As one of the flagship initiatives from the inception of the Access Accelerated – World Bank partnership, this activity has grown, matured, and evolved since it began in 2017. From an initial focus on strengthening primary healthcare through improved NCD diagnostics and treatment, increasing ownership by the Vietnamese government has guided this work to respond directly to priorities identified by the Ministry of Health, namely the development and implementation of a digitally enabled, person-centered model of care for people living with NCDs.

Emphasis on digital solutions began in 2020 with the development of a mobile decision support tool for healthcare workers to improve NCD management and service delivery. This tool was deployed in commune health stations in late 2021, demonstrating the enormous potential for digital technology to improve patient experiences and health outcomes. To advance the identification and adoption of patient-centered digital health solutions in Vietnam, the World Bank collaborated with the Ministry of Health, digital health providers, and development partners to produce two novel studies in 2023.

The first study reviews telemedicine business models in Vietnam, providing policy recommendations for health authorities to effectively adopt and expand this emerging modality of care. Telemedicine uptake has expanded globally in recent years, but the full potential of this technology is yet to be realized in Vietnam. While their number is growing, very few telemedicine services are available to Vietnamese patients, and the existing services are largely concentrated in the private sector. This groundbreaking study, based on secondary data and key informant interviews, equips the Ministry of Health with the necessary information to consider and design investments in telemedicine services. The study recommends that health authorities establish a regulatory framework for telemedicine, use data to improve equitable access, ensure integration with other health information systems, and perform regular evaluations of telemedicine service delivery to inform continuous improvement.

While the telemedicine study reflects data and testimonies from health service providers, the second study focuses on the patient perspective. Digital Journey in Primary Healthcare assesses patient experiences with various digital health solutions, including wearable technology, smartphone applications, and SMS interventions. It examines how each of these digital solutions impacts the patient’s journey through primary healthcare, from awareness of lifestyle and risk factors to recognition of symptoms, care-seeking, treatment in healthcare settings, and chronic condition management and self-care. The key finding from this report is that for patients with NCDs, digital solutions that are tailored to their specific health needs are hard to come by, particularly in the stage of self-care and chronic condition management. Suggested areas for strategic action include incentivization of innovation for digital NCD solutions, enhancing uptake of such technology by people living with NCDs, and ensuring their viability through sustainable financing and interoperability with established systems.

The World Bank is supporting partners in Vietnam to put these policy recommendations into practice. In December 2022, the World Bank team in Vietnam collaborated with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health to organize and host the Conference on Healthcare Digital Transformation, which was attended by over 200 health managers. Through engagement events like this one, evidence generation turns into knowledge dissemination, paving the way for real impact. Coordinating the implementation of key policy recommendations through the appropriate stakeholders builds local ownership of NCD prevention and control initiatives, which in turn makes them more adaptable and responsive to patient needs.