The way forward in hospital self-rule 09:00 | 07/05/2021 While hospital automation has proved some advantages of capital mobilisation and healthcare services expansion, some challenges remain and concrete actions are required to make it a greater success. Le Minh Sang, health specialist at World Bank Vietnam, analyses the difficulties and also the international lessons that the country can learn from. Le Minh Sang, health specialist at World Bank Vietnam Hospitals across the world have been transforming their traditional bureaucratic structures and moving toward autonomisation as a potential solution for improving performance and outcomes. Hospital autonomy aims to reform the relationship between the government and service providers through delegation of decision rights to the hospital management team. The central government envisages public hospitals as independent entities with legal personality and grants hospitals greater managerial autonomy, while retaining hospitals as public institutional identity and their accountability to government priorities.