Taking photos of patients registering for medical examination: Many hospitals and private clinics in Ho Chi Minh City have been doing this for a long time.

In Ho Chi Minh City, many private hospitals and clinics have been taking photos of patients when registering for medical examination for many years now. This is to improve the quality of patient service.

People go to get health insurance check-ups at a hospital in Hanoi - Photo: HA QUAN

As reported by Tuoi Tre Online , regarding the hospital having to take photos of patients when examining health insurance at Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health recently had more information.

There must be a complete process for securing patient information.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, in the case of using images to compare with the population database, related systems must ensure full compliance with legal regulations on security and safety of personal information.

It is a practical need for hospitals to proactively take pictures of patients to enhance identification, avoid patient confusion and improve management efficiency.

However, this activity is within the scope of responsibility of medical examination and treatment facilities and must be strictly implemented in accordance with the provisions of law, specifically as follows:

Clause 2, Article 69 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 stipulates: medical examination and treatment facilities are responsible for storing, securing and only using electronic medical records for the purpose of medical examination and treatment; they must not be used for the wrong purpose or contrary to the provisions of law.

Decree No. 13/2023/ND-CP of the Government on personal data protection clearly states: the collection and use of personal data, including images, must have clear and transparent explanations and voluntary consent of the data owner.

Thus, taking pictures of patients during medical examinations is only allowed when the patient is fully informed about the purpose of use, scope of storage and the right to personal data protection.

At the same time, the patient's consent is required. This should not be considered a mandatory condition for receiving medical examination and treatment, especially in health insurance medical examination and treatment.

The city's health sector does not encourage the implementation of patient photography in cases where medical facilities have not fully developed procedures and do not have regulations on personal information security.

If the hospital wants to use images to identify patients to manage health insurance cards and improve the quality of medical examination and treatment, the Department of Health recommends developing a specific plan and sending it to the department (functional departments) for guidance and assessment on legality, procedures, security and privacy, ensuring compliance with current laws.

How do hospitals and clinics operate?

Mr. Vo Duc Chien, director of Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital, said that the hospital is gradually transforming digitally. The hospital is qualified to deploy electronic medical records to improve the quality of patient care.

Because Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital has met the conditions to ensure patient information confidentiality, the hospital is carrying out patient identification by image entirely for the benefit of the patient community; helping the medical team ensure "right person - right disease - right medicine - right testing and treatment process", reducing errors in the medical examination and treatment process.

Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Thu, director of marketing and business development at FV Hospital, said that whether or not a patient has a health insurance card, when they come to register for examination and treatment at FV Hospital for the first time, they need to go through the patient registration procedure.

In this process, the hospital will take a picture of the patient using a regular camera connected to the hospital management system. The patient's facial image will be stored along with other personal information in the patient's record.

The purpose of capturing and storing facial images is to accurately identify patients, help minimize errors in the medical examination and treatment process, and ensure safety in medical care. The hospital has implemented this since 2016.

The leader of another private clinic in Ho Chi Minh City also said that he had started taking photos of patients when they came for medical examinations five years ago to avoid confusion between patients.

Why are public hospitals only now adopting this procedure? Doctors say that because the number of patients visiting public hospitals is very large, taking photos to identify patients takes more time and is more expensive, so hospitals need time to prepare.

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THUY DUONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chup-hinh-benh-nhan-dang-ky-kham-benh-nhieu-benh-vien-phong-kham-tu-o-tp-hcm-da-lam-tu-lau-2025073009293058.htm