In implementing Resolution 72-NQ/TW, the Hanoi Department of Health has identified the interconnection of medical examination and treatment data as a key task, aiming to form a large database, moving towards shared use of laboratory test data, diagnostic imaging, and updating electronic health records throughout the lifecycle.
Based on the implementation at Duc Giang General Hospital, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Dinh Tung - Director of the hospital - believes that digital transformation is not just about changing software or reducing paperwork, but about changing the way the hospital operates, shortening waiting times, increasing professional quality, and most importantly, building trust so that the hospital can "share data" for the benefit of patients.
From the perspective of someone with many years of experience managing major hospitals in Hanoi , what do you consider to be the biggest bottlenecks before digital transformation can be implemented effectively?
To put it briefly, before digital transformation, hospitals faced two major bottlenecks: patient waiting times and information disruptions.
In terms of time, in the past, patients had to queue at the hospital from registration and payment to waiting to be called into the examination room. Each link in the chain was made of paper and human effort.
There are times when waiting times are measured in hours. Even when we try to improve the process, reducing it to just a few tens of minutes, patients still feel exhausted from having to go through many doors, many desks, and many different types of paperwork.
In terms of information, doctors who want to retrieve a patient's old records have to search through the medical record archives, which depends on how the records are stored and documented.
Often, patients forget to bring their medical records or misplace their documents, making it difficult for doctors to get a complete picture of their medical history. For long-term inpatients, piecing together information from multiple previous visits is very time-consuming, and sometimes even impossible.
That's not even considering printed X-ray, CT, and MRI images. To review them, doctors have to search manually, and patients have to keep a lot of paperwork. This method is not only time-consuming and laborious but also reduces professional quality, because information that should be reviewed later is either unavailable, insufficient, or simply... cannot be found.
Following the implementation of digital transformation, what specific changes are patients and medical staff at Duc Giang General Hospital experiencing, sir?
- The first thing to say is that time has been significantly "compressed." Previously, we measured waiting times in hours, then in tens of minutes, but now some processes are measured in minutes, or even in "operations."
Patients arriving at the hospital do not have to repeatedly fill out information. For patients who have previously visited the hospital, the system identifies them via patient code, health insurance card, personal identification code, or facial recognition, and then automatically directs them to the correct examination room.
Next is the electronic medical record system. In Duc Giang, after the digital transformation, any information about patients who have received medical examination and treatment there can be quickly retrieved on the system.
Doctors can review a patient's medical history, prescriptions, past treatment progress, hospitalizations, and previous test results in just a few clicks. This significantly improves professional quality because doctors no longer have to "guess" based on the patient's memory, but have real, complete, and up-to-date data.
With medical imaging, we no longer print films indiscriminately as before. X-ray, CT, and MRI results are stored in the system with QR codes. Patients can view them on their phones, and doctors at other hospitals can also access them if shared. One scan, multiple uses. This saves costs and avoids unnecessary repeated scans.
From a management perspective, digital transformation allows us to "monitor" the hospital in real time.
The number of daily examinations, bed occupancy rates, test volume, and quality indicators are all automatically compiled.
Previously, the General Planning Department had to employ a large workforce to manually search through patient records and compile statistics using Excel. Now, reports are generated from the system in just a few minutes. People can dedicate their efforts to analysis and quality improvement, instead of performing purely data entry and addition tasks.
Could you elaborate on some of the areas where "digitalization" is having the greatest impact on the hospital?
- This includes the management of chronic disease patients and the bidding process.
For chronic diseases, we previously had to spread resources thinly across all patients in the management program; for example, 1,000 people with hypertension or diabetes would all receive almost the same amount of intervention. That approach was very labor-intensive, while the effectiveness was not optimal.
With digital data, we can categorize patients very clearly. The system shows that 80 to 90% of patients are well-controlled, with only 10 to 20% being cases where control targets have not been met.
Therefore, the hospital focuses on having skilled doctors and implementing close monitoring measures for this 10 to 20% group, instead of spreading resources across the entire population. This saves resources, improves treatment quality, and reduces complications.
