Samsung Medical Center in South Korea has achieved a top score globally for the HIMSS Digital Health Indicator. 

Launched in 2020, the DHI measures a health organisation's progress in building a digital health ecosystem in four dimensions: governance and workforce, predictive analytics, interoperability, and person-enabled health.

The hospital scored 365/400 for the DHI. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Through the assessment, SMC was able to identify and resolve several interoperability issues by launching a real-time data dashboard called DOCC PAN system. 

"Now, our care teams can directly check patients' conditions in real time and respond to events appropriately without interruptions in communications," said Jong Soo Choi, PhD, DHI Assessment project lead at SMC.

SMC's Visible ARS service is regarded as a prime example of person-enabled health. "When a patient calls the hospital, they are automatically directed to the Visible ARS service. From there, they can make appointments and get health care information via their mobile phones," Choi explained. 

Soon, SMC plans to launch a systemic platform that connects all DHI dimensions to "increase the adoption rate target for each maturity model and [which] can provide individual patient information to caregivers accurately and intuitively," Choi also shared. 

THE LARGER TREND

While the hospital scored the highest marks (98%-99%) in each of the four indicators, there were still areas where SMC said it fell short of its own expectations; it is now working to improve in these areas while meeting the requirements for various HIMSS Digital Maturity Model assessments.  

In the area of interoperability, for example, it will supplement the changes to achieve Stage 7 for the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) and Community Care Outcomes Maturity Model (C-COM) to improve interoperability – specifically the interoperable exchange of social determinants of health data and the direct integration of lab and devices data with patient EMR. 

Its bid for a C-COM accreditation will also support the improvements in its governance and workforce capability, particularly having digital tools to support SDOH. 

Efforts towards getting validated for the Continuity of Care Maturity Model will help increase its person-enabled health score. These include providing chronic disease patients with access to digital tools and programmes and using predictive analytics to track population health outcomes and SDOH. 

Finally, it intends to raise its predictive analytics capability, specifically in producing health outcomes analyses to inform personalised care strategies, by working on its Adoption Model for Analytics Maturity accreditation.

In 2021, Hospital Authority Hong Kong achieved a considerably high score for the DHI at 358/400. Another South Korean hospital, Korea University Anam Hospital, underwent the DHI assessment and scored 308/400 also last year. 

The Indonesian Hospital Association or PERSI is looking to partner with a local hospital to be assessed for the DHI as part of its three-year collaboration with HIMSS, which started last year October.

In Australia, the Queensland government tapped HIMSS to assess the digital health ecosystem progress of its hospitals and health services.

ON THE RECORD

"Samsung Medical Center's world-highest HIMSS DHI score results from the hospital's effort to implement global high-tech intelligence as part of our digital transformation. Without stopping at this best result, we will continue to participate in measurement tools presented by HIMSS, such as Stage 7 Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model and Digital Imaging Adoption Model, to implement digital health and maximise DHI results. From HIMSS's DHI evaluation, SMC established a future roadmap of digital health with an objective understanding of our current maturity," commented Prof Wonchul Cha, MD, CMIO and Director of the SMC's Digital Innovation Center.

"As one of the leading advanced smart hospitals across the globe, SMC has constantly invested in improving our own digital system and transforming the digital health ecosystem worldwide. Today, SMC has gradually developed a medical system optimised for the personalisation of treatment and care, utilising predictive analytics based on patient’s generated data and empowering patients to have autonomy," Prof Meong Hi Son, MD, head of the Advisory Committee at SMC's Center of Digital Health Transformation, also said.

"By completing the DHI assessment, SMC has learned that there is still room to improve in each dimension for a better patient journey at SMC. For instance, SMS is committed to improving our interoperability capacity and ensuring the seamless flow of data and service not only for clinician teams and health service providers but to patients and users in general," shared Prof Mira Kang, MD, Vice Director of SMC's Digital Innovation Center.