E-medical records to be deployed nationwide by 2021

By 2021, Vietnam will deploy electronic medical records in all medical examination and treatment establishments nationwide, heard a conference on smart healthcare, held by the Ministry of Health (MoH), on September 19.

The management of e-medical records is underway at the University Medical Centre Ho Chi Minh City.
The management of e-medical records is underway at the University Medical Centre Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Head of the MoH’s Information Technology Department, Tran Quy Tuong, smart medical application and development contribute to the modernisation of healthcare services, while giving people easy access to and using the most effective medical services at anytime and anywhere. It also helps to strengthen State management in a scientific, accurate and timely manner, contributing to the completion of the e-government in Vietnam.

The MoH is currently developing the Intelligent Health Scheme during 2018-2025 with the goals of establishing a national healthcare data centre, building an intelligent health management system, establishing a smart system of disease prevention and treatment and applying and receiving the transfer of high technologies in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, vaccines and medical bio-products.

It is expected that during 2018-2021, a legal environment for smart medical application and development will be finalised. By 2019, the national health data centre will be built and, by 2025, the medical sector will complete the construction of specialised medical data centres and infrastructure for linking and sharing health information across the country.

In the 2018-2021 period, the sector aims to prepare the human resource, as well as the financial and legal basis, for the formation of the Vietnam Gene Data Centre.

In Vietnam, the University Medical Centre Ho Chi Minh City is among the most effective in applying IT in medical examinations and treatment. The hospital has implemented many forms of registration for medical examinations via electronic kiosks, websites, mobile devices, telephone hotlines and at the examination tables.

With the introduction of e-medical cards, the hospital helps patients to look up information quickly without requiring cash payments. Especially, when cash payment is needed, this card can pay for food, shopping and even be used to deposit cash at ATMs.

The hospital also implements e-mails and SMS to remind patients of the follow-up visit time, notice of test results and reports on the results of examinations. Discharge from hospital is also more convenient thanks to the application of IT.

Patients and family members can pay in advance for hospital fees through the hospital website and through an app on their cellphones. Patients can pay for hospital fees by swiping the card through an mPOS scanner or QRCODE. The hospital is also offering pre-clinical payment through Paytouch machines located in the facility.