New National Standard Aims to Unify Electronic Health Records in China

China has officially approved and published a new national standard, GB/T 48666—2026, specifying the OFD-H format for electronic medical records. The standard, which will be implemented on April 29, 2027, is intended to address long-standing issues with data fragmentation and interoperability within the country's healthcare system.

The proliferation of diverse electronic health record formats across different medical institutions has created significant challenges in data integration, sharing, and archiving. The new OFD-H standard, based on China's domestic OFD (Office Document Format) technology, aims to establish a unified specification for electronic medical records. It also incorporates enhanced security features using domestic commercial cryptography to ensure data integrity and authenticity.

According to IT Home, the OFD-H standard promotes a "document as an interface" approach to data sharing. Once medical institutions adopt the standard, they will be able to access patient records from different facilities, verify their origin, and extract necessary data. This is expected to streamline processes for patient transfers, regional healthcare collaborations, and the development of telemedicine services by reducing the need for complex system integrations.

The standard supports the consolidation of various types of health information, including text, medical images, audio, video, and structured data. It is designed to be both human-readable and machine-readable, facilitating easier access for patients and healthcare providers, as well as supporting clinical research and artificial intelligence applications. The format also aims to optimize storage and exchange costs for medical records.

Ultimately, the OFD-H standard is envisioned to contribute to the creation of a comprehensive, lifelong "mobile health archive." Citizens will be able to access, use, and manage their health records via their mobile phones, enhancing the continuity and accessibility of healthcare services.