Hanoi accelerates digital transformation in healthcare

The list of 25 completed public hospitals includes: Xanh Pon, Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hanoi Oncology, Dong Anh, Van Dinh, Hoe Nhai, Soc Son, Ba Vi, Quoc Oai, My Duc, Hanoi Children's Hospital, Ha Dong, Vietnam - Cuba, Nam Thang Long, Phu Xuyen, Hoai Duc, Me Linh, Son Tay, Dong Da, Chuong My, Thuong Tin, Phuc Tho, Thach That, Hanoi Heart and Hanoi Kidney.

Electronic medical records optimize management processes, reduce operating costs, enhance information security, and demonstrate professionalism in healthcare services.

Furthermore, among the 48 private hospitals in the area, only 9 have implemented electronic medical records, achieving a rate of 18.75%. This is a low number, indicating that this group of hospitals is facing the risk of not meeting the government 's requirements on schedule.

Faced with the above situation, the Hanoi Department of Health organized a progress commitment signing with representatives of hospital leaders, requiring each unit to be responsible for completing electronic medical records on time. The signing of the commitment demonstrates the consensus and high determination of the entire health sector in the capital in the goal of comprehensive digital transformation.

According to Dr. Nguyen Dinh Hung, Deputy Director in charge of the Hanoi Department of Health, electronic medical records bring many practical benefits to both patients and healthcare facilities.

For patients, digitized medical records help minimize paperwork, make it easy to look up information through electronic health records, save time on medical examinations and treatments, and proactively monitor their long-term health status.

For medical staff, the electronic system helps to look up records quickly and accurately, supports effective diagnosis and treatment, and minimizes medical errors. Doctors signing digitally instead of writing by hand not only saves time but also supports remote consultation and shares professional information more conveniently.

For hospitals, electronic medical records help optimize management processes, reduce operating costs, improve information security and demonstrate professionalism in medical examination and treatment activities. According to estimates, hospitals can save tens of billions of dong each year by reducing paper printing, film printing, physical record storage...

To ensure progress and effectiveness of implementation, the Hanoi Department of Health requested the Ministry of Health to continue to direct strongly, especially with the group of non-public hospitals. Directors and heads of units need to promote the pioneering role in digital transformation, proactively removing difficulties and obstacles in the implementation process.

Furthermore, the Department also emphasized the importance of strengthening communication and raising awareness about digital transformation throughout the system, including officials, staff, and workers at healthcare facilities.

Each unit needs to prioritize investment in technology infrastructure, human resources, and other resources to complete the electronic medical record system before September 30th, while simultaneously implementing the digital transformation of all medical examination and treatment activities according to the directed roadmap.

Previously, at the end of July 2025, according to a report from the National Center for Health Information (Ministry of Health), up to now, only 212 medical facilities nationwide have officially announced the implementation of EMR, accounting for about 7.5% of the total of more than 2,800 public medical facilities. This is a rather modest number compared to the requirements.

In reality, the implementation of EMR in medical facilities still faces many difficulties. One of the biggest barriers is the financial problem.

Autonomous hospitals must find their own funding sources for software, servers, terminals, data storage and digital signature costs. However, there are currently no regulations to include information technology costs in the price of medical examination and treatment services, making investment planning difficult.

Furthermore, many hospitals reported that they are still struggling due to a lack of legal framework and specific regulations regarding economic and technical standards for information technology investment packages such as RIS/PACS or digital signatures.

This significantly impacts the procurement, deployment, and operation of the system. The lack of dedicated IT personnel also poses numerous challenges in maintaining and utilizing the EMR system.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Quy Tuong, Chairman of the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association, said that the biggest problem is the financial mechanism, because to deploy EMR, hospitals need to invest a lot in technology infrastructure, but not all hospitals have enough capital. Therefore, the number of hospitals deploying EMR is still modest compared to the total number of medical examination and treatment facilities nationwide.

Despite the many challenges, with the determination of healthcare facilities and the support of the Government, digital transformation in healthcare will certainly be an important step forward, contributing to improving the quality of healthcare for the people.

On the part of the Ministry of Health, this agency is coordinating with relevant ministries and branches to research and adjust policies, including adding information technology costs to management costs in hospital fees, and at the same time issuing technical standards and instructions on the use of EMR, RIS/PACS, digital signature systems... to create a complete legal corridor for medical facilities to deploy EMR in a unified and effective manner.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/ha-noi-tang-toc-chuyen-doi-so-y-te-d383746.html