Digitalizing synchronous health records
According to BS.CKII Luong Thanh Tung - Deputy Director of Binh Dan Hospital HCMC - the hospital is one of the units that early implemented electronic medical records in HCMC, starting from 2013. In the early stages, the hospital digitized more than 20 forms in medical records. When the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment and new regulations of the Ministry of Health were promulgated, the number of forms increased to about 70, requiring the system to be upgraded and data standardized. All forms were converted from paper records to digital forms, integrated into hospital management software.
Not only end-line hospitals, many other medical facilities in Ho Chi Minh City are also promoting the digitization of medical records.
At Le Van Thinh Hospital, the daily medical examination and treatment data of thousands of patients is updated and stored on the computer system. The hospital also deploys kiosks to support people to self-register for examination and pay hospital fees, contributing to reducing waiting times.
However, the deployment of smart healthcare still faces many difficulties. Master Nguyen Thi Thai Hoa - Head of IT Department of Le Van Thinh Hospital - said that the deployment of smart healthcare faces difficulties due to the lack of knowledgeable human resources, the system is old after many years of use, while the upgrade cost is high.
To synchronize the digitization of health records, Ho Chi Minh City is gradually implementing Resolution 72 to promote transformation and improve the quality of health care.
Data Interconnection: Foundation for predictive and accurate medical treatment
Previously, Ho Chi Minh City had implemented many key projects such as community health, smart healthcare, improving CDC capacity, developing out-of-hospital emergency care, pharmaceutical industry and high-quality human resources policies.
After merging with Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, the scale of the Ho Chi Minh City health system has been significantly expanded, with 114 public non-business units; including 17 units guaranteed by the budget for regular expenditures, 45 units partially self-guaranteed, 45 units fully self-guaranteed and 7 units self-guaranteed for both regular expenditures and investment.
According to Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, Ho Chi Minh City has deployed the standardization of the entire industry's health data warehouse, with the coordination of the Department of Science and Technology and the Digital Transformation Center. Hospitals not only deploy electronic medical records but also unify data standards, gradually connecting and transferring data to the city's common system.
Currently, medical examination and treatment data has begun to be centralized at the data warehouse of the Ho Chi Minh City Digital Transformation Center. This is considered an important step to form a digital health ecosystem, helping medical facilities to share information and support each other in diagnosis and treatment.
According to Dr. Chau, digitalization and data interconnection not only help improve management efficiency but also create a platform for analyzing and forecasting disease trends. This is an important basis for the health sector to shift from passive treatment to proactive disease prevention, while improving the quality of people's healthcare.
In the coming time, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to improve data infrastructure, increase connectivity of routes and integrate electronic health records. When operating synchronously, medical data will become a common resource, serving patients and management.
Each citizen will have a unique electronic health record
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health said that it has coordinated with units to deploy electronic health records for all people on the Digital Citizen Application. Each person has a unique record attached with identification code, updated data from medical examination and treatment facilities, displayed centrally for easy lookup.
The system is deployed in 4 steps: Creating information, updating data, synchronizing display and using. Localities monitor progress through dashboards, associated with health management by area.
