Deploying electronic medical records: Difficult, still have to do it quickly!

Barriers in capital and technology infrastructure

BAĐT brings many benefits to patients and medical facilities, but the implementation is still very slow because most hospitals face many difficulties in terms of capital; data is still scattered, not shared, and cannot be connected with medical facilities. Along with that, human resources and information technology (IT) are still limited, so it cannot be implemented synchronously but must be implemented in parts, leading to slow progress.

Hanoi has the largest number of medical examination and treatment facilities in the country (with 42 public hospitals), but according to a representative of the Hanoi Department of Health, the entire city has only 10 hospitals that have successfully implemented BAĐT.

According to Dr. Nguyen Khuyen, Director of Van Dinh General Hospital (Hanoi), BAĐT helps optimize the medical examination and treatment process, synchronize information from the time of admission to the time of discharge, save time for doctors and patients, increase transparency and reduce risks for patients. However, the implementation of BAĐT requires careful preparation and adequate financial resources from investment in IT infrastructure, software and staff training.

Bach Mai Hospital doctors guide patients to view health information via electronic medical records

In Ho Chi Minh City, many district hospitals said that the implementation of BAĐT is facing many difficulties because the hospital's IT infrastructure is still very weak, not meeting the requirements of BAĐT software. Higher-level hospitals such as Hung Vuong, Trung Vuong, Hematology and Blood Transfusion... although having better resources, it took a long time to complete BAĐT, which has now been assessed by the Ministry of Health as meeting standards.

The leader of a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City said that data connection is currently facing difficulties because the bidding package for Internet system equipment and information security has not been completed.

“For BAĐT, firstly, software is needed, secondly, the Internet is needed, and thirdly, network security is ensured. Although the Ministry of Health has allowed hospitals to deduct revenue to cover IT costs, it is not included in the price structure, so hospitals mainly spend from savings,” he shared.

Completed by October 2025

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, the city currently has 8/32 city-level hospitals and 3/66 private hospitals with BAĐT. From now until September, according to the Prime Minister's request, 130 hospitals are required to have BAĐT. Currently, hospitals have begun to build IT infrastructure to deploy BAĐT records, gradually forming smart hospitals.

The Department of Health has directed research to find solutions, possibly having a shared BAĐT framework to connect to the Department of Health's data warehouse. This is to shorten the progress, meet the basic BAĐT requirements for some units; at the same time, calculate the connection of data, tests, and paraclinical between hospitals.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that, to date, 142 public and private hospitals nationwide have successfully implemented electronic medical records, without using paper medical records, and more than 70% of hospitals have applied electronic payments. However, the implementation of electronic medical records in hospitals has not met the requirements.

Mr. Tran Quy Tuong, Chairman of the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association, said that to deploy BAĐT, an investment of more than 10 billion VND/hospital is needed. For large-scale hospitals, the investment amount is even larger, this is the obstacle that makes the deployment of BAĐT in units slow.

For autonomous hospitals, IT costs have not been included in the price structure of technical services, so many places are still struggling to find capital. In addition, many hospital leaders have not been proactive in implementing IT, and are still waiting for higher-level management agencies; there are no specific, strong enough sanctions for hospitals that are slow to implement IT according to regulations.

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan has just directed medical examination and treatment facilities nationwide to focus on deploying the electronic health record and health book integrated on the VNeID application before September 30. This is one of the key tasks in the digital transformation strategy of the health sector, aiming to optimize management, improve service quality and ensure information security in health care.

Previously, the Prime Minister also issued Directive No. 07/CT-TTg on "Promoting the implementation of the project to develop applications of population data, identification and electronic authentication to serve national digital transformation in the period of 2022-2025, with a vision to 2030 in ministries, branches and localities in 2025 and the following years".

In the directive, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Health to direct and urge hospitals nationwide to deploy the BAĐT; connect data between hospitals, take advantage of connected data to reduce testing for people and must complete it by September 2025.

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just issued a plan to implement the Project on Developing National Data Applications on Population, Identification and Electronic Authentication to Serve National Digital Transformation in the 2022-2025 period, with a vision to 2030 (Project 06) in 2025 in Ho Chi Minh City. In particular, the Department of Health is required to preside over the implementation of 100% of the BAĐT for hospitals and medical facilities in the city, connecting data, testing, and medical examination and treatment between hospitals according to the instructions of the Ministry of Health.

MINH KHANG - MINH NAM

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/trien-khai-benh-an-dien-tu-kho-van-phai-lam-nhanh-post788575.html