Public benefits of digital transformation in Vietnam's healthcare sector

With proactive, creative participation from a team of experts, scientists, and physicians, Vietnam’s healthcare sector is expected to gradually reach and master modern medical frontiers, delivering tangible benefits to the people. Digital transformation should be seen as a broad reform of the community health care model. At the reception area of Ba Vi General Hospital, long queues are no longer common in recent times. Most patients arriving at the hospital already have pre-scheduled appointments via a health app on their phone. A simple scan of the code at the registration desk verifies the registration information immediately. After conducting tests or imaging diagnoses, the information is updated directly on the system and can be sent to the patient’s mobile app. Payment of hospital fees is also more convenient as many hospitals have rolled out cashless payment methods, significantly reducing waiting times and limiting congestion at the cashier area. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Vinh, Deputy Director of Ba Vi General Hospital, said that when hospital management software systems are deployed, all data related to examination and treatment, pharmacy, medical supplies, and finances are digitized and interconnected. “Results of lab tests and imaging diagnoses are returned online on the system. Doctors can view them on the computer immediately without waiting to print films or papers as before. This greatly shortens the time for examinations and treatments,” he said. At the Central Military Hospital 108, in the field of nuclear medicine, AI is integrated directly into the image analysis software of advanced techniques such as SPECT/CT and PET/CT, helping automate or semi-automate many professional tasks. In cancer treatment, AI supports doctors in planning radiation doses, precisely delineating the lesion area and the healthy tissue to be spared. In nuclear cardiology, especially the myocardial perfusion SPECT technique, AI helps remove noise, clarify abnormalities, and raise diagnostic reliability. Meanwhile, the hospital is building a Big Data platform, standardizing imaging data and medical records to create a “clean data mine” for training AI models. The goal is to form an AI-assisted diagnostic system, forecast treatment, provide early risk alerts, and optimize hospital management toward smarter, modern operation. Recently, on the morning of 11 March, at the Tree Street health post (Trạm y tế xã Trừ Văn Thố, Ho Chi Minh City), the Vietnam Young Doctors Association organized free health screening and medicine distribution for more than 400 residents. Beneficiaries are mainly policy families, people in difficult circumstances, and informal workers. This was the final stop closing the program “For a healthier Vietnam” (held from 3–11 March). Across six deployments, the program reached and cared for more than 2,000 people in areas including Tru Van Tho, Bau Bang, An Long, Binh Co (old Binh Duong), Tan Son, and Tay Thanh. Notably, these were not just ordinary health consultations. People in suburban areas were exposed to high-tech medical services right at the commune health stations. A team of experts from central Ho Chi Minh City hospitals conducted in-depth examinations, ultrasound, ECG, and especially X-ray with AI-assisted reading. Consequently, numerous cases—such as COPD, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and stroke risk in younger people—were detected and advised for early intervention. Earlier, following the directive of the Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City’s Party Committee, the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City held strategic discussions with the Vietnam Young Doctors Association and partners on developing a smart health ecosystem. At the meeting, representatives proposed breakthrough policy directions for the digital transformation of the health sector. First, the city should shift its target from ensuring 100% of hospitals have electronic medical records to a broader macro view: 100% of residents have unified and interconnected electronic health records. This digital architecture must place primary health care at the center, where the grassroots health stations are empowered to access, monitor, and manage chronic diseases, while higher levels provide remote professional support through a shared data pool. In addition, data programs should prioritize groups such as the elderly, people with chronic diseases, school health, maternity, and mental health. To operate smoothly, the health sector must address three core bottlenecks: a shortage of IT personnel, operating cost challenges, and data standardization barriers. In short, digital transformation should be viewed as a broad reform of the community health care model, not merely a technology deployment task. To accompany Ho Chi Minh City, the Young Doctors Association and partners will support building a “Smart Health City” model by connecting knowledge, providing in-depth training, and developing medical technology. A bold signal is that in April, automatic health kiosks developed by the Association will be deployed to aid early disease screening. This strategic move will position Vietnam as the second Southeast Asian country, after Singapore, to adopt this advanced health model. It can be said that digital transformation in the health sector has begun to show clear effectiveness. The AI-assisted diagnosis system, automatic warnings for drug interactions or abnormal test results when prescribing, contribute to maximum patient safety. AI is also fundamentally changing hospital operations: from management, storage, and consultations to post-treatment follow-up… When data is standardized, connected, and efficiently exploited, the health system will shift from “treating disease” to “proactive forecasting and prevention.” In the future, when the AI Health Kiosk model at the community level—like an ATM—becomes a reality, people can enter symptoms, measure vital signs, receive an initial diagnosis, or connect online with a doctor. This is the smart health trend that many hospitals and tech companies are pursuing. Some Vietnamese hospitals have added modern equipment to treat cancer AI would be described more in separate items below, including “Artificial intelligence supports diagnosing complex cases,” and other health-tech topics. Urgent food safety alerts ahead of peak heat season, and other policy and economic items follow as part of the broader news ecosystem connected to VnEconomy.