The synchronisation rate between personal ID number and health insurance card number reaches 94%. Illustrative Photo

The Ministry of Health has issued Official Letter No 4742/BYT-VPB1 to the National Assembly delegation of Da Nang City in response to the voters’ petitions related to the healthcare sector ahead of the coming seventh session of the 15th National Assembly (NA).

Accordingly, in recent years, in line with the Party and State’s guidelines and policies, and the Government’s direction and management, the Ministry of Health has always considered the application of information technology and digital transformation as a crucial task and top priority.

In accordance with the Resolution No 157-NQ/BCSĐ dated February 3, 2023 on digital transformation in the healthcare sector to 2025, with a vision to 2030, the Ministry of Health has promulgated Decision No 1710/QĐ-BYT dated April 5, 2023 and other related documents, aiming to orient and coordinate the application of information technology across the entire sector.

Currently, Vietnam’s health insurance coverage has reached 93.35 per cent. Annually, there are approximately 170 million outpatient visits to medical facilities, of which 60 per cent are covered by health insurance, and 17 million inpatient treatments, of which 80 per cent are covered by health insurance. The data of health insurance claims used for the settlement of medical services payment and several types of papers for online public services such as driver’s health examination certificates, birth certificates, and death certificates have been regularly interconnected via the information technology infrastructure of the Vietnam Social Security.

According to a report by the Ministry of Public Security, to date, 84.7 million national ID cards have been issued to 100 per cent of eligible Vietnamese citizens; and 70.2 million VNeID digital identity accounts have been issued to the citizens. The VNeID application ahs integrated various types of documents and services, including: driver’s licence, health insurance, social insurance information, citizen’s residential information.

Of note, according to the Vietnam Social Security, the synchronisation rate between the national ID number and the health insurance card number has reached 94 per cent. This is a fundamental premise for the integration of citizen’s medical records from medical facilities based on their personal ID number and for the forming of electronic medical records. This opens up a new chapter in digitalisation in medical examination and treatment activities for the people.

To fulfill the Government’s assigned tasks, the Ministry of Health has actively collaborated with the Ministry of Public Security to integrate the data of citizens with electronic health records into he electronic identification application to ensure consistency, synchronisation, and increase the number of people having electronic medical records through the deployment of the VNeID electronic health record based on medical examination and treatment activities using health insurance, which brings lots of benefits to the people and the entire healthcare system.

On October 31, 2023, the Ministry of Health introduced Decision No 4026/QĐ-BYT on the issuance of pilot VNeID health information fields in Hanoi. On January 25, 2023, the Ministry of Health’s Department of Medical Examination and Treatment promulgated Document No 130/KCB-QLCL&CĐT requesting comments on the draft Decision on the issuance of personal health information fields displayed on VNeID for nationwide implementation. Based on the results of the trial in Hanoi and comments contributed by relevant units, the Ministry of Health will finalise and issue a document for nationwide implementation of the Health Record on VNeID./.