.
-
Administrative Mandates for Regulatory and Insurance Bodies:
-
For Local Departments of Health: Provincial health regulators are instructed to directly supervise local medical institutions to ensure timely compliance; scale up routine audits tracking clinical coding workflows executed by healthcare staff; and organize comprehensive professional training workshops to minimize technical documentation errors.
-
For Vietnam Social Security: The Ministry of Health requests VSS to immediately integrate the complete ICD-10 disease code directories appended to the Circular onto the data intake gateway of the Health Insurance Assessment Information System to ensure uninterrupted operations on the enforcement date. Subordinate insurance divisions must strengthen inter-agency collaboration with health departments, adjusting electronic assessment algorithms to enable flexible cross-field information linking for a holistic evaluation of medical indications (pharmaceuticals, laboratory tests, technical services) without generating administrative bottlenecks.
-
-
Operational Configurations and Compensation Standards for Healthcare Facilities:
-
IT Infrastructure Integration: Hospitals and clinical facilities are required to partner directly with their Hospital Information System (HIS) software providers to hardcode the updated ICD-10 classification directories into digital charting interfaces for clinical documentation.
-
Clinical Accuracy Enforcement: Disease coding must strictly mirror the primary clinical diagnosis and the real-world physiological status of the patient. Depending on operational capacities, institutions are expected to progressively assign dedicated personnel to oversee, guide, and monitor clinical coding compliance internally.
-
Specialized Incentive Frameworks: Aligned with central decrees from the Party and Government focusing on digital transformation and breakthrough scientific development, the Ministry of Health directs healthcare establishments to prioritize and establish robust compensation packages and attraction policies for specialized clinical coding professionals.
-