Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan has just signed and issued a Directive on promoting the deployment of electronic medical records at medical examination and treatment facilities nationwide.
According to the Ministry of Health, in the past time, the application of information technology and digital transformation in the field of medical examination and treatment has achieved many positive results. In which, electronic medical records initially showed clear effectiveness when helping patients to be more convenient in the medical examination and treatment process, and at the same time supporting medical facilities to improve professional quality, management and administration efficiency.
To date, over 75% of hospitals nationwide have announced the implementation of electronic medical records. In addition, most localities have also developed implementation plans according to the direction of the Politburo, the National Assembly, the Government and the Ministry of Health.
Promoting the implementation of electronic medical records is carried out on the basis of many important documents such as the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment; Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW of the Politburo on strengthening the protection, care and improvement of people's health; Decision No. 06/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister on developing applications of population data, electronic identification and authentication to serve national digital transformation; along with Circular No. 13/2025/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health guiding the implementation of electronic medical records.
However, the Ministry of Health also frankly acknowledges that in some localities and many medical examination and treatment facilities, the implementation of electronic medical records still does not meet quality requirements. Some places, although they have been implemented, cannot completely replace paper records in daily medical examination and treatment activities.
To overcome these shortcomings, the Minister of Health requested units throughout the industry to identify the implementation of electronic medical records as a key, important and core task at each medical examination and treatment facility. Heads of units must be directly responsible, and at the same time prioritize resources and drastically organize implementation to ensure completion on schedule, on schedule and with quality.
According to the Directive, the Departments of Health of provinces and centrally-run cities and health units under ministries and sectors are responsible for advising the People's Committees of provinces and cities or managing agencies to prioritize allocating resources and support medical examination and treatment facilities under their management to soon complete the implementation of electronic medical records.
For hospitals and medical examination and treatment facilities, the Ministry of Health requests to review and re-evaluate the current situation, develop specific implementation plans, and at the same time mobilize and supplement sufficient resources to complete the application of electronic medical records no later than December 31, 2026.
Notably, the Ministry of Health set a very clear timeline: From January 1, 2027, hospitals, including both public and private hospitals, will not use paper medical records. This is considered a major milestone in the digital transformation process of Vietnam's health sector.
Along with that, the Minister of Health also requested agencies and units under the Ministry and the National Health Information Center to continue to review, update, and supplement relevant professional guidance to ensure that the deployment of electronic medical records is carried out promptly, uniformly, and on schedule.
The Ministry of Health assigns the Department of Science and Technology and Training to monitor, inspect, urge and summarize, and report on the implementation of the Directive throughout the sector.
