Delegates press the button the launch the portal.

The portal, congkhaiyte.moh.gov.vn, provides information in five areas – Pharmacy and Cosmetics; Medical equipment; Food safety; Health examinations and treatment; and Public administration.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long said the Medical Public Portal was an official channel of the health ministry for people and businesses to look up information on prices of drugs and medical equipment, medical supplies, diagnostic bio-products, medical examination and treatment, bidding prices, information on products in circulation or recalled, results of handling administration procedures and violations in advertising.

Through the portal, people will learn and be able to monitor the services provided by the health sector, he said.

According to the minister, the portal’s launch is the initial step of the ministry’s information publicity process so that people and businesses will be able to look up information online, anywhere and at any time.

Deputy general director of Viettel Hoang Son pledged to support the Ministry of Health to improve the portal’s features and continuously apply new technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and virtual assistants (chatbots). Blockchain technology will also be applied to control information when connecting data, ensure tracking of the update process history and ensure absolute safety and confidentiality for the Medical Public Portal.

At the first stage, Viettel has focused on standardising data, building information standards, linking online data to provide basic features for data management and directly or indirectly processing information for the report output.

In the next phase, Viettel will continue to apply advanced technologies to improve practical application of the system to provide services of higher quality such as specialised searches, integrating blockchain technology, AI and chatbots into the system for quick search and data integrity.

The Medical Service Portal provides information in five areas as follows:

1. Pharmacy and Cosmetics: Publicising prices of drugs in circulation and on bidding; Publicising violations of enterprises.

2. Medical Equipment: Publicising prices of medical equipment, medical supplies and bio-chemicals on bidding.

3. Food safety: Disclosing information on functional food in markets and those recalled; Publicising functional food advertisement and violations in advertising those products.

4. Medical examination and treatment: Publicising fees of medical examinations and treatment covered by health insurance and service fees at medical establishments.

5. Public Administration: Publicising the outcomes of administrative procedure handling process of the Ministry of Health.