In Điện Biên province, characterized as a mountainous border locality, review tasks at the grassroots level pose considerable challenges to healthcare data standardization. Yet through proactive, flexible measures and a high sense of responsibility from the healthcare sector, the police, and local authorities, major bottlenecks are gradually being resolved.

The core focus of the campaign lies in conducting a comprehensive review, cleansing, and standardization across 12 vital specialized healthcare databases, comprising: social assistance facilities; social assistance beneficiaries; the preventive medicine and HIV/AIDS sector; healthcare facility environments; persons with disabilities; social workers; child management; food safety; medical examination and treatment; healthcare human resources; the national immunization information management system; and maternal, child, and reproductive healthcare information systems.

In Sam Mứn commune, rolling out the healthcare data cleansing campaign faced multiple hurdles stemming from border area specifics. Viewed from grassroots realities, data review and updating encounter substantial barriers. Most computing machinery and equipment at the commune health station are outdated and lack synchronization, impacting real-time data transmission and processing speeds. In addition, the vast geographical expanse and dispersed population make reaching each household to gather information an arduous task for grassroots healthcare personnel.

Ethnic minority groups account for up to 55% of Sam Mứn commune’s population. Among them, a segment of residents does not speak the national standard language fluently, and public awareness regarding the necessity of personal data standardization remains limited, leading to apprehension, hesitation, or inconsistent cooperation in providing details. Furthermore, numerous citizens work far away in other provinces and cities or labor overseas, rendering direct in-person meetings for information updates nearly impossible without flexible measures.

Doctor Vũ Thị Oanh, in charge of the Sam Mứn commune Health Station, noted that the unit has proactively coordinated with the commune Police force and local judicial-civil status officers to cross-check original civil registry books against system records. Information is updated flexibly through diverse channels such as medical examination and treatment software, health insurance software, or direct phone calls. The locality has maximized the role of village mass organizations as an extended arm in mobilizing residents and gathering information.

For citizens frequently absent from the locality, the working team proactively compiled lists and coordinated with police at their temporary residences and workplaces to perform remote verification, while leveraging telephone lines and social media platforms like Zalo and Facebook to guide citizens in cross-checking their personal records directly and efficiently.

Executing the campaign, the Nậm Pồ Medical Center was assigned to compile and clean specialized databases on medical examination and treatment and healthcare human resources across its management area, alongside coordinating with commune-level health stations to compile and clean data linked to the national immunization information management system and maternal, child, and reproductive healthcare information systems.

Phan Văn Quỳnh, Deputy Head of the Planning - Operations - Nursing Division at the Nậm Pồ Medical Center, stated that due to substantial volumes of generated and constantly fluctuating data, numerous details regarding shared category codes, execution times, medical practitioners, and linkages among catalogs require repeated reviews and reconciliations. In addition, adjusting records on the Hospital Information System (HIS) and interconnected data platforms occasionally takes considerable time, as it depends on software feature architecture and technical support coordination.

Facing these hurdles, the Center deployed synchronized solutions across each specific domain. For the health insurance medical examination and treatment database, the Center reviewed and standardized 6 catalog table groups, cross-checking them directly against data generated on the system. Specialized divisions concentrated on inspecting and updating information regarding departments, personnel, pharmaceuticals, medical consumables, technical services, equipment, and reimbursement claim data. Through this, data gaps were progressively resolved, ensuring medical examination and treatment information is complete, accurate, and consistent across interconnected systems.

In parallel, healthcare human resources data standardization recorded positive shifts. As of September 10, 2026, Nậm Pồ Medical Center had 83 out of 89 medical practitioners granted accounts on the medical practice management system, reaching 93.3%. Among them, 74 individuals logged in and updated their details, accounting for 89.2%; 9 individuals have not updated because their pharmacy expertise is not yet managed on the platform. Across the unit, 6 public employees have not been granted accounts, representing 6.7%, due to lacking professional practice certificates, and account issuance procedures will be finalized once eligibility requirements are met.

“In the coming time, the Nậm Pồ Medical Center will continue reviewing, standardizing, and updating records, rectifying remaining errors, elevating data entry proficiencies, and strengthening technical support coordination, aiming to construct an accurate, synchronous healthcare database that serves public healthcare work increasingly well,” Phan Văn Quỳnh added.

Through multiple solutions, Điện Biên province is striving to achieve the targets set out in the specialized healthcare database standardization campaign. This contributes to perfecting the healthcare sector’s digital data ecosystem, creating seamless, synchronized connectivity with the National Population Database, the social insurance database, and related specialized data systems. This serves as a firm cornerstone to accelerate digital healthcare development and build digital governance across the border province of Điện Biên.