Health System: 450,000 Mendoza residents now have digital medical records

The digitalization of the healthcare system is a long-standing goal of the Mendoza government, as well as of other systems where progress has been made recently. Among other benefits, it would allow patients' medical records to be viewed and made available anywhere, as well as the treatment they received in the event of an emergency, such as a traffic accident and their transfers.

Within this framework, the government announced that 450,000 Mendoza residents now have their digital medical records, almost a quarter of the total population. Governor Alfredo Cornejo stated this during the opening of the regular session of the Mendoza Legislature . The digitalization of the healthcare system has been a goal pursued since previous administrations, and it accelerated following the health crisis caused by the COVID pandemic.

"One of the pillars of the digital transformation we are carrying out has been the consolidation of the Electronic Medical Record. We have 98 connected facilities, with more than 450,000 Mendoza residents who already have their digital medical records," the president emphasized.

Advances in the digitalization of the system would allow for many benefits, such as the opportunity to access consultations with medical teams or remote care with a specialist who is not in the area. Obviously, this would mean having substantial information about the system and its patients immediately available, and the opportunity to process it to make it more productive or generate actionable results.

Electronic prescriptions will be mandatory: what will happen to paper prescriptions?

The advancement of digital medical records is closely related to digital medical prescriptions, or what is known as electronic prescriptions . Having a medical record is essential for its use and expansion. While the national government had legislated for its universalization, the Mendoza Ministry of Health explained that each province has its own unique characteristics, and in the case of Mendoza, distances. Remote areas with poor or limited connectivity are an obstacle.

For this reason, Mendoza decided to implement it gradually, first moving forward with hospitals that had already implemented digital medical records. Hence the importance of expanding its use.

"We implemented electronic prescriptions, integrating the medication process from prescription to dispensing , which strengthens patient safety," said Cornejo . Electronic prescriptions allow, among other things, better accessibility and traceability.

Good connectivity is the first step to ensure progress in this regard. The Mendoza Ministry of Health's plan is to have its own system that integrates information and connects with other systems. This means that each health insurance or prepaid plan will have its own platform for issuing prescriptions—as is already the case—and the intention is for the different systems to communicate with each other. This is part of the requirements stipulated by the National Government: that the systems used be "interoperable."