Up to 90% reduction in paperwork
At 8:00 a.m., after about 5 minutes of checking in at the reception area of Xanh Pon General Hospital, Ms. N. (70 years old, in Hoai Duc) went to wait at the specialist clinic as instructed.
Electronic medical records help doctors at Hoai Duc General Hospital quickly access diagnostic results, facilitating treatment and patient monitoring.
PHOTO: TRAN LAP
According to Ms. Phuong, Ms. N.'s daughter, with chronic respiratory disease, high blood pressure and occasional headaches and joint pain when the seasons change, if the medical records were kept on paper, along with the ultrasound and X-ray results printed on film as before, then after just a few examinations, her mother's medical records would probably weigh up to 2 kg.
"After Xanh Pon General Hospital had electronic medical records , every time my mother had a follow-up visit, her family did not have to bring along X-ray films or test results, because the information was stored on the computer, along with the medical examination code," said Ms. Phuong, adding that during the follow-up visits, her mother only brought her ID card, appointment paper and medical record book.
Information about previous examinations is stored on the computer, including medication prescriptions, making it very convenient and safe for patients.
Officially opened in October 2024, the synchronous deployment of information technology , including electronic medical records , right from the start of operation helps facilitate the management and operation of professional work at Hanoi Children's Hospital .
"Even though we are in a meeting far away, with just a phone in hand, the leadership can grasp the general activities of the hospital : the number of patients coming in and out; the daily income and expenditure, the increase and decrease of diseases, based on the actual number of patients examined and hospitalized each day, through which we can assess the disease trends to have a plan for supplying medicine, materials, and arranging human resources.
For pediatric patients, medicines and medical supplies are very specific and have specific requirements suitable for the disease and age group, so ensuring medicines and supplies for professional work is very important," shared Dr. Ngo Quang Hung, Director of Hanoi Children's Hospital .
As a grade 2 hospital under the Hanoi Department of Health, Hoai Duc General Hospital effectively deploys specialized software systems; invests in and upgrades infrastructure and hardware systems to ensure fast connection, smooth operation, data security and safety; gradually applies electronic payment, digital signature, image storage and transmission to replace film printing, and test information storage to replace paper printing.
The hospital also has kiosks for automatic queue numbers and information lookups (medical examination and treatment prices, hospital news, etc.) to serve people when they come for medical examination and treatment. Patients can make their own appointments at home, register for online examinations, and make cashless payments, etc.
According to experts, implementing electronic medical records and paperless hospitals not only makes management smoother, safer, and more transparent for patients, but also reduces a lot of costs.
Saving money on printing diagnostic imaging results alone can amount to hundreds of billions of dong each year. In addition, billions of dong can be saved on paper and stationery each year due to the reduction of paper records and the move towards a paperless hospital .
Synchronize human resources and infrastructure
According to the digital transformation plan and the construction of a smart healthcare system of the Hanoi healthcare sector, units must focus on developing platforms, systems, and digital data of the Hanoi healthcare sector, effectively deploying national healthcare platforms such as testing management, vaccination management, disease surveillance to manage infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases, supporting online health consultation, connecting people with consulting doctors, connecting experts in the fields of healthcare, food safety, and medical environment management...
Hospitals need to apply electronic medical records and deploy the model. Smart hospital, including application of information technology in hospital operation management; medical quality management; medical human resource management; medical equipment management; financial management; information security management...
According to Dr. Nguyen Dinh Hung, Deputy Director in charge of the Hanoi Department of Health, every year the capital's health system examines and treats nearly 10 million patients, performs surgery on nearly 300,000 patients, saving the lives of many serious illnesses.
In terms of expertise, some of Hanoi's leading hospitals are currently the final hospitals of the Ministry of Health . In particular, Hanoi Heart Hospital is the final line of the Ministry of Health in terms of technical expertise, performing particularly difficult specialized techniques in the cardiovascular field, such as endoscopic surgery to correct congenital heart defects.
With the specialty of oncology, Hanoi Oncology Hospital is the final hospital of the Ministry of Health, currently ranked 2nd nationwide in multinational clinical trials in cancer treatment, thereby giving patients more opportunities to access the most advanced techniques in the world.
At Xanh Pon General Hospital , Hanoi High-Tech and Digestive Center, with modern equipment, highly qualified staff, in which single-incision laparoscopic surgery for choledochal cysts has brought the hospital to world-class status.
Affirming that many advanced techniques have been successfully implemented by hospitals in Hanoi, Director of the Department of Health Nguyen Dinh Hung said: "Hanoi's hospitals need to strengthen connections with leading central hospitals and hospitals around the world. Through that, we will know where we are on the medical examination and treatment map."
Looking at Hanoi's journey towards smart healthcare, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Quy Tuong, Chairman of the Vietnam Informatics Association, former Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management (Ministry of Health), said that public hospitals in Hanoi are making many changes and promoting the application of information technology , moving towards paperless hospitals .
However, to have a smart healthcare system, it is necessary to synchronize the criteria: smart medical examination and treatment, smart disease prevention, and smart healthcare management.
In particular, smart medical examination and treatment requires hospitals to reach level 6 or higher, according to the standards of information technology application criteria in medical examination and treatment facilities issued by the Ministry of Health.
Hospitals use electronic medical records , not paper medical records; at the same time, make electronic payments; telemedicine; use AI in medical examination and treatment.
Currently, less than 50% of Hanoi's public hospitals have implemented electronic medical records - one of the criteria of a smart hospital .
Deploying the "sister" hospital model
By the end of June 2025, Hanoi had 17/41 public hospitals completing electronic medical records . In particular, with the application of synchronous information technology , Hanoi has deployed "sister - brother" hospitals , helping leading hospitals ("sister" hospitals ) provide effective professional support to "younger" hospitals , all the way to the grassroots level.
For example, Xanh Pon General Hospital supports Ba Vi District Hospital and reaches the grassroots medical facility, Ba Vi District Medical Center.
In particular, through the application of information technology ( IT ), Xanh Pon General Hospital can provide comprehensive, daily professional support to many commune-level medical units at the same time.
With this support, Ba Vi General Hospital has implemented a one-way medical examination process without keeping health insurance cards, and received the transfer of thrombolysis techniques.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ha-noi-trien-khai-hang-loat-benh-vien-khong-giay-to-185250701195544681.htm
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