How does national power promote the improvement of the application level of electronic medical record

Background Like many low- and middle-income countries, the development of electronic medical record (EMR) systems in China was slow due to the lack of funds. It was not until 2019, when the government incorporated the evaluation of EMR systerms into the assessment indicators for large public hospitals that the application of EMR systems achieved a qualitative improvement. Our hospital was one of the pilot hospitals for this reform. Methods The National Health Commission of China has divided the application level of EMR systems into 9 levels. Levels 1 to 3 are the beginner level, with the goal being the electronic collection of medical data and the internal data sharing within departments; levels 4 to 5 are the intermediate level, with the goal being the system integration of the hospital and unified data management; levels 6 to 8 are the advanced level, with the goal being the sharing of regional medical information across cities, as well as the regional medical safety and quality control. Results From 2011 to 2017, our hospital promoted the development of the EMR system from level 0 to 4 through internal demands. After 2019, the national power prompted our hospital to raise the EMR system to level 5 in 2020 and level 6 in 2023. In 2012, 2020 and 2023, the average level of EMR systems in hospitals participating in the "National Examination" across the country was 1, 2.43 and 3.24; The number of hospitals with EMR system ratings at and above level 5 was 5–7,176 and 395. Conclusions In countries that cannot provide sufficient funds for the reform of medical informatization, a system for rating EMR and hospital assessment similar to the one in this study can be established.