South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute are seeking hospital participants in its pilot project to improve medical image exchange.

Based on a media release, the pilot project aims to introduce a new system where patients can receive and share their medical images electronically. The upcoming system will also be able to verify these digital image records from patients who move from one hospital to another. 

WHY IT MATTERS

A medical information exchange system is already in place in South Korea since 2019. About 9,000 hospitals and health facilities have been involved in its development since 2016 with 445 capable of exchanging medical images. 

However, this system still issues CDs of such records as MRI and CT scans which patients carry when transferring between hospitals. It also only allows data exchange to one designated facility, initiated at the discretion of a professional, alongside obtaining patient consent. 

A new digital system is being piloted to address such gaps, providing further convenience to patients and the health system. The project seeks to improve existing data exchange systems and the established work processes in issuing medical images. 

Besides enhancing the patient experience, the upcoming system is also expected to help prevent duplicate testing and ensure the continuity of care. 

THE LARGER TREND

Improving medical image data exchange is part of broader efforts by the MOHW to streamline and promote the use of health data across hospitals in South Korea.

Last year, it started establishing the Korea Core Data for Interoperability and Transmission standards, as well as the digital health record platform MyHealthway, which is now in its second phase of implementation. A national project integrating biological data of nearly 800,000 people is also set to begin this year. 

Additionally, the MOHW, together with the Korea Health Information Service, is currently facilitating various data access deals with major Korean hospitals through a project promoting medical data utilisation for research.

Meanwhile, an MOHW committee recently met to introduce a four-year roadmap for establishing South Korea's medical AI research and development ecosystem. The roadmap underscores the need to support the R&D of AI in essential medical care (such as emergency care, major diseases, and cancer), AI-powered digital therapeutics and surgical robots, and AI-driven novel drug discovery. The roadmap also mentions the development of a common healthcare data platform for medical AI research.