Unified electronic medical record: what changes in healthcare

The digital revolution in Brazilian healthcare is under way. This week, the National Association of Private Hospitals (Anahp) held a special edition of its Jornada Digital, in partnership with Invisual, to discuss one of the most important topics in the industry’s digital transformation: the unified electronic medical record and the progress of the National Health Data Network (RNDS).

The event brought together leading names in the field, including Ana Estela Haddad, Secretary of Information and Digital Health at the Ministry of Health (Seidigi), and representatives of Teladoc, InovaHC and Saúde Digital Brasil, among others. The focus? Understanding how interoperability, governance and innovation can go hand in hand in building a more connected and efficient healthcare ecosystem.

RNDS and SUS Digital: the heart of interoperability

Seidigi, created in 2023, has been leading the digital transformation of SUS (Brazil’s public health system). Projects such as Meu SUS Digital, SUS Digital Profissional and SUS Digital Gestor are already changing the way citizens, physicians and managers interact with the public system.

The RNDS already stores billions of clinical records, based on international standards (such as FHIR), ensuring the secure exchange of information between systems at different institutions.

According to Seidigi’s technical team, “interoperability is the path to a single medical record – but it only makes sense when it creates value for citizens.”

One of the most talked-about points of the meeting was a clarification by Márcia Ogawa (InovaHC):

“Brazil will not have a single system for all hospitals. What we need is for data to be accessible, structured and secure.”

She compared the RNDS model to PIX, Brazil’s instant payment system: each institution has its own interface, but they all share a common base that ensures integration. The secret lies in interoperable infrastructure, not in a centralized system.

Trust and digital culture

Caio Soares (Teladoc/Saúde Digital Brasil) offered a central reflection:

“Centralizing data is not a technology project but a behavioral one.”

More than tools, what the country needs is trust — between patients, physicians and institutions — so that data sharing brings real benefits to care and innovation.

According to him, Brazil is following the same path as initiatives such as the European Health Data Space, positioning itself among the global leaders in building large-scale digital health infrastructure.

Security, data protection law (LGPD) and responsible use of data

During the debate, the Seidigi team stressed that health data belongs to citizens, and that the Ministry of Health acts only as a custodian, responsible for ensuring the security and ethical use of the information.

There are also projects under way to open anonymized data for research and create specific rules for the use of identified information, always in partnership with universities and specialized centers such as Sidax and the Federal University of Bahia (Ufba).

Secretary Ana Estela Haddad emphasized:

“We are building this governance with security and responsibility, so that the use of information serves innovation and the public interest — never the exposure of individuals.”

The next steps in digital health

Seidigi announced two important new initiatives:

• Electronic signatures integrated with the RNDS, which should speed up processes and make records more reliable;

• A Digital Health Innovation Seminar, scheduled for December in Brasília, once again bringing together government, experts and the private sector.

“No one does anything alone, least of all in digital health. This is a collective effort,” said Ana Estela Haddad.

The future is collaborative

Anahp’s Jornada Digital showed that the path to a single medical record in Brazil is not to create a centralized system but to build bridges of interoperability, with governance, ethics and trust. The challenge of digital health is therefore as much technological as it is cultural. And the success of this transition depends on cooperation between government, hospitals, professionals and citizens — all united by a common goal: a smarter, more integrated and more humane SUS.