Vietnam health ministry issues directive to accelerate healthcare digital transformation

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has issued a new directive aimed at accelerating digital transformation across the healthcare sector, with a focus on healthcare databases, electronic health records, administrative reform and data infrastructure.

Minister of Health Đào Hồng Lan has signed Directive No. 07/CT-BYT, which sets out seven groups of priority tasks for the sector. The directive also calls for progress to be made towards the government’s 2026 digital transformation targets and the implementation of Project 06, Vietnam’s broader programme for using population, identification and electronic authentication data in public services.

Under the directive, heads of relevant agencies and units will be responsible for the progress and quality of assigned tasks. The Ministry has adopted a framework based on six principles: clearly identifying the people responsible, the tasks involved, timelines, responsibilities, deliverables and expected results.

A central element of the directive is the cleaning and standardisation of 12 specialised healthcare databases. These include databases covering vaccination, healthcare professionals, medical examination and treatment facilities, children, social protection and food safety.

The Ministry said the databases are expected to meet requirements relating to accuracy, completeness, data quality, currency, consistency, sharing, connectivity and synchronisation.

The directive also calls for the expansion of a 100-day campaign to establish and update electronic health records through Vietnam’s VNeID digital identity platform. The Ministry plans to connect data from periodic health examinations, screening programmes, medical consultations and treatment, referral documents and follow-up appointments.

The measures are intended to reduce the need for citizens and businesses to submit documents that have already been digitised and linked across government systems. The directive also calls for further reductions in administrative procedures.

Information security and data protection are another focus. The Ministry has called for stronger measures to protect sensitive healthcare data and for healthcare data infrastructure to be migrated to the National Data Centre according to the government’s implementation roadmap.

The Ministry said the measures are intended to improve the consistency and measurability of digital transformation efforts while supporting healthcare management and the delivery of services to citizens and businesses.