Digital transformation in health care - irreversible trend

Digital transformation in health care - irreversible trend, Illustrative image (Source: suckhoedoisong.vn)

Hanoi – An official of the Ministry of Health has called digital transformation in health care an irreversible trend.

Associate Professor, Dr. Phan Le Thu Hang, Deputy Director of the Department of Financial Planning, held that the Fourth Industrial Revolution and smart medical solutions will help Vietnam concertedly improve its health coverage, service quality, and medical costs, dubbed the three vertices of a triangle, which remains a hard nut to crack for every health system.

The health sector will prioritise optimising information-technology and digital transformation to better grassroots health care, with attention to be paid to upgrading infrastructure, personnel training, and perfecting relevant policies, she said.

Vietnam now counts about 11,400 medical facilities at the communal level which have played a crucial role in public health care, helping ease overload for hospitals at higher levels.

Citing a directive issued by the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee on continuing to consolidate, perfect, and improve the quality of grassroots health care in the new situation, Hang said the document set higher requirements in terms of mindset, responsibility, and action by all-level Party Committees, authorities, and the entire political system in this regard.

The health ministry will coordinate closely with other relevant ministries, agencies, and localities to further consolidate the policy framework and implement core solutions to promote the sustainable development of grassroots health workers.

To effectively mobilise the participation of non-public health care in primary health care, it is necessary to roll out harmonious solutions on governance, technology and finance, Hang suggested.

The 2024 vision for digital application, digital productivity, and digital growth Vietnam’s digital technology industry has made encouraging steps of development and maturity over the years.