goal of electronic medical records is slow to reach the finish line
Directive No. 07/CT-TTg on "Promoting the implementation of the project to develop the application of population data, identification and electronic authentication to serve national digital transformation in the period of 2022 - 2025, with a vision to 2030 in ministries, branches and localities in 2025 and the following years" requires the Ministry of Health to direct and urge 100% of hospitals nationwide to deploy electronic medical records, while connecting and connecting data between district and provincial hospitals with hospitals under the Ministry of Health, to be completed in September 2025.
According to the Ministry of Health, by September 28, 2025, the whole country will have 672/1,650 medical examination and treatment facilities successfully deploying electronic medical records. From October 1, 2025 to mid-2026, over 140 more medical facilities will officially announce the application of this system.
The leader of a hospital shared that the hospital is facing many difficulties in financial policies and the complexity in the process of purchasing equipment and bidding to deploy electronic medical records.The above situation has delayed the progress, making it difficult to complete the hospital's goal of operating electronic medical records.
In fact, Dong Anh General Hospital had estimated 4-6 billion VND for the project but in reality, it spent about 10 billion VND.Just one month after the test run, the system was attacked by a blogger, all data was deleted, and the system had to be manually re-enterted.Many other major hospitals have also had to wait weeks to fix the problem, and have to temporarily return to the paper recording process.
While waiting for the hospitals to implement, patients continue to have to endure hardship and difficulties when going for medical examination and performing paper medical procedures and records.
Ms. Le Thi Van, 72 years old in Hanoi with a regular diabetes check-up schedule, said: For older adults like us, every time we go for a paper check-up, we can easily lose or get lost. Not to mention paper medical records that cause patients to be involved in cumbersome procedures, duplicate testing and information disclosure risks. Moreover, the handwritten documents on the medicine book are difficult to read, the referral must cover the entire page, easily tearing; people with health insurance often have to supplement many copies of the paper and travel many times. Just forgetting the book would almost mean having to re-examine it from the beginning".
Early implementation of electronic medical records, patients benefit
According to Lao Dong, in reality, any medical facility that deploys electronic medical records early will benefit patients and the hospital itself will also reduce costs significantly.
At the Examination Department, Xanh Pon General Hospital (Hanoi) has made significant changes. If in the past, the area where medical examination registration procedures were carried out was often crowded, creating conditions for thieves to take advantage of theft, now this situation has almost disappeared. The hospital has installed automatic kiosks, just scan the citizen identification card to get the medical examination number.
"The medical examination and treatment procedures are very quick, just need to bring a citizen ID card, do not have to carry many documents, it is very easy. Although there are still as many patients as before, even more, there are no traffic jams or overloads, patients are examined and discharged earlier" - Mr. Nguyen Tuan Linh, Giang Vo ward, Hanoi shared with reporters after experiencing the implementation of electronic medical records at Xanh Pon General Hospital.
Dr. Nguyen Duc Long, Director of Xanh Pon General Hospital, said that the Hospital is the first unit in Hanoi to deploy electronic medical records. After nearly 1 year, the hospital has archived more than 31,000 records, saving over 1 billion VND in printing costs and significantly reducing management human resources. From March 15, 2025, the hospital will stop printing X-rays, CT and MRI results, saving nearly 20 billion VND/year. Currently, 70% of the hospital's revenue is paid non-cash.
Ha Dong General Hospital (Hanoi) is also promoting the application of technology, completely eliminating paper medical records, helping the medical examination and treatment process become faster and more transparent.
At the Examination Department, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ninh (Quoc Oai Commune, Hanoi) said that thanks to automatic kiosks, she only needs to put her citizen identification card on the machine, the information is immediately displayed on the clinic, shortening the waiting time by 30-45 minutes. During peak hours, this system can register for about 60-70 patients per hour, significantly reducing overload. Not only quick registration, test results are also paid directly on the phone.
Promoting digital transformation helps significantly shorten waiting time, improve patient experience, while reducing printing costs, saving human resources for hospitals. This is also an important step to build a smart healthcare system, towards comprehensive health management and care.
In Vinh Long, one of the few localities that do a good job of using electronic medical records, patients have saved a lot of time when going for examination.