Regarding medication use, the data allows us to adjust the drug formulation more rationally. Patients who are stable and have a clear treatment plan can use appropriate, cost-effective drug groups, while difficult or unstable cases will be prioritized with newer, more expensive, and more complex medications.
In this way, the drug supply is distributed appropriately, avoiding dispersion that would otherwise increase treatment effectiveness.
In the bidding process, evaluating bids used to be a "mountain of work." Thousands of pharmaceutical products and supplies, hundreds of companies participating, each bid document a thick stack of papers. Staff had to compare every criterion, cross-check every line, and then need someone else to double-check to minimize errors.
Now, with all records digitized, AI algorithms developed by the hospital's own team and technology partners will analyze and filter them according to pre-established criteria.
In just about 10 minutes, the system produces a complete report, ranking, and highlighting areas for attention. Humans aren't replaced, but the shift is from "manual work" to "machine-checking."
The key point is that all these AI tools are "trained" for specific tasks, adhering closely to regulations and procedures. This significantly reduces subjective errors, increases transparency, and shortens processing time considerably.
Given the context of Hanoi implementing a healthcare data exchange system, what do you think is most important for hospitals to trust and truly use each other's data, instead of continuing to do things their own way?
I believe there are three indispensable elements: standards, data quality, and trust.
First and foremost are the standards. The Ministry of Health and relevant authorities have issued common standards regarding data, format, and connectivity. Hospitals must comply with these standards for data to "communicate" with each other.
In Hanoi, we are implementing data interoperability based on platforms previously developed by the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health. Duc Giang Hospital is one of the hospitals participating in the pilot program, initially with 7 units; currently, the interoperability has been expanded to dozens of facilities in the area.
Next is data quality. Data must be "accurate, complete, clean, and active." If these criteria are not met, data interoperability will not deliver real value.
First, the data must be accurate. This means that information about medical examinations, tests, and diagnoses must be correct right from the initial data entry stage. If the data is incorrect, it cannot be used regardless of how well it is interconnected.
Secondly, the data must be sufficient. In healthcare, a patient's medical history is crucial. If the data is incomplete—for example, missing medical history, test results, or treatment progress—then doctors at higher-level hospitals or other facilities cannot rely on it to make professional decisions.
Thirdly, the data must be clean, meaning standardized, free from duplication and noise. If each place enters data differently, and a single patient has multiple different records, then data sharing will be meaningless and may even create further difficulties for professional work.
Data must be live, meaning it must be updated regularly and continuously. Some test results are only valid for a certain period of time. If the data is not updated in a timely manner, doctors will still be forced to order repeat tests to ensure patient safety.
In addition, I would also like to share that data standards must be internationally interconnected to develop international medical tourism and international insurance data interoperability.
Currently, the Ministry of Health has established common standards for data. The issue is that units must strictly adhere to these standards. Only when the data is accurate, complete, clean, and relevant can hospitals trust and use each other's results. Otherwise, even with technical interoperability, doctors will still have doubts and ultimately revert to old practices.
How do you assess the urgency of the task of linking medical data between healthcare facilities in order to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment?
- In reality, before data interconnection, the healthcare system operated on a "each hospital for itself" basis. From the central level, city level, to district and county levels (formerly), health centers, and even private clinics, these facilities practically operated like information "islands," lacking a common platform for sharing patient data.
The most obvious consequence is that patients have to repeat multiple tests and imaging procedures each time they are referred to or switch healthcare facilities. This not only increases costs and prolongs treatment time, but in many cases also directly affects health due to delays in making professional decisions.
From a management perspective, the lack of interconnectedness means that the statistical compilation and aggregation of data on diseases, epidemiology, drug use, and healthcare costs still rely primarily on manual reporting from individual units.
This approach carries the risk of errors, inconsistencies, and especially delays. Without real-time data, it is very difficult for authorities to analyze, forecast, and plan policies, especially in emergency situations such as epidemics or health disasters.
Furthermore, administrative procedures in medical examinations and treatment have become cumbersome. Patients have to queue multiple times to register, pay hospital fees, wait for examinations, be transferred to technical departments, and then wait to receive results. This process is tiring, time-consuming, and significantly reduces the public's experience when accessing healthcare services.
