A smart medical kiosk system was officially inaugurated at the Da Nang Hospital on Monday morning, aiming to not only simplify patient access but also create favourable conditions for doctors and medical staff to improve their expertise and better manage patient information.

Delegates cutting the ribbon to inaugurate the smart medical kiosks at the Da Nang Hospital. Photo: LE HUNG

Fast and convenient

The smart kiosk is a way for patients to register for medical examinations and treatments through chip-embedded citizen identification card authentication or VNeID accounts without having to wait for a queue number and be called by name as before.

Pham Viet Vuong, 34, hailing from Gia Lai Province, said that the smart medical kiosk system at the Da Nang Hospital is very reasonable and convenient for patients.

"As before, I had to wait to get a queue number and have my name called to do the examination procedure. Now, it takes only one minute to log in and implement facial authentication to complete the registration procedures,” said Mr. Vuong.

For subsequent medical examinations, patients only need to implement facial authentication to register for medical examination and treatment services. After registration, they immediately receive an examination form and go directly to clinic to do paraclinical technical services.

Mrs. Bui Thi Hoa, who was born in 1965 and is now living in Thanh Khe District, shared the system helped people enter the hospital using facial recognition technology quickly and conveniently.

Doctor Le Duc Nhan, Director of the Da Nang Hospital, said “The solution is very effective for patients. Patients can register for medical examination and treatment very quickly and proactively. Medical staff also have more time to take care of patients. We manage patient data better and fully integrate sufficient data”.

The smart medical kiosk helps people conveniently register for medical examinations and treatment services at the Da Nang Hospital. Photo: LE HUNG

Replication at medical facilities citywide

According to Dr. Le Duc Nhan, the Da Nang Hospital examined an average of 2,000-2,500 outpatients and about 2,500 inpatients each day, so overload was inevitable. Therefore, the system will help the hospital shorten the registering time for patients.

In addition, cashless payment on the system is more convenient, greatly shortening the time for medical examination and treatment registration. “We hope to bring the best medical care services and utilities to people when they come to the hospital for medical examinations and treatment services” said Dr. Nhan.

Dr. Vo Thu Tung, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Health, said that the smart medical kiosk solution is the hospital's input to implement electronic medical records.

The Department of Health has assigned medical facilities to implement electronic medical records. In the immediate future, in 2024, major hospitals in the city must deploy electronic medical records. Moreover, second-class units must achieve level 4 of information technology application according to the circular of the Ministry of Health.

“The operation of smart medical kiosks contributes to solving the problem of digital transformation at the municipal Department of Health, improving the quality of medical examinations and treatment, and reducing people's waiting time. The Department of Health has assigned the Da Nang Hospital to effectively use smart medical kiosks, as well as evaluate the effectiveness of the system for considering the widespread implementation at hospitals in the city in the coming time," said Dr. Tung.

According to Major Dao Dinh Nam, Deputy Director of the Centre for Population Data and Citizen Identification Research and Application under the Ministry of Public Security (MoPS), the smart medical kiosk system is one of the breakthrough programmes, realising specific tasks in the fields of healthcare and banking of the project on developing applications on population, identification and electronic authentication to serve national digital transformation in the period of 2022-2025, with a vision to 2030.

“Smart medical kiosks look very simple, but their meaning and value are extremely great, especially creating data for the medical sector. Currently, with medical kiosks at medical examination and treatment reception locations, clean data sets are created for the medical sector to implement other ecosystems. The value of this data set is also related to many digital transformation activities of the medical sector,” he said.

Reporting by LE HUNG - Translating by M.DUNG