Many benefits of electronic medical records
Having visited many places, including Bach Mai Hospital, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuc (in Bac Ninh) was quite surprised and satisfied with this return. Just by scanning the citizen identification code, basic personal information and medical history are displayed, quickly classified, convenient for examination.
“Before entering the hospital, I had mentally prepared myself to wait, the medical examination and treatment procedures would take a long time, even all day, but the reality was beyond my expectations. Everything was very fast and convenient, only about 2 hours from the procedure to the test and imaging instructions and finally the final results. Almost all the steps were done through digital technology,” Ms. Thuc shared.
Taking care of a family member receiving inpatient treatment at the A9 Emergency Center, Bach Mai Hospital, Mr. Ngo Van Minh (Quang Ninh) expressed his satisfaction with the experience of electronic medical records: “I can confirm and view all procedures, indications, treatment regimens, and prescriptions on my tablet or personal phone. At first, I was confused, but with the guidance of doctors and nurses, I found it easy to use and quite convenient. Not only me, but my children can also view and monitor the treatment process.”
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan - Director of A9 Emergency Center, Bach Mai Hospital - said: With the application of digital transformation, electronic medical records, administrative procedures do not take much time, doctors can quickly examine. All orders are made on software. After the order is completed, the relevant departments receive information, the patient only needs to move to the designated locations to be deployed. The results returned to A9 are also very fast, even before the patient returns to the clinic.
“Whenever a patient is scanned, we immediately receive that image on the Center's computer and can make a diagnosis. With difficult cases, we can immediately discuss and consult with multiple departments, promptly handling pathological situations that are racing against time. If the patient needs to be transferred to other departments for treatment, we can simply operate the software to receive it immediately with full information, instead of having to wait for hundreds of pages of paper medical records to be transferred for handover,” said Associate Professor Nguyen Anh Tuan.
Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co - Director of Bach Mai Hospital - said that from November 1, 2024, Bach Mai Hospital is proud to become a special-class hospital of the Ministry of Health to successfully deploy electronic medical records. The hospital officially does not use paper medical records, completely switching to using electronic medical records throughout the hospital. Every day, Bach Mai Hospital receives 8,000 - 10,000 patient visits. The amount of paperwork is huge. As the first special-class hospital to deploy electronic medical records, Bach Mai Hospital dreams of becoming a smart, paperless hospital.
Paper or electronic transfer?
The Ministry of Health has just submitted to the National Assembly a bill amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Health Insurance (HI), proposing to eliminate hospital transfer papers for some cases of rare and serious diseases.
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Tri Thuc said that there have been many proposals to abolish referral papers between levels of the medical examination and treatment system. However, if abolished, it should only be abolished at the initial and basic levels. From these two levels to the advanced level, there should be referral papers.
Mr. Thuc analyzed that referral papers play an important role in summarizing medical records, helping doctors at higher levels grasp the symptoms, initial manifestations, disease progression as well as the patient's previous treatment process. If referral papers are eliminated, within just 1-2 years, the grassroots health system could be eliminated, leading to the risk of "collapse" at specialized levels.
The Ministry of Health currently only proposes to eliminate referral procedures in some special cases, such as rare diseases or serious illnesses, to reduce procedures, create convenience for people, while saving costs for the Health Insurance Fund and reducing the burden of personal spending.
Ms. Tran Thi Trang - Director of the Department of Health Insurance (Ministry of Health) - said that in the coming time, the Ministry of Health will promote the application of information technology to reform administrative procedures.
Specifically, the Ministry will deploy the extraction and transfer of electronic data in a synchronous manner, helping referral papers and re-examination appointment papers to be integrated on the VNeID application. Accordingly, data from medical examination and treatment facilities will be transferred to the general system of the Social Insurance and continue to connect to the Ministry of Public Security.
Thanks to this solution, people can easily look up referral papers and follow-up appointments right on the application, reducing complicated administrative procedures.