Patient Nguyen Van Nhan (55 years old, Long Ho commune) said that just scanning a citizen ID card is an automatic information lookup system, no longer carrying a medical examination book or many documents. Electronic medical records help people save time, reduce the risk of losing documents, and make medical examination and treatment much easier. Dr. Ho Thi Thu Hang - Director of Vinh Long Department of Health - emphasized that medical facilities in the province have replaced paper medical records with electronic medical records, shortening processing time and convenience in health insurance payment.
In Can Tho, Hoa Hao - Medic General Hospital is the first unit to operate electronic medical records from June 6, 2025. In the public system, the O Mon Regional Medical Center has also been successfully implemented and announced by the Ministry of Health on August 15, 2025. As of September 25, 33/58 medical facilities with hospital beds have announced the implementation of electronic medical records.
Mr. Hoang Quoc Cuong - Director of Can Tho Department of Health said that the city also applies Google Appsheet software to evaluate 83 quality criteria according to Decision 6858/QD-BYT and 43 sub-sections of Circular 35/2024/TT-BYT, meeting about 90% of the set target, gradually reducing the use of handmade documents. On September 30, Can Tho will announce electronic medical records and launch the Health Sector Data Portal, marking a strong step forward in digital transformation of healthcare in the Mekong Delta.
Localities need to complete information technology infrastructure
Up to this point, many localities have not yet completed key steps such as upgrading information technology infrastructure, standardizing management software or ensuring data safety and security. The lack of synchronization in technical foundation and IT human resources is still thin and it is difficult to arrange capital, causing the progress of electronic medical records to be slower than planned.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Quy Tuong - Chairman of the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association - said that there are 3 main reasons for the delay. Firstly, many hospital directors and leaders have not been really proactive, still waiting for instructions from higher management agencies. Second, there are not enough strong sanctions for hospitals that are slow to deploy electronic medical records. Third, the financial mechanism for applying information technology in healthcare in general and electronic medical records in particular still lack guidance, the price of medical services is not included in technology costs.
On September 15, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Tri Thuc signed Official Letter 6219/BYT-K2DT to hospitals and bed facilities under the Ministry of Health, provincial/city Departments of Health, hospitals under schools/univesities of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health of ministries and branches, requesting to accelerate the implementation of electronic medical records.
The Ministry of Health emphasized that units need to mobilize the full participation of cadres, civil servants, public employees, and workers, in which the Party Committee and leaders, especially the leaders, play a decisive role. Units must seriously and urgently supplement resources and allocate funding to ensure the completion of the implementation of electronic medical records by September 30, 2025 for hospitals. Other medical examination and treatment facilities with inpatients, day care and outpatients must be completed before December 31, 2026.
Da Nang strives to complete electronic medical records on schedule
A series of hospitals and medical facilities in Da Nang have announced the implementation of Electronic Medical Record ( EMR) to the Ministry of Health, striving to complete before September 30, 2025 according to the Government's roadmap.
Among them, Da Nang Traditional Medicine Hospital is considered a bright spot when implementing the skillful mass mobilization model "Promoting digital transformation". Patients here can register for an online examination via Zalo OA, website, hotline; receive a biometric certificate - facial recognition; receive paraclinical results directly via phone.
In addition, before admission for examination, patients are checked for vital signs, and the measurement results will be automatically entered in the patient's data. After the examination, all paraclinical results will be sent directly to the phone, helping patients easily self-manage, look up their health information, medical conditions and diagnostic results anytime, anywhere.
The Hai Chau Regional Medical Center (Da Nang) said that it has invested in infrastructure and synchronized information such as personal information, medical examination results, paraclinical results, functional exploration results, diagnosis, treatment, care and other relevant information during the treatment process of patients at medical examination and treatment facilities.
"The unit has completed the announcement of electronic medical records to the Ministry of Health but there are currently no specific instructions for referral" - said the Deputy Director in charge of the Hai Chau Regional Medical Center.
In addition, each medical facility is using different software, causing many obstacles in connecting the initially forecast data. This is a big challenge in the goal of synchronizing the system, requiring technological solutions and unified direction from the health sector.
Despite many problems, the reality in clinical departments shows that electronic medical records have significantly reduced procedures, shortened processing time and improved the quality of medical examination and treatment. The announcement of electronic medical records by a series of medical facilities and hospitals in Da Nang to the Ministry of Health shows the city's strong determination in the digital transformation roadmap, towards building a smart, modern healthcare system and taking patients as the center.
Tran Thi
