As healthcare digital transformation is being strongly promoted, electronic prescriptions (e-prescriptions) and prescription-only drug sales have been identified as key measures to enhance transparency, strengthen professional practice management, and prevent and combat antibiotic resistance.
A reporter from Dong Nai Newspaper and Radio, Television conducted an interview with Master NGUYEN HUU TRONG, Secretary General of the Vietnam Medical Informatics Association (Ministry of Health), on this issue.
No difficulties in implementing e-prescriptions
What is the current status of e-prescription implementation in Vietnam?
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E-rescriptions have become a mandatory requirement, clearly stipulated in the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment; resolutions of the Party and the Politburo, and numerous legal documents issued by the Ministry of Health. For the public healthcare sector, hospitals and general clinics, implementation has been relatively smooth, as most facilities already operate hospital information systems (HIS) and health insurance connectivity software. When the Ministry of Health rolled out the national e-prescription system, facilities only needed to connect and make one-time adjustments to apply it across their entire systems.
For the private healthcare sector, this marks an important transition, requiring facilities to use software for prescribing. However, this is not entirely new in the current context of digital transformation. The Vietnam Medical Informatics Association has also encouraged many software providers to offer free support to clinics and pharmacies, helping to ease financial pressure. It can be affirmed that, at present, there is no shortage of software, technological solutions, or implementation resources. The biggest challenges lie in implementation progress and compliance awareness among facilities.
Could you further explain the relationship between non-prescription drug sales and antibiotic resistance?
Antibiotic resistance in Vietnam has reached an alarming level and has caused very serious consequences. First, it increases treatment costs for patients. In some cases, when patients are admitted to hospital, commonly used antibiotics are no longer effective, forcing doctors to use higher-generation antibiotics. This prolongs their hospital stays and may even require mechanical ventilation. Even more concerning, some central hospitals have recorded deaths caused by opportunistic infections, not due to patients’ initial conditions, but because the bacteria had become drug-resistant. This is a direct consequence of the widespread and improper use of antibiotics in the community.
The widespread drug sales mainly take two forms. First, clinics that are not licensed to sell medicines still do so, with drugs of unclear origin and inadequate storage conditions. Second, at pharmacies, antibiotics are sold based on “experience,” without prescriptions, without clinical examination or accurate diagnosis, or by using “online prescriptions.” In reality, each patient’s condition is different, and one prescription cannot be applied to all patients. These practices have directly contributed to and continue to drive antibiotic resistance.
Key benefits of electronic prescriptions
What benefits do e-prescriptions bring to doctors, regulatory authorities, and the public?
The greatest benefit of e-prescriptions is transparency. Previously, with handwritten prescriptions, it was very difficult to verify validity, whether a prescription had already been dispensed or was still valid. With e-prescriptions, all information is updated in real time.
Second is improved professional practice management. Regulatory agencies can clearly identify who issued a prescription and when, thereby limiting practices such as borrowing medical practice licenses or prescribing outside permitted times and locations.
To date, nearly 1,000 out of more than 2,300 healthcare facilities in Dong Nai have completed registration and been issued e-prescription interoperability codes. More than 3,700 doctors have registered and received identification codes for system connectivity.
For pharmacies, the system helps prevent the sale of medicines based on expired prescriptions or prescriptions that have already been dispensed. When e-prescription data are interconnected with tax management and pharmaceutical circulation systems, the drug market will gradually be tightened, violations reduced, and the alarming situation of antibiotic resistance curbed.
The public also benefits significantly. People no longer have to worry about losing prescriptions; they can review their medication history, receive reminders to take medicines, and even monitor doctors’ prescribing practices. This two-way oversight mechanism is particularly important.
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| Doctors at Thong Nhat General Hospital issue e-prescriptions and transmit them to the national prescription system. Photo: Hanh Dung |
How will facilities that fail to seriously comply with e-prescription regulations be penalized?
Under current regulations, from January 1, 2026, 100 percent of medical examination and treatment facilities and pharmacies nationwide must implement e-prescriptions and sell medicines strictly by prescription. Sanctions are stipulated in Government Decree No. 117/2020/ND-CP dated September 28, 2020, on administrative penalties in the healthcare sector, along with related decrees. Specifically, violating medical facilities may be fined from VND 3 million or more for their first offenses. Pharmacies may face minimum fines of VND 10 million, and depending on the severity of violations, penalties may be heavier, including license revocation. In practice, only when penalties are strictly enforced does compliance truly become systematic.
By Hanh Dung – Translated by Thu Hien, Thu Ha
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