Hanoi (VNS/VNA) -  Electronic medical record data will be connectedamong hospitals and health facilities across the country from July 1.

Nguyen Truong Nam, deputy head of the Information and Technology Department,under the Ministry of Health, said electronic medical records had beenbuilt since 2019 by three units – the department, Viettel Telecom and the VietnamPosts and Telecommunications Group.

Currently, electronic medical records are not connected between hospitals andhealth facilities in 50 provinces and cities nationwide, he said.

Nam said following the ministry’s requirements, the data must be connectedamong the hospitals and health facilities from July.

Service providers were told to create accounts and provide security codesfor each individual so they can access their electronic medical records andupdate their data from July 1, Thanh Nien (YoungPeople) newspaper reported.

At first, electronic medical records would update data of each individual’soutpatient examinations, he said.

The data was believed to be a basis for doctors to track the progress of apatient’s health, he said.

When the electronic medical records are connected among health facilities inthe country from July 1, patients would not have to bring printed medicalrecords with them for follow-up examinations, he said.

Notably, the electronic medical records would include the COVID-19 vaccinationdetails of each individual, including injection time and post-injectionreactions to serve vaccine passport creation, he said.

Electronic medical records would, however, lack updated data for inpatientexamination and treatment. It was complex to update this kind of data becauseof a lack of consensus among hospitals, he said.

Tran Quy Tuong, head of the department, said the electronic medical recordswould help people manage their health data for a lifetime.

The electronic medical record was not only a store of personal health data butalso support for the health sector to get complete and accurate health data ofpeople in the country, he said.

He said if managed well, the data could improve quality of life and reducetreatment costs by diagnosing people with diseases earlier./.