Save on printing
Currently, Viet Duc Friendship Hospital has not announced specific information about the amount of money saved thanks to the application of electronic medical records. However, according to some sources, the hospital has completed about 90% of the necessary items to deploy this system.
The application of electronic medical records brings many benefits, such as reducing medical errors, saving costs on printing and storing paper records, as well as improving the quality of medical services. For example, E Hospital has saved about 200 million VND per month by not printing films when implementing the medical image storage and transmission system.
Although there are no specific figures from Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, based on the experience of other hospitals, the implementation of electronic medical records is expected to help the hospital save a significant amount of money each year.
Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co - Director of Bach Mai Hospital - said that the application of electronic medical records at Bach Mai Hospital brings many benefits, including significant cost savings. For example, reducing printing and storage costs because the conversion from paper records to electronic records helps reduce the need to print documents and films, thereby saving costs for both the hospital and the patient. It is expected that this can save tens of billions of VND each year for the health budget. In addition, it is possible to optimize resources and space by minimizing the use of documents, helping to avoid wasting resources, human resources and storage space.
At Thanh Son District Medical Center (Phu Tho Province), each year the unit spends more than 1.1 billion VND to import films to print for patients. In the first 10 months of 2024, Phu Tho Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital printed about 52,100 X-ray films, more than 3,300 CT and MRI films. The average cost of purchasing films is about 26,000 VND/film, not including the cost of ink, electricity, etc.
Expanding the application of electronic medical records
Besides saving money, electronic medical records are considered the optimal solution for hospitals and treatment facilities today.
Associate Professor, Dr. Dao Xuan Co added that minimizing the use of paper helps avoid wasting resources, human resources and storage space, thereby optimizing hospital operations; management is more effective because electronic medical records allow for synchronous management of patient information, helping doctors easily access and track medical examination and treatment history, thereby improving the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment; reducing inconvenience for patients...
Despite the many benefits, the implementation of electronic medical records still faces some challenges such as initial investment costs, data security and consensus among medical staff. To overcome these challenges, it is necessary to have support from the government, preferential policies and training programs to improve the skills of doctors and nurses in using technology.
The Ministry of Health has asked research units to propose perfecting policy mechanisms, especially regulations on information technology costs and prices when implementing PACS...
Electronic medical records are not only a "salvation" for hospitals and treatment facilities today, but also a solid foundation for the sustainable development of the healthcare industry. Applying this solution not only contributes to improving the quality of healthcare services but also creates conditions for building a modern, intelligent and patient-centered healthcare system.
