A platform for creating, viewing, and sharing electronic health records has been rolled out in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam.

On 28 June, the city rolled out its EHR platform. According to a state media report, the platform enables relevant authorities, including doctors, to access the health information of individual patients, who also have the right to opt in or out of sharing their records. 

The implementation follows the synchronisation of the health records of over 1.2 million Hanoi citizens on the e-identification application, VNeID.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

Vietnam started mandating the digitisation of health records in public health facilities in 2019. Until last year 2023, EHRs were introduced in major hospitals. From this year up to 2028, all health facilities and hospitals in Vietnam are expected to move away from paper records.

Last year, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health passed a decision to implement the Vietnam EHR Platform, which conforms with HL7 FHIR interoperability standards.

Hanoi is currently exploring options to enable the sharing of the health information of its citizens with the AI-driven Smart Health Operation Centre. As part of the digital transformation of its health system, the city government also plans to deploy big data, AI, and analytics models to analyse and assess disease situations and trends.