Da Nang are applying electronic medical records in some medical establishments in active response to the Ministry of Health-approved Circular which took effect at the start of March. Electronic medical record is the systematised collection of patient and population electronically-stored health information in a digital format.

Medical examination in progress at the Da Nang General Hospital

Since the start of this year, the Da Nang Maternity and Paediatrics Hospital has set up electronic medical software on a trial basis.

According to Mr Phan Bao Son, the Deputy Head of Information Technology at the hospital remarked that keeping medical records in an electronic database benefit both hospitals and its patients.

Using the electronic medical records, doctors will have instant access to information about their patients, including blood group, diseases or even if they are allergic to certain medicines, thereby making it even more efficient for doctors to make early diagnosis and easily monitor symptoms. Meanwhile, patients no longer have to carry all of their written medical records every time they go to hospital as the doctors have already known about their health conditions.

In a similar vein, as a first-class medical facility, the Da Nang General Hospital is implementing the remaining tasks in its ongoing electronic medical record building  project. Doctor Vo Thi Thu Ha, the Head of General Planning Department of the hospital said, about 70% of the workload has been completed to date.

In terms of the perspective of professional management, electronic medical records help the hospital leaders better control the process of examination and treatment at specialised wards. In addition, the software system will reduce admission and discharge procedures, as well as handle health insurance payment more conveniently and scientifically.

When the technology is applied, healthcare workers spend less time on unnecessary admin procedures and more time on patient care,

The IT application helps to simplify compulsory medical procedures at the Da Nang General Hospital

However, the current implementation of electronic medical records still faces many difficulties due to both objective and subjective factors. According to Mr Phan Bao Son, the first challenge is that the information technology infrastructure of the medical establishment needs the funding to be upgraded.

Besides, the picture archiving and communication system (PACS), a medical imaging technology which provides economical storage and convenient access to images from multiple modalities, is considered to be the compulsory “databank” for building electronic medical records. It is difficult for medical establishments to procure such a system worth tens of billions of VND.

According to the Ministry of Health-approved Circular, electronic medical records must include information from old paper records and the signatures of people in charge of information accuracy.

Medical facilities must ensure personal information privacy as stated in the online information security law and update the records no later than 12 hours after patients have health checks or are hospitalised.

In case a check-up lasts more than 12 hours or a technical problem occurs, the deadline for recording updates is no more than 24 hours.

The electronic medical record application will follow two periods. From 2019 to 2023, first-class healthcare facilities must upgrade their systems to apply the technology. Other facilities should make preparations to get ready for the application.

From 2024 to 2028, all healthcare facilities across the country will have to replace paper medical records with electronic records.