However, the goal from October 2025 that all hospitals across the country must complete the implementation of electronic medical records according to the Government's roadmap may not be implemented in time.
According to the Ministry of Health, up to now, the whole country has only about 657 out of a total of 1,650 facilities successfully deployed electronic medical records, although 100% of medical examination and treatment facilities have applied information technology, built a management system and connected data with Social Insurance.
One of the reasons, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Quy Tuong - Chairman of the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association, is that many hospital leaders are not really proactive and are still afraid of major changes in management and operation methods.
This means that the delay is partly due to human factors, more specifically the lack of initiative, flexibility, not daring to do, daring to accept from the leaders of many hospitals.
This assessment is well-founded because there is the same mechanism, the same context, but there are still hospitals that have successfully implemented the application, the one for example, Viet Duc Hospital.
With the determination of the leaders, this hospital has officially operated an electronic medical record, helping patients not need to bring documents when going to the hospital, only biometric identification or medical code. Viet Duc also aims to achieve over 95% of non-cash payments, while focusing on data security with multiple layers of security.
Lessons from Viet Duc or before that of K Hospital show: The mechanism is necessary, but not enough. The most important thing is the initiative, flexibility and determination to change from the leader.
When leaders consider digital transformation as a strategic priority, the hospital will issue a Resolution, allocate resources, train human resources and closely monitor progress. On the contrary, if leaders are hesitant and hesitant, electronic medical records will only be theory and expectation, no matter how complete the mechanism is.
To speed up the implementation of electronic medical records, the Ministry of Health of course needs to add strong enough sanctions as well as have clear financial guidance for payment, investment and operation of the system. But the most important thing is still how to change thinking, thinking, working, determination to change, and doing well to better serve patients by hospital leaders.
The delay in implementing electronic medical records not only causes patients to continue to suffer, the health sector wastes resources, but more importantly, it also contributes to undermining people's confidence in reform determination.
