Promoting digital transformation in healthcare

Hospitals in the province are stepping up the application of information technology to standardize procedures for registering for medical examinations and treatment, and for cashless payment of hospital fees…

People register for medical examinations using smart kiosks at Dong Nai Dermatology Hospital. Photo: Hanh Dung

All of this aims to build smart hospitals and improve patient satisfaction when accessing healthcare services.

Building a paperless hospital.

Every day, Dong Nai General Hospital receives 3,000-4,000 outpatients for examination and treatment, and approximately 1,000 inpatients. To shorten the registration time for patients, the hospital has implemented various methods such as registration using chip-embedded citizen identity cards, medical examination cards (One Card), or registration at the counter.

According to Dr. Le Thi Phuong Tram, Deputy Director of Dong Nai General Hospital, the hospital plans to implement a biometric registration system for medical examinations and treatment. Patients will only need to use facial recognition, integrated with their chip-based citizen ID and level 2 health insurance data, to complete the registration process. After registration is complete, the entire examination, diagnosis, and prescription process will be carried out by the doctor on the hospital's information system (HIS). Prescriptions for medication, tests, imaging, and paraclinical services will all be updated and stored directly on this system.

In addition, Dong Nai General Hospital is developing intelligent software integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) to support doctors, especially in the field of diagnostic imaging. In the future, the hospital will gradually implement a system where diagnostic imaging films are no longer printed; instead, results will be sent to patients via a link on their phones and stored in the hospital's data system.

Similarly, once the Laboratory Information System (LIS) is fully implemented, test results will be delivered to patients via a link or scanned copy sent to their phones, instead of being printed on paper as is currently the case.

For inpatients, Dong Nai General Hospital has implemented electronic medical records. “During the transition period, some information still needs to be processed using both electronic and paper records because certain procedures, such as patient and family member signatures or commitment forms, are not yet fully integrated into the software system. However, the hospital is gradually researching solutions to integrate electronic signatures and confirmations, aiming for a paperless hospital in the future,” said Dr. Le Thi Phuong Tram.

For hospital fee payments, Dong Nai General Hospital implements various cashless payment methods for patients, such as One Card payment, dynamic QR code scanning, and other electronic payment methods.

According to Dr. Le Thi Phuong Tram, all of these implementation steps are part of the hospital's digital transformation roadmap, aiming to build a smart hospital model. Once the system is complete, all patient examination and treatment information will be stored in the data system. When patients come for examination, they only need to provide personal information, and doctors can immediately access their medical records in the system.

Bringing satisfaction to patients

Recently, Dong Nai Dermatology Hospital put into use a smart medical kiosk system to implement the Government's Project on Developing Data Applications on Population, Identification and Electronic Authentication to Serve National Digital Transformation in the period 2022-2025, with a vision to 2030 .

The kiosk's main functions include: registering for medical appointments; looking up services and examination costs; surveying patient satisfaction levels; and cashless payment of hospital fees. The kiosk can automatically read information from the patient's chip-embedded citizen ID card or health insurance card, and can use facial recognition to verify patient information. After verification, patients can choose a suitable examination option, such as private service or health insurance coverage, and select a specialty, doctor, and clinic according to their needs.

Regarding hospital fee payments, patients can choose to pay directly at the kiosk using a QR code or other electronic payment methods. The kiosk also supports checking health insurance information such as: card validity period, benefit level, and corresponding medical services. After completing the examination and payment, patients can rate their satisfaction online directly on the kiosk. This is an important tool to help the hospital monitor and improve service quality and enhance the patient experience.

Dr. Dao Tan Hiep, Deputy Director of Dong Nai Dermatology Hospital, shared: "The deployment of smart kiosks brings many practical benefits. For the public, the system saves time, allows for proactive service selection, ensures transparency in costs, and facilitates convenient payment. For the hospital, this is an important step in the digital transformation process, reducing the workload for medical staff and optimizing the data reception and management process."

In addition to deploying the aforementioned kiosk, Dong Nai Dermatology Hospital is also continuing to invest in servers, firewalls, and other equipment to effectively implement electronic medical records in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Health. Simultaneously, they are upgrading their information security system from level 2 to level 3 and deploying several other software programs to improve the efficiency of management, examination, and treatment.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Lien (from Trang Bom commune, Dong Nai province) said: What made her very satisfied when going for a medical examination at Dong Nai Dermatology Hospital was the quick registration process, without having to wait long.

To date, 16 out of 29 medical facilities in the province have implemented electronic medical records. The remaining 13 facilities are continuing the implementation and are expected to complete it before March 31, 2026.

Hanh Dung

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/chuyen-doi-so/202603/ay-manh-chuyen-doi-so-y-te-41803c7/