By September 2026, the whole country has 1,265 medical facilities participating in and implementing the Electronic Medical Records Portal. The Ministry of Health requests to complete the implementation no later than December 31, 2026, moving towards not using paper medical records from 2027.
According to the Ministry of Health, the number of medical facilities deploying electronic medical records has increased from 1,192 units at the beginning of the year to 1,265 units in September 2026. To date, more than 75% of hospitals nationwide have announced the deployment of electronic medical records.
The Ministry of Health requests medical examination and treatment facilities to review the current situation, develop plans and supplement resources to complete the implementation no later than December 31, 2026. From December 1, 27, public and private hospitals will not use paper medical records.
The conversion to electronic medical records is not only to replace paper records with digital records but also to ensure that data is stored, updated, exploited and shared to effectively serve medical examination, treatment and management.
Electronic medical records are expected to help reduce administrative procedures, save time for patients and limit duplication of tests.
Through the electronic system, doctors can quickly access medical history, test results and treatment processes of patients. This is an important basis to support doctors in making appropriate professional decisions.
From a management perspective, digitized data helps hospitals monitor medical examination and treatment activities more conveniently, while creating a platform for connecting and sharing data between medical facilities.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Quy Tuong - Chairman of the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association - said that building a synchronous electronic medical record system nationwide is an urgent requirement in the digital transformation process of the health sector.
According to him, data standardization will help overcome fragmentation between software, while creating a platform for applying artificial intelligence (AI), big data and modern health management solutions.
Although the implementation progress has been accelerated, the Ministry of Health said that some medical facilities have not yet fully met the quality requirements and cannot completely replace paper medical records.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Quy Tuong, many hospitals still have to use paper records and electronic records in parallel. This situation increases the workload, puts pressure on doctors and nurses, and leads to waste of resources.
Therefore, hospitals need to accelerate the conversion process, ensuring that electronic medical records truly replace paper records, instead of forming another system that must operate in parallel.
To achieve the goal, the Ministry of Health requires the heads of medical examination and treatment facilities to be directly responsible for the progress and quality of implementation, and at the same time prioritize resources for this task.
Localities are also required to allocate resources to ensure that medical facilities under their management are completed on time.
The completion of electronic medical records is considered an important step in digital health transformation. When data is standardized and interconnected, electronic medical records not only help replace paper records but also create a foundation for smart hospital development, improve the quality of medical examination and treatment and gradually form a digital health ecosystem.
