Medical staff guide a patient in registering for medical examinations at Bạc Liêu Civilian Military Hospital in Cà Mau Province.— VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The health sector will press ahead with legal reform and digital transformation as part of a sweeping overhaul of the national health care system this year.

The Ministry of Health will prioritise amendments to the Law on Donation, Removal and Transplantation of Human Tissues and Organs and the Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms.

It will also issue and update professional and technical guidelines governing medical examination and treatment.

The measures are aimed at implementing Politburo Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW on comprehensive reform of public health protection, care and improvement.

Under the resolution, the health care system is tasked with refining institutional frameworks, accelerating digital transformation and raising service quality.

Hà Anh Đức, Director of the ministry's Medical Service Administration, said institutional reform had been identified as a central priority to create a coherent legal framework capable of meeting the sector’s development needs in a new phase.

The ministry will expand telemedicine services, step up training and technical support for lower-level facilities and continue transferring advanced medical techniques to provincial hospitals.

Decentralisation will go hand in hand with stronger inspection and supervision to ensure professional standards and effective governance.

Projects on out-of-hospital emergency care, technical support and transfer and the establishment of a Proton radiotherapy centre are being drafted and submitted for approval to strengthen system capacity.

Digital acceleration

Digital transformation in medical examination and treatment has been defined as a strategic priority, with the long-term goal of building a comprehensive health care data ecosystem.

The ministry has completed three core databases covering medical practitioners, health care facilities and electronic prescriptions.

Nearly 120,000 clinical and paraclinical terminologies have been standardised, laying the groundwork for nationwide electronic medical records and the eventual harmonisation of laboratory systems.

Standardising professional terminology will facilitate data connectivity across all levels of care and support the application of artificial intelligence in diagnosis, treatment and hospital management.

According to Đức, digitalisation is helping to enhance preventive capacity, ease overcrowding at top-tier hospitals and improve hospital management productivity.

Hospital Information Systems, Electronic Medical Records and online booking platforms have been rolled out across most central hospitals and a large proportion of provincial facilities, moving towards a paperless hospital model.

The sector is also working to complete a national medical examination and treatment database in line with the revised Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, deploy a unified national information management system and finalise electronic health records across healthcare facilities.

Efforts to interconnect laboratory results, expand the use of electronic health books on the VNeID platform and implement Project 06 are being intensified to strengthen governance and public service delivery.

Administrative reform is being reinforced through the adoption of standardised ISO procedures, the simplification and reduction of administrative requirements and the digitisation of records and processing results to enhance transparency and shorten handling times.

Primary care at the core

In line with Resolution 72, the sector will place grassroots health care at the foundation of the system, prioritise prevention and adopt science and technology-based governance.

The ministry is developing a nationwide periodic health screening plan aimed at early disease detection, reducing treatment burdens and lowering social costs.

Medical tourism development programmes for 2026–30 and strengthened out-of-hospital emergency services will continue, targeting a multi-tiered healthcare service model.

Đức said the sector would continue implementing the basic hospital quality criteria and synchronise solutions to reduce overcrowding.

Quality assessment results will be linked to medical service pricing and health insurance payments.

Greater emphasis will also be placed on recognising and sharing laboratory and paraclinical test results between facilities.

Inspection and supervision of healthcare providers will be conducted regularly, alongside close coordination with relevant agencies and local authorities in managing practising certificates, operating licences and private health care services.

Professional tasks relating to laboratory quality, antimicrobial resistance, infection control, nursing capacity building, forensic medicine, forensic psychiatry and compulsory treatment will be implemented in a coordinated manner.

The ministry is drafting Advanced Hospital Quality Standards aligned with international benchmarks while remaining suited to Việt Nam’s conditions, focusing on professional excellence, patient safety and public satisfaction.

Top-tier central hospitals have mastered a range of advanced techniques, including multi-organ transplantation, robotic surgery, nuclear medicine-based cancer treatment, stem cell applications and modern assisted reproduction.

Many of these techniques have been transferred to lower-level facilities, helping to reduce pressure on central hospitals and strengthen grassroots healthcare.

Beyond technical expertise, improvements have been noted in professional conduct, medical ethics and staff responsibility.

Patient satisfaction surveys, codes of conduct in medical facilities and soft skills training programmes are being implemented system-wide.

Đức highlighted the expansion of telemedicine in 2025 as a particular bright spot.

The satellite hospital network has continued to prove effective, enabling residents in remote and disadvantaged areas to access high-quality services without referral to central hospitals.

The ministry is also drafting a resolution on special mechanisms and policies for Bạch Mai Hospital and Việt Nam - Germany University Hospital, creating conditions for the two leading institutions to strengthen their roles as national hubs for training, technology transfer, research and international integration. — VNS