South Korea's Samsung Medical Center has achieved another digital health milestone by reaching Stage 7 for the HIMSS Adoption Model for Analytics Maturity.

The AMAM measures the analytics capabilities that healthcare organisations have gained from having a strong analytics strategy.

This marks SMC's fourth Stage 7 validation – the highest stage for the HIMSS models – and being the first healthcare provider in Asia-Pacific to reach Stage 7 for the model. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Healthcare organisations with an advanced analytics strategy can improve facets of their business beyond clinical decision support, such as in the areas of operations and finance.

One example of this showcased by the SMC team was how through analysing usage in the high-importance and high-complexity medical supply chain, the hospital has been able to reduce congestion by having automated guided vehicles deliver supplies during low-traffic periods in the early morning. 

Julius Bogdan, VP, Digital Health Advisory, HIMSS: "My favourite case study that Samsung Medical Center had was the supply chain analysis, managing inventory, automating that, and building a robotic cart to save not only time and effort but storage, having everything up-to-date, minimising shrinkage, inventory and oversupply. 

"That was fantastic. This is the end-to-end analytics, analysing that capability or analysing your supplies and inventory management, automating that process, and then implementing it with robotics." 

The hospital also showcased numerous ways that analytics has had a positive impact on patient outcomes during their validation. 

For example, a system that recommends treatment methods based on pressure ulcer stages is integrated into the workflow of nurses. When a photo of the pressure ulcer area is taken, the system indicates the stage and suggests appropriate treatment methods. 

"This system assists nurses with limited clinical experience and helps with the assessment of patients with ambiguous conditions, reducing the progression of pressure ulcers to higher stages," said Soyun Shim, Registered Nurse, SMC.

Another system, DeepCars, helps to predict the risk of cardiac arrest within 24 hours for all inpatients across all wards and notifies the hospital's Samsung Medical Alarm Response Team (SMART) team. 

"[This] is a team that monitors patients hospitalised in general wards for acute deterioration and provides treatment before deterioration to prevent and reduce intensive care unit occupancy and sudden cardiac arrest," shared Dr Ryoungeun Ko, who works at the ICU at SMC.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

In 2022, SMC scored its first HIMSS Stage 7 for the Infrastructure Adoption Model. The hospital added multiple achievements to its name the following year, reaching Stage 7 for the Digital Imaging and Electronic Medical Record Adoption Models. It also came in first in the HIMSS Digital Health Indicator global ranking that year. 

ON THE RECORD

"For SMC, the AMAM certification holds a significance akin to a space station visited briefly within the journey of improvement through insights gleaned from data. The journey of improving medical treatment and operations based on data and information at SMC is akin to space travel rather than travelling on railways, highways, or waterways. There are no boundaries or distinct endpoints, and it continuously unfolds like the vastness of space. Since the goal is not system construction or upgrades, various methods and analyses are attempted through collaborative efforts across multiple departments in the process of improving processes," shared Oksoon Jeong, Manager, Data Service Platform, SMC.

When asked about their hospital's further plans for digital transformation, SMC told Healthcare IT News that it is contemplating how to empower its patients to take charge of their own healthcare through GenAI. 

"Patients will be able to understand their health status in simple language rather than difficult medical terms, enabling them to manage a healthy life beyond just treatment of diseases. SMC dreams of the day when a virtual health management assistant in mobile AI, speaking easily understandable language, will be employed, accelerating such changes, which align with SMC's vision," said Prof Wonchul Cha, CMIO, SMC.

Samsung Medical Center is featured in How technology is helping South Korea deliver excellent healthcare, a HIMSS documentary on South Korea's digital health journey, now on YouTube. Watch the film below.