Held on Sept. 18 under the theme "Shaping a Comprehensive Healthcare Model in the New Era," the 2026 Annual Conference of Phuong Chau Healthcare Group (ACP 2026) focused on moving healthcare excellence beyond individual expertise toward system-wide capability.

From individual excellence to system-wide capability

Nearly 1,000 delegates and 44 speakers from healthcare groups and institutions in Vietnam and abroad - including Cho Ray Hospital, Tu Du Hospital, National University Hospital Singapore, The Medical City in the Philippines and Siloam Hospitals in Indonesia - attended the conference.

Discussions centered on a key question: What does excellence mean for a healthcare system in a new era, and how can that excellence translate into meaningful value for patients?

"For decades, medicine has focused on a fundamental question: How do we treat disease?" said Nguyen Ngoc Anh Phuong, MSc, deputy chief executive officer of Phuong Chau Healthcare Group. "Today, we must ask a different question: How can good clinical outcomes be achieved safely, consistently and reliably across an entire system - rather than depending on an outstanding individual, a favorable moment or a single high-performing unit? That is the central question of ACP 2026."

In healthcare, good outcomes should not depend on luck or whether a patient happens to encounter an excellent doctor. Nor should they depend on one department performing particularly well or a patient arriving at the right moment. Instead, good outcomes should be something the healthcare system can deliver reliably.

For healthcare leaders, the question is therefore not only how much has been achieved, but whether that level of quality can be maintained for every patient, at every point of care and at every critical moment.

"Clinical expertise gives us the ability to treat. Quality and safety ensure that ability is delivered consistently. Operations and people turn standards into everyday practice," Phuong said. "Patient experience helps us understand what patients are truly going through, while data enables the system to identify gaps that intuition may sometimes miss. When these capabilities work together as one system, we move closer to what the world calls Centers of Excellence, or CoEs."

Building a distinct identity for Vietnamese healthcare

ACP 2026 was organized across five halls, covering obstetrics, neonatology and IVF; gynecology and general medicine; quality and safety; operations, human resources and patient experience; and digital transformation and commerce.

Phuong said the conference was intended as a forum for healthcare professionals to examine questions together, share evidence and perspectives, and learn from real-world outcomes.

"This year, the conference is honored to welcome international experts from Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia, alongside specialists, healthcare leaders and colleagues from hospitals, universities and healthcare institutions across Vietnam," she said. "I hope ACP will become a place where different healthcare systems can learn from one another and answer a shared question: What can we do better for patients tomorrow than we do today?"

By exploring how international standards can be translated into everyday practice, ACP 2026 aims to provide a platform for greater exchange and deeper collaboration among healthcare systems in Vietnam and other countries.

The broader goal is to help shape Vietnamese healthcare models that combine quality with a distinct identity and stronger capabilities, while gradually strengthening the position of Vietnam's healthcare sector in the region.