Clear benefits, slow implementation
On March 14, 2005, the Prime Minister issued Directive No. 07/CT-TTg on promoting the application of population data, electronic identification and authentication to serve digital transformation. In which, the Ministry of Health is required to direct 100% of hospitals to deploy electronic medical records, connect and interconnect data from commune and provincial levels to hospitals directly under the ministry to cut overlapping tests, reduce costs and time for people, and complete it before September 2025.
Data from the Ministry of Health shows that the actual progress is still quite modest. By the end of December 2025, 1,161/1,650 medical examination and treatment facilities have successfully deployed electronic medical records.
Although in mid-September 2025, the Ministry of Health continued to issue Official Dispatch No. 6219/BYT-K2DT on promoting the implementation of electronic medical records. The document was sent to hospitals and hospitals with beds under the Ministry of Health; Departments of Health of provinces and cities directly under the Central Government; hospitals of universities, medical schools and medical facilities of ministries and sectors. The Ministry of Health requests units to determine that digital transformation and the implementation of electronic medical records are key and continuous tasks. This must mobilize the full participation of cadres, civil servants, public employees, and laborers; in which it emphasizes the decisive role of Party committees, unit leaders, especially the responsibility of heads. To date, this plan has not been completed.
Bach Mai Hospital became the first health unit of the Ministry of Health to deploy a complete electronic medical record from November 2024, bringing benefits to both doctors, medical staff and patients.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dao Xuan Co - Director of Bach Mai Hospital - said: Electronic medical records bring convenience for medical examination and treatment, saving time, effort, costs... and many benefits for people as well as the medical team during use. The unit has been and is continuing to improve and complete the system to improve the quality of people's health care services, reducing pressure on the medical team.
Electronic medical records help reduce waste of human resources, materials and storage space, saving tens of billions of VND of health budget each year. Electronic data not only supports medical examination and treatment but also creates a large data source for research, disease forecasting and treatment protocol development. Although implementation cannot be completed immediately, with the determination of leaders and the consensus of officials, medical facilities can achieve the goal of improving the quality of the health sector" - Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dao Xuan Co emphasized.
Accelerating the deployment of electronic medical records
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Quy Tuong - Chairman of the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association, in the context of digital transformation, the deployment of electronic medical records to replace paper records is an inevitable and urgent requirement. Electronic medical records help reduce paperwork, shorten waiting times, centrally store medical history information, thereby limiting duplication of tests, reducing costs and improving treatment safety.
From a management perspective, EMR creates a large data source to serve governance, policy planning and improve the quality of healthcare services. Although there is a basic legal corridor, sustainable implementation still needs to improve mechanisms, ensure data security and safety, improve application capacity for healthcare staff and ensure the EMR system is fully legal, secure and interconnected with data.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Quy Tuong said that the main difficulties include unclear financial mechanisms, weak information technology infrastructure, changes in working habits and processes facing many obstacles, uneven attention from leaders, and limited information technology capacity of the medical team.
To accelerate the implementation of electronic medical records, it is necessary to strengthen the drastic direction of the Ministry of Health; improve mechanisms, policies and accurately and fully calculate information technology costs in medical service prices; have clear sanctions for slow-progressing units; promote the role of hospital heads; strengthen coordination between stakeholders and promote training and education for medical staff.
