Talking about the effectiveness of electronic medical records, Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co, Director of Bach Mai Hospital said that after 6 months of implementation, Bach Mai Hospital has become one of the leading units in implementing digital transformation in the health sector. The hospital has proactively and actively invested in infrastructure and human resource training.

With a staff of different levels and ages, the hospital organizes “digital literacy” classes to disseminate knowledge and usage methods to all staff. Thanks to that, staff in departments, offices, and centers adapt quickly and carry out their work quite smoothly in the digital environment.

Previously, all patient data (X-rays, test results, medical records) were printed and paper, but now they have been converted to electronic data, facilitating hospital management. For patients, instead of having to carry many different types of documents (ID card, health insurance card, etc.), they now only need to use a smartphone. X-ray results, tests, and medical records are all returned via the app, which helps reduce costs (for both patients and insurance agencies) and builds a complete database (health records) of patients.

From the results at Bach Mai Hospital, Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co affirmed that if all hospitals implement electronic medical records, this would truly be a "great revolution" in the Vietnamese healthcare system.

However, by mid-April 2025, only 153 hospitals nationwide had announced that they had implemented electronic medical records, not using paper medical records. Of these, two health departments (Phu Tho and Bac Ninh) had implemented electronic medical records in all affiliated hospitals. This result is low compared to the number of about 1,400 hospitals nationwide.

According to People's Physician, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Quy Tuong, Chairman of the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association, the implementation of electronic medical records brings practical benefits to all parties involved, from patients to medical examination and treatment facilities, and health insurance agencies. For patients, electronic medical records help them avoid having to store documents when going to the doctor for examination and treatment, and not worry about losing test results... Combined with the implementation of electronic health records, electronic medical records help patients to continuously manage their health information.

For doctors and medical staff, the rapid transmission of patient data between departments, rooms, and hospitals helps avoid duplicate clinical indications (ultrasound, tests, etc.); doctors can easily find patient medical records, reduce examination time, support timely treatment, and help improve the quality of diagnosis and treatment. Information about patient examinations and treatments is digitized, scientifically stored, and electronic prescriptions are used, contributing to reducing medical errors.

The implementation of electronic medical records along with the implementation of electronic health records helps the health sector have complete, accurate and timely health data of the people. This is a very large health database (big data) of the industry, and the synthesis and analysis of information data will help the industry have timely instructions on disease prevention and control and have forecasts and policy planning on the work of protecting, caring for and improving people's health better because there is practical evidence, more scientific basis.

Information about patient examination and treatment is clear and transparent, making it easier to manage health insurance examination and treatment costs, contributing to limiting drug and test abuse. After the electronic medical record is digitally signed, all information cannot be edited, ensuring the integrity of the medical record data.

Thus, the implementation of electronic medical records is beneficial to the people, beneficial to the health sector, convenient for doctors when practicing... Therefore, in Directive No. 07/CT-TTg dated March 14, 2025, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Health to direct and urge 100% of hospitals nationwide to implement electronic medical records; connect data between local hospitals and hospitals under the Ministry of Health, take advantage of connected and interconnected data to reduce testing for people, to be completed in September 2025.

Implementing the Prime Minister's directive, the Ministry of Health and the People's Committees of provinces and cities are currently directing the implementation of electronic medical records in all hospitals under their management. Experts say that the current legal framework for the implementation of electronic medical records is relatively complete. The Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, the Law on Electronic Transactions and related legal documents all have sufficient legal basis for the implementation of electronic medical records. The Ministry of Health has also issued documents of practical significance, with breakthroughs in the application of information technology in healthcare and the implementation of electronic medical records.

However, the application of electronic medical records also faces some challenges such as: the digital platform and infrastructure are not yet adequate; financial regulations for the application of medical information technology in general and the implementation of electronic medical records in particular do not have specific instructions; the qualifications of medical staff are different...

To deploy electronic medical records, experts said that the Ministry of Health needs to direct more strongly the work of digital transformation of healthcare in general and the implementation of electronic medical records in particular; have policies and solutions to implement digital transformation of healthcare, in which special attention should be paid to the synchronous deployment of platforms, application systems and specialized databases as a foundation to promote the process of applying electronic medical records. The Ministry of Health and related units build and perfect mechanisms, policies, legal documents, and specialized documents guiding the digital transformation of healthcare in general and the implementation of electronic medical records in particular. The Ministry of Health needs to have sanctions for units and localities that do not implement according to the prescribed roadmap...

According to the plan to deploy electronic medical records, the Ministry of Health requires units to identify the deployment of electronic medical records as a key and top priority task; heads of agencies and units are fully responsible for this work; prioritize resources, mobilize the participation of organizations, businesses and people, resolutely deploy, ensure quality, on schedule, and complete in September 2025.

Deploying electronic medical records ensures substance, brings specific effectiveness, improves productivity and quality of medical examination, treatment and disease prevention, brings practical benefits to patients, people and medical facilities; ensures connectivity and data sharing between medical examination and treatment facilities and related information systems and databases according to regulations...

Dr. Ha Anh Duc, Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management (Ministry of Health) said that the assigned units are focusing on implementing electronic medical records. The Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management is actively building clinical, paraclinical, nursing and related categories in electronic medical records, ensuring the right roadmap.

In addition, the electronic medical record framework is also being urgently completed so that each hospital, depending on its conditions and capabilities, can apply it at different levels. The Ministry of Health has determined that it will be applied throughout the entire medical examination and treatment system, from low-level to special-level hospitals; data must be interconnected and have open source codes for hospitals to supplement. For electronic medical record management software, it is possible to use those from suppliers, but changing the management software does not affect data interconnectivity.

Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan requested units to innovate their thinking in hospital management, including extensive application of digital transformation in management, operation and expertise. It is necessary to shift from an administrative management model to a modern management model, taking data as the foundation, transparency in operation, and efficiency in decision making.

Promote the implementation of electronic medical records, electronic health records, quality management systems, interconnection between units, towards building a smart hospital model, meeting real-time management requirements and patient-centered.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/gap-rut-trien-khai-benh-an-dien-tu-post876672.html