Security concerns and vendor restrictions are some of the major barriers to unlocking health data's full potential in raising patient outcomes.

In the HIMSS24 APAC plenary session, "Power of Data in Modern Healthcare," Cho Chi-Heum, professor and president of Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center in South Korea, and Dr Shih-Sheng Chang, director of the Artificial Intelligence Center at China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) in Taiwan, discussed challenges in data integration and interoperability.

To allow their doctors to securely share patient data, Keimyung Hospital has in place an ISM (information security management) system, which is at the core of its data privacy and security strategy. "We strictly follow personal information protection guidelines also," added Prof Cho. 

Common vendor arrangements also hinder hospitals from generating valuable insights from comprehensive, integrated data. Some vendors may allow multi-source data integrations, but this usually comes with hefty costs due to proprietary data usage rights, noted Dr Chang. 

"Sometimes, they will provide very fancy software which includes [all] data, but we cannot pay for each."

Dr Chang and his team have learned to approach this problem by taking this initial step: "If we want to set up a new machine or a new modality, we will ask the vendor, 'Can you share the data with us? Otherwise, we will consider another vendor.'" 

Driving efficiencies

The two speakers also discussed how their clinicians have wasted time doing tedious administrative tasks. 

"Most doctors in Korea just always look at their computers. They are so busy [with their computers] that they cannot [meet] their patients… I don't wish to see this kind of hospital," Prof Cho shared.

Nurses, meanwhile, spend 60% of their time doing repetitive tasks, particularly checking patients' vital signs. "This is very repeated and [mechanical]." 

According to Prof Cho, Keimyung Hospital is looking to implement wearable devices as part of remote patient monitoring to help nurses save time. 

Meanwhile, as part of its data quality management – and by extension, AI development, CMUH is also considering large language models (LLM) to build a system for structured data. Through LLMs, Dr Chang said, clinicians would not have to create structured clinical reports, which may take up to 30 minutes each. 

Prof Cho however cautions against over-relying on computer software, particularly those running on AI. "We are human beings. We are not AI; we are just using AI." At Keimyung Hospital, he envisions an "emotional hospital" that prioritises meeting patients eye-to-eye. 

"AI cannot replace the human. But it can [help] save time to let us have [that] eye contact with our patients," Dr Chang said, echoing Prof Cho's statement.