Vinh City General Hospital: A bright spot in implementing national healthcare digital transformation

Modernizing hospital operations

Before implementing digital transformation, in 2015, Vinh General Hospital only had 235 planned beds and 298 actual beds. Every day, the hospital only received nearly 500 outpatients and nearly 300 inpatients, but most of them were dissatisfied because of long waiting times and congestion in some locations...

Although there were many difficulties at that time and limited resources, but identifying digital transformation as a "leverage" solution to comprehensively innovate, improve service quality, and satisfy patients, the Hospital pioneered a breakthrough in applying information technology, digitizing all medical examination and treatment activities since 2017. After 2 years, the Hospital became one of the first medical units in the country to successfully deploy electronic medical records to replace all paper medical records.

This is the result of the Hospital's continuous efforts in investing in information technology infrastructure to meet level 7 (the highest level stipulated in Circular 54/2017/TT-BYT), synchronizing software systems for medical examination and treatment management and health insurance payment such as: hospital information management system (HIS), laboratory information management system (LIS), medical image storage, transmission and consultation system (PACS), digital signature application, multi-purpose vehicle model integrating electrocardiogram results, blood pressure measurement...

Based on a solid IT infrastructure, the Hospital continues to deploy the App “BVTP VINH” on smartphones with many utilities for patients. This is an important turning point in the digital transformation process of the Hospital, contributing to improving the quality of medical examination and treatment; gradually perfecting the model of “Smart, paperless hospital”.

The “golden” benefits

With the effort to apply information technology and modernize the hospital's medical examination and treatment activities, it has brought "golden" benefits to patients. Mr. Nguyen Van Tuyet in Ha Huy Tap ward (Vinh city) regularly has periodic check-ups and is very satisfied with the "smart" medical examination and treatment process at Vinh City General Hospital.

Mr. Tuyet said: “Before going to the clinic, I went to the “VINH City Hospital” App to register and get a queue number, so I was admitted to the clinic very quickly. This app also helps me easily track the results of the examination, so I can proactively take the next steps; I don’t have to wait like before; at the same time, it is convenient to track my medical examination and treatment history on the APP and make online payments.”

The information technology applications that the hospital is deploying also bring many conveniences to inpatients. “Not only timely updating of diagnosis results and health status, through the App “BVTP VINH”, patients can publicly and transparently view the list of drugs, medical supplies used daily, and the list of expenses during hospitalization; no longer have to store documents when going for medical examination and treatment; at the same time, can give feedback to doctors and nurses; thereby, feel secure in treatment. All procedures requiring signature confirmation are replaced by fingerprint authentication, convenient and transparent”, said patient Phan Thi Huong (Nam Dan).

For doctors and nurses, the software system and electronic medical records are equipped synchronously, becoming a powerful assistant. Accordingly, information about patient health is transmitted smoothly and quickly between departments, rooms, and between hospitals. Information about patients is digitized, stored scientifically,... helping to diagnose, prescribe clinical tests accurately and coordinate treatment better; contributing to minimizing errors and saving a lot of time. In particular, doctors can easily monitor the entire treatment process of patients through the APP, thereby making timely indications.

The hospital also thoroughly applies information technology in management, by using specialized software systems for each activity; thanks to that, all management work is performed effectively, accurately, and with limited errors.

Comprehensive breakthrough

Thanks to the determination of the leadership and the consensus of the hospital staff, after 6 years of digital transformation, the overall quality of the unit has been improved. Accordingly, the scale of the hospital at 2 facilities currently has 720 planned beds, 900 actual beds, 43 departments/rooms and 1 center; with 942 officers, civil servants and employees, of which 274 are experienced doctors, with solid skills, always dedicated to patients.

Every day, the hospital receives nearly 3,000 outpatients and nearly 1,000 inpatients. In addition to performing techniques listed in the category of a class II hospital, Vinh City General Hospital has routinely deployed many new, specialized techniques at the provincial and central levels.

The Hospital's quality index in 2023 is 4.27, ranking first in the public medical examination and treatment system of the province; the patient satisfaction index is always in the top 10 nationwide. The Hospital is in the top 10 pioneering medical units in national medical digital transformation in 2020. In 2023, the Hospital is one of 5 medical examination and treatment facilities nationwide honored by the Ministry of Health as a typical model of implementing digital transformation and proactively participating in the 4th industrial revolution in the medical field.

With the orientation of continuing to promote the effectiveness of digital transformation in hospital administration and medical examination and treatment management, Dr. Nguyen Hong Truong - Director of Vinh City General Hospital affirmed: Always taking the patient as the center, in the coming time, the Hospital aims to continuously upgrade and perfect smart software and utilities; ensure the safety and security of medical information in the digital transformation process. Effectively apply digital technologies: artificial intelligence (AI), big data (Big Data), Internet of Things (IoMT), blockchain (Blockchain), ... in medical activities.

The hospital continues to upgrade infrastructure, equipment, software and human resources to deploy information technology utilities to serve professional work, ensuring the roadmap and readiness level for the development and application of information technology of the Ministry of Health, Department of Health and Social Insurance; deploying line direction and consultation, medical examination and treatment, remote medical services, etc. to continue to further improve the quality of patient service, becoming a trusted address for people in the province and the region./.