International Hospital Medical Industry Expo to be Held at COEX on the 29th
Special Smart Hospital Exhibition with Participation from 8 Hospitals
Accelerating Digital Transformation... Revolutionary Changes in Medical Services
Yoon Dong-seop, President of the Korea Hospital Association, is delivering a greeting at the opening ceremony of the International Hospital & Medical Industry Expo held at COEX in Seoul on the 29th.
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] At night, robots?not humans?automatically deliver necessary supplies in medical settings, and artificial intelligence (AI) predicts the risk