Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan addresses the international conference on digital healthcare in Hanoi on November 8. (Photo: People's Army daily) The hybrid event on November 8 - 9 was put on by the Vietnam Military - Civil Medicine Association, the Health Strategyand Policy Institute under the Vietnamese Ministry of Health (MoH), and theIverson Health Innovation Research Institute at the Swinburne University ofTechnology of Australia.
In Vietnam, digital transformationand the building of a digital government, a digital economy and a digitalsociety are identified as an important pathway for the country. In the digital transformationprogramme for the health sector by 2025 with a vision to 2030, the MoH targets thatsmart healthcare will have taken shape by 2025 with the three focuses of smartdisease prevention, smart medical examination and treatment, and smart healthadministration.
Inhis remarks at the conference, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan said digitaltransformation is a focal task of the health sector, which needs to prioritiseresources for boosting information technology and digitaltransformation to improve specialised capacity, management effectiveness, andpeople’s access to medical services.
He emphasized the necessity for the engagement, resources, and wisdom of theentire health sector, people, and enterprises, as well as the cooperation andassistance from international partners.
Assoc. Prof. and Dr. Tran Quy Tuong,Chairman of the Vietnam Health Informatics Association, noted digitaltransformation in health care is intended to help people better access and usehighly effective medical services, and receive continuous and life-long healthprotection, care, and improvement. It will contribute to a modern, quality,equal, and effective health system well integrating into the world.
However, the process is facing anumber of difficulties, including poor infrastructure that hinder the application of electronic medical records in many hospitals, and the shortage of a financialmechanism for IT application in healthcare. Other limitations include limited IT skills of medical workers,the shortage of IT manpower as well as standardsand guidance for connecting data among medical information systems, Tuongpointed out.
Assoc. Prof. and Dr. Pham Le Tuan,Chairman of the Vietnam Military - Civil Medicine Association, considered theconference as the start of the cooperation between scientists and experts ofVietnam and Australia to help Vietnam build a national action plan on digitaltransformation in health care.
Atthe event, participants shared experiences in developing and applyingdigital health apps, managing health data, using the internet for telemedicine,and digitalising primary healthcare. This is also a chance for insiders tointroduce their Industry 4.0 technological products for the healthcare industry./.
VNA
