Healthcare setup in your first week in Vietnam

The arrival-week healthcare set-up is one of the things most expats put off and later regret. A motorbike fall on day six, a hospital admission for a child's fever, a missed prescription refill — these are common. The first-week healthcare checklist below takes a few hours total and saves you the rest.

This page is the arrival-week sequencing. The deeper "which insurance / which hospital / which network" questions sit in healthcare for expats and healthcare cost comparison.

Not medical advice. Treatment decisions, prescription changes, and insurance choices should be made with a qualified medical professional and your insurance provider, not from this page.

The five-task arrival-week list

1. Activate your international health insurance.
2. Pick (and visit) a private hospital network.
3. Register with a GP / family doctor.
4. Transfer any prescriptions you depend on.
5. Print and carry the Vietnam emergency card.

Do them in this order. Each one builds on the previous.

1. Activate insurance — day 1 or 2

Most international plans (Cigna Global, Bupa Global, Allianz Care, GeoBlue, IMG) require an arrival notification to switch from "transit cover" to "in-country cover". This is a 10-minute online form. Some plans wait until the activation date before any claim will be paid.

Specific checks:

• Direct-billing network in Vietnam — does your plan have direct-billing arrangements with Vinmec, FV Hospital, Family Medical Practice, Pacific Hospital? If not, you'll pay out-of-pocket and reclaim — budget for the cash float.
• Local Vietnamese add-on — many international plans pair with a Vietnamese provider (Bao Việt, Liberty, PVI) to keep premiums down. Confirm which provider's card you actually present at the hospital desk.
• Maternity / pre-existing exclusions — confirm the exclusion clauses match what you understood when you signed.

2. Pick (and visit) a private hospital network — day 2 or 3

A 30-minute familiarisation visit to your primary hospital choice is the most under-rated arrival-week move. You'll know where the entrance is, where parking sits, where the international department's reception desk is, and how the registration flow works.

Network by city (broadly):

Pick the one closest to your accommodation — not the one with the highest reputation. In a real emergency the difference is travel time, not brand.

3. Register with a GP / family doctor — day 3 or 4

In Vietnam private GP relationships are less formal than in the UK / Australia. There's no register; you simply become a regular patient at a hospital's international department. The "family doctor" model exists at Family Medical Practice (FMP), CarePlus, and Raffles Medical — book a 30-minute introductory visit and they'll create your patient record.

Bring:

• Insurance card / details
• Any home-country medical history (printed)
• Vaccination record
• Current medications list (generic names, not brand names)
• Allergies list

The first visit is usually $40–80 out-of-pocket; subsequent ones $30–60. Many insurance plans cover them in network.

4. Transfer prescriptions — day 4 or 5

Vietnamese pharmacies (Pharmacity, Long Châu, FPT Long Châu, Medicare) are well-stocked but the brand availability is different. Common substitutions:

• Insulin — generally available; brand-specific isn't guaranteed. Confirm which form (rapid, basal, mixed) is stocked.
• Inhalers (asthma, COPD) — Symbicort, Ventolin commonly available; specialty inhalers may need import.
• SSRIs / SNRIs — sertraline, escitalopram, venlafaxine widely stocked; some Western brands aren't.
• Birth control — most combination pills available; specialty long-acting (Kyleena, Nexplanon) may need a private gynaecology visit.
• ADHD medication — controlled substances; require a Vietnamese prescription. Plan ahead.

Bring 60–90 days' supply of any prescription you depend on, plus a copy of the originating prescription with the generic name written clearly.

5. Carry the emergency card — day 5 or whenever

Print a copy of the Vietnam emergency card (or generate one from the emergency card tool) with:

• 113 Police
• 114 Fire
• 115 Ambulance
• Tourist police line (city-specific)
• Your hospital's international department number
• Your insurance international assistance number
• Your blood type
• Your emergency contact

Carry it in your wallet. Carry a backup at home. Add the same numbers to your phone with * prefix so they sort to the top of your contacts.

Common pitfalls

• Delaying insurance activation. Many plans backdate poorly; if you wait two weeks you may have two weeks of uncovered exposure.
• Picking a hospital you've never visited. The reception flow is bewildering on a bad day; the 30-minute familiarisation visit pays for itself.
• Bringing only branded prescription names. Pharmacists may not recognise UK / US brand names; the generic name is universal.
• Skipping the local emergency card because "I have the app". Apps fail in emergencies; printed cards don't.

What this isn't

This page is not a guide to picking your insurance or hospital. Those are bigger decisions you should make before the move — see healthcare for expats and healthcare cost comparison.

Related

• Healthcare for expats
• Healthcare cost comparison
• Arrival week checklist
• Vietnam emergency card tool
• Practical — emergency numbers

Healthcare set-up decisions are personal and circumstantial. Verify with a qualified medical professional, your insurer, and your chosen hospital's international department before relying on any specific arrangement here.