Minister Isabel Iturria: The digitization of medical records in a public health network is progressing

Published at: 09/10/2026 10:00 PM

The country's public health network continues to strengthen the system for digitizing and recording medical records. In this regard, the sector vice-president of Science, Technology, Ecosocialism and Health, Isabel Iturria, mentioned that electronic registration of patients with heart disease has existed for more than 10 years.

He also mentioned that at the Latin American Children's Cardiology Hospital, 100% of children treated by the cardiology service have their electronic medical record.

During an interview, he explained that hemodynamics and pacemaker services include an electronic record that is already working at the University Hospital of Caracas, the Dr. Victorino Santaella Ruiz Hospital and the Vargas Hospital in Caracas. In addition, the system has just been installed at the Maracay Central Hospital and will gradually be distributed to other health centers in the country.

Iturria indicated that the purpose of this tool is “to ensure that these patients have electronic passability starting at 1×10 of Good Governance, that is, there is the name, the patient's identification data is uploaded directly, not by typing on a keyboard, but that it comes directly from a database of 1×10 of Good Governance to the electronic record of hemodynamics and marks steps”.

In this regard, he mentioned that when the patient attends the medical consultation, personal data are corroborated and the specialist draws up the medical record, as well as the technical record of the surgical procedure, whether catheterization or the placement of a pacemaker. Finally, the discharge report that is delivered to the patient automatically reflects the specific details of the material used, including the model, brand and serial number of the implanted device.

Protecting privacy in the medical record

The sector vice-president of Science, Technology, Ecosocialism and Health reported that “people have the right to the preservation of health information and to define with whom they want and with whom they do not want to share the details of their health condition.”

The management of this type of medical history requires maximum caution, in order to avoid situations of medical discrimination, “because it is ultimately a person's right to make decisions about what to report and what not about their health,” Iturria said.

He also mentioned that with the patient's medical record, one must be very cautious and suspicious of how to handle health information, “so that people's privacy and privacy rights are not violated.”

Mazo News Team