Hospitals are gradually completing the electronic medical record process
Ho Chi Minh City with a large scale of hospitals and medical examination and treatment facilities including: 164 hospitals, 38 regional health centers, 168 commune health stations and 296 stations, 10,627 clinics (including 417 general clinics), the synchronous implementation of electronic medical records and ensuring progress at all hospitals and medical examination and treatment facilities under the direction of the Prime Minister is truly a huge challenge for the entire health system of the city.
For example, Ho Chi Minh City Dental and Maxillofacial Hospital has officially announced the implementation of electronic medical records since May 2025. According to MSc. Dr. Nguyen Duc Minh - Director of Ho Chi Minh City Dentistry Hospital, currently about 92% of medical records have been digitized, only a small part is still maintained on paper because the system needs time to be completed.
Electronic medical records bring many advantages, especially quick operation, saving time for both doctors and patients. However, the first stage also encountered difficulties when the medical team was not used to input data, leading to increased work pressure. After being guided and introduced, everyone noticed the obvious effectiveness, Mr. Minh shared.
To successfully implement, the hospital has focused on preparing human resources, especially the information technology team. Each department and department must add more IT staff to directly support doctors and nurses. In addition, the IT department regularly goes to the department to provide timely guidance and handle problems, said Mr. Minh.
Regarding investment, the hospital has spent more than 22 billion VND on hardware and software systems, while complying with regulations on three-level data Backup, including on-site storage, on cloud platforms and at Backup facilities 5-6 km away.
Thanks to this system, the time for patients to complete procedures has been significantly shortened, bringing clear satisfaction, Mr. Minh emphasized.
Ho Chi Minh City health sector seeks many solutions to develop electronic medical records
deeply recognizing the necessary requirements of electronic medical records and standardizing the data warehouse of the health sector, the Ho Chi Minh City Health Sector has organized many training programs, technical guidance and support to help hospitals proactively implement at each hospital.
According to Mr. Tran Duc Dinh - Acting Head of the Department, Department of Information Technology, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, up to now, 153 out of 164 hospitals have deployed electronic medical records, reaching a rate of more than 93% of the entire system.
If we consider the scope of application, the rate of hospitals implementing hospital-wide electronic medical records is high, of which 64% of public hospitals and 65% of private hospitals have completed the entire hospital scale. In terms of investment, most hospitals choose to hire information technology services to optimize costs.
A highlight in the recent period is the pilot implementation of a breakthrough solution by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health to help some public hospitals encounter many resource difficulties when building electronic medical records, which is a solution using a shared electronic medical records platform.
This solution is considered a safe haven for hospitals, helping to synchronize data between hospitals, connect with the city's health data warehouse and form a management, monitoring and analysis tool for health data. The platform not only serves each individual hospital but also creates a comprehensive picture of the public health situation to help plan policies and forecast future health trends.
However, hospitals are still facing many difficulties and problems, so there should be practical policies and solutions to help solve the gap in technology infrastructure between facilities, supplement human resources in information technology for hospitals and the cost of operating electronic medical records needs to be correctly and fully included in hospital fees soon, Mr. Tran Duc Dinh added.
