Medical workers conduct COVID-19 testing for staff at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The health sector in HCM City needs to adopt new healthcare technology solutions and embrace digital transformation, a city leader has said.

“With the heavy workloads in healthcare systems, the adoption of cutting-edge technologies will cut costs and workload for health care providers as well as increase efficiency,” said Dương Anh Đức, deputy chairman of the city’s People’s Committee.

The city is encouraging the mainstreaming of technology solutions to improve health service delivery, Đức said at a recent meeting with the city’s health sector.

The health sector must also focus on the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the safety of public health but also economic growth, he said.

Tăng Chí Thượng, deputy director of the city’s Department of Health, said the city’s health sector was controlling the epidemic, improving the quality of healthcare services, and reducing patient overload at hospitals.

The healthcare sector has set 16 specific goals, including 20.2 physicians per 10,000 people and 42 beds per 10,000 people.

It plans to have electronic medical records for 80 per cent of its population and 25 per cent of health stations operating as family medicine clinics.

It is streamlining administrative procedures at hospitals and aiming for higher levels of patient satisfaction, with the goal of 91 per cent, Thượng said.

It has also asked the city’s People’s Committee to allocate capital to buy medical devices and equipment for three district-level general hospitals in Củ Chi, Hóc Môn and Thủ Đức districts.

The healthcare sector has petitioned the city to provide land for the building of Thủ Đức City Hospital, Psychiatric Hospital, Traumatology and Orthopaedics Hospital, and 115 Emergency Centre. — VNS