China Medical University Hospital in Taichung, Taiwan has proven its capability in digital health by scoring well above the global average in the latest HIMSS Digital Health Indicator.

The DHI measures an organisation's progress in building a digital health ecosystem in four dimensions: predictive analytics, interoperability, predictive analytics, person-enabled health and governance and workforce.

Based on HIMSS's assessment, CMUH scored 348/400 for the DHI, which was above the global median score of 170 and the Asia-Pacific median score of 163 in 2022. The hospital did very well in enabling interoperability while it proved to be excellent in the areas of person-enabled health, predictive analytics, and governance and workforce.

CMUH attributes this achievement to its development and implementation of three smart platforms that have led to clinical practice improvements. One of them is the AI-powered Intelligent Anti-Microbial System, which helps with the early and rapid detection of a causative bacterial strain. Since applying this technology, it has reduced its near-miss rate in antibiotic prescriptions from 12.1% to 0%. 

The hospital also credits its two other platforms, the Remote Myocardial Infarction Diagnostic System and the Integrated Smart ARDS Lifesaver, to its high DHI ranking. 

HIMSS also commended the hospital for its patient-centric services, including its smart wards which have realised efficiency in patient management using a single monitor and the CMUH mobile app that streamlines patient admission and enables remote care monitoring. 

WHY IT MATTERS

CMUH's objective is to measure its digital health capability against global standards and identify areas for improvement. The hospital views its DHI score as an opportunity to partner with HIMSS and other leading global health systems to drive its digital transformation. 

In addition, CMUH seeks opportunities to enhance its digital health ecosystem and gather support in making the right investment decisions by identifying priority areas. 

"We decided to go through the DHI assessment as we are convinced that the scores and ranking of smart hospitals by HIMSS will be objective and unbiased," said CMUH superintendent Professor Der-Yang Cho.

THE LARGER TREND

A data-driven care model underpins CMUH's digital transformation. Since introducing 5G across its network, it has been able to collect data from wearable devices via the cloud, enabling remote healthcare. It was also able to streamline its workflow and provide personalised healthcare.

In 2019, CMUH obtained Stage 7 accreditation for the HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model, which has been a major contributor to its present DHI ranking.

The hospital has now positioned itself among the class of top global health systems – all coming from the Asia-Pacific – that have achieved high scores in the DHI. Based on the scores of organisations that underwent the DHI assessment in 2022, Samsung Medical Center from South Korea leads the global ranking at 365/400, followed by Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (349/400), also from Taiwan.