Ultimately, patients are still having to store and carry around a host of documents themselves, from administrative records and old test results to prescriptions from previous visits.
This puts patients in a passive position, lacking connection with the healthcare system and making it difficult for them to access comprehensive, systematic, and continuous information about their own health.
When the system is well-integrated, the first benefit goes to the people. They don't have to carry around thick stacks of documents, and they don't have to repeatedly take photos of newly performed clinical tests.
Doctors at higher-level facilities can immediately review CT scans, MRIs, and test results from lower-level facilities if they meet the required standards. For tests with a limited validity period (only a few days or weeks), the doctor will reconsider based on the patient's current condition. This significantly reduces overall costs for society while maintaining the quality of care.
Digital transformation requires significant investment in both human resources and finances. How has Duc Giang General Hospital prepared its resources?
- In terms of human resources, fortunately, the hospital has a fairly strong internal IT team, and with the attention of the leadership, AI and digital transformation teams were formed early on.
However, internal resources alone are insufficient. We proactively collaborate with domestic technology companies and even invite foreign experts and businesses to share their knowledge. Our view is that a combination of medical expertise and technological capabilities is essential for genuine digital transformation.
Building upon that foundation, the hospital established the Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation Innovation Club. Initially, we didn't expect the club to attract so many members so quickly; it now has over 160 members, including doctors, nurses, department staff, IT engineers, and representatives from several partner businesses.
The club holds regular meetings, each where members present and share initiatives and solutions they are implementing in their respective departments. Some departments have quietly developed excellent laboratory chemical management systems, while others produce highly effective internal quality reports, but previously these were only "good" within the confines of a single department.
When introduced to the club, we select, refine, and scale up the models to the entire hospital. From the hospital level, the most effective models are then transferred to primary healthcare facilities.
To date, Duc Giang is supporting digital transformation in 14 communes and wards. We share our developed internal software free of charge, provide technical support, and offer training. This is also how the hospital contributes back to the healthcare system and the community, rather than just doing it for itself.
Regarding finances, as I mentioned, the costs of information technology and digital transformation are now included in the pricing structure of healthcare services according to government decrees.
Duc Giang General Hospital has been an autonomous unit for a long time, so it has more opportunities for proactive management. But having money isn't enough. If investments are misplaced, if purchases are made haphazardly, waste is very likely.
Therefore, we always require teams, when proposing technological solutions, to carefully consider their effectiveness, scalability, and ability to integrate into the overall data system.
Besides the story of digital transformation and data interoperability, how is Duc Giang General Hospital "innovating" its hospital model in the near future?
- The general trend is towards smart hospitals, but we don't want to understand "smart" as simply having a lot of machines and software. For Duc Giang, a smart hospital must first and foremost be a place where patients clearly feel the convenience, safety, and effectiveness of treatment, and behind that is a whole system of data and supporting technology.
In hospitals, we continue to expand the application of artificial intelligence to patient-oriented processes. For example, smart queuing systems help to better manage patient flow and reduce localized overcrowding.
In diagnostic imaging, we are using several AI software programs to assist in reading X-rays and chest CT scans, and to detect early community-acquired pneumonia or suspected lesions. In laboratory testing, AI can assist in screening for abnormalities and providing early warnings.
In pathology, artificial intelligence helps suggest suspicious areas on specimen slides, allowing doctors to focus more on the points that need closer examination.
But there is one direction we are particularly focusing on, and that is connecting with primary healthcare to build a smart healthcare network.
As I mentioned, we are transferring technological solutions and data management models to 14 communes and wards. When commune health stations can effectively manage chronic diseases, maintain health records, and connect with higher-level hospitals, people will benefit right where they live.
In the future, with the synchronization of personal identification numbers, electronic health records, and healthcare data systems, we hope that people will be able to carry their own "digital medical records" with them wherever they go for medical checkups, instead of carrying stacks of paper files.
At that time, a smart hospital was not just a building with many screens, but an ecosystem in which data was used safely, efficiently, and truly served patients.
Thank you very much for the conversation!
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/con-canh-benh-an-la-oc-dao-giay-tu-bac-si-den-benh-nhan-con-kho-20260207160449328.htm
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