A patient gets treatment at the Long Khánh Regional General Hospital in Đồng Nai Province. VNA/VNS.Photo. Lê Xuân

ĐỒNG NAI— The Đồng Nai Province Department of Health on Monday (August 26) began piloting the maintenance of electronic medical records at the Long Khánh Regional General Hospital.
It plans to expand it to all health facilities in the south-eastern province in future following the trial.
It said maintaining electronic medical records would help save time and cost for both medical authorities and patients.
Patients would not have to preserve and bring all their medical records when visiting health facilities, and even if they lose test results, they could be retrieved at any time. 
Phan Văn Huyên, director of the Long Khánh Regional General Hospital, said the hospital had installed Hospital Information System, Laboratory Information System and Picture Archiving and Communication System software for the purpose.
Phan Huy Anh Vũ, director of the department, said the Long Khánh Regional General Hospital had been chosen for the pilot because it had good infrastructure.
After the trial period the department would assess the IT infrastructure at the Long Khánh Regional General Hospital to calculate the cost of introducing the new system at other health facilities, and then seek the approval of the province People’s Committee for expanding the system to other health facilities around the province. 
The Ministry of Health has introduced the system in Hà Nội, HCM City and the provinces of Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Hà Tĩnh, Khánh Hòa, Lâm Đồng, and Long An, where 90 per cent of all health stations in communes, wards and towns now maintain electronic records. 
It requires all health facilities ranked in the first category –the second highest of four behind ‘special’- to upgrade their IT infrastructure.
By 2028 health facilities throughout the country will go electronic. — VNS