A technology solution for hospital data management is showcased at a meeting held last week. Photo nld.com.vn

HCM CITY — The exchange of clinical information among health providers should be facilitated to improve the quality of patient care and delivery of services and reduce the cost of care, experts have said.

Data sharing among hospitals needs to be fostered with the rising use of electronic health records that allow physicians to enter a patient’s record number and view the patient’s medical history, current medications, images and reports of diagnostic procedures, according to Dr. Phan Xuân Trung from Medic Medical Centre.

"Data sharing among hospitals also makes it easier for patients to access remote health examinations and revisits to their physicians," Trung said at a roundtable meeting held  on October 22.

"The electronic health record enables clinicians to exchange and continuously update a patient’s clinical data.

"Hospitals need to use specialised software that integrates information from all departments of a hospital to facilitate the exchange of clinical information and connected healthcare," he said.

Hứa Phú Doãn, deputy director of the Medical Technical Consultation Centre, said that health authorities needed to create regulations on the exchange of clinical information as part of an assessment of a hospital’s digital transformation.

Digital transformation in the healthcare sector is the integration of digital technology into all aspects of how patients, healthcare providers and regulators interact and coordinate, according to Doãn.

Nguyễn Hữu Tùng, deputy chairman of the Medical Practitioner Society in HCM City, said that information technology adoption rates across healthcare systems remained low.

It was vital to replace paper-based information systems with the implementation of digital transformation in hospital data management, he said. —VNS