Dispersed Healthcare Data Gathered into One to Enhance Utilization

Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, Health Insurance Corporation, and Korea Health Industry Development Institute Designated as Pseudonymized Health Data Integration Agencies

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] The correlation between an individual's genomic analysis results, health checkup records, and medical records is examined to more efficiently discover new drug candidates. By reviewing which medications a patient has taken along with counseling information and admission/discharge details, high-risk groups for mental health are identified and managed. Health insurance, private insurance, and patient surveys are integrated to monitor medical expenses by disease unit.

This is what is expected to happen when previously scattered healthcare data from different institutions are unified and utilized. Earlier this year, the Personal Information Protection Act was amended to allow pseudonymized information to be combined and used by designated specialized institutions. Recently, the first specialized institution for pseudonymized information combination in the healthcare sector was established. On the 29th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that the National Health Insurance Service, Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, and Korea Health Industry Development Institute have been designated as specialized institutions for pseudonymized information combination.

Pseudonymized information combination institutions professionally handle data where some personal information is removed, making it impossible to identify specific individuals without additional information. In the healthcare sector, since sensitive personal information such as identity, medical history, workplace, and income is involved, public institutions under the Ministry of Health and Welfare were prioritized for designation. The Ministry explained that, given ongoing concerns about personal information leakage, it is crucial to safely combine and export data. The National Health Insurance Service and Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service hold approximately 3.4 trillion and 3 trillion data records respectively, including treatment, medication details, and medical resources.

President Moon Jae-in is speaking at a roundtable meeting with employees developing innovative services combining data and AI during his visit last June to Duzon Bizon, a big data platform operating company located in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.

Pseudonymized information combination can only be performed by designated specialized institutions. With the recent designation, practical data combination can now be carried out. Earlier, the Ministry of Health and Welfare issued data utilization guidelines last month, the first among government ministries. To actually combine and utilize pseudonymized information, several procedures must be followed. The institution wishing to use the data must obtain approval from each individual healthcare data-holding institution and then submit a pseudonymized information combination application to the specialized institution. The specialized institution reviews the appropriateness of the combination, merges the data, and then provides the information after passing through an export review committee.

The government anticipates significant positive effects. Medical institutions can use the data to improve medical quality by developing diagnostic tests or treatments, while the industry will find it easier to develop or verify new products and services. Government and public institutions will also be able to approach policy-making more precisely. The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated, "It has become possible to combine various types of information, establishing a foundation to generate and utilize high value-added data based on vast healthcare data."

The Ministry plans to form and operate a combination specialized institution council next month, involving the three specialized institutions. This council will identify and address issues or difficulties during actual operations and discover best practices. Given lingering doubts about data combination, the Ministry will disclose the list of review committee members, review agendas, and processing results. A big data curating system will also be introduced to make vast information easier and more useful to use.

Im In-taek, Director of the Health Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "With pseudonymized information combination, high-quality healthcare data that will drive future medical innovation and related industry growth will be actively produced and utilized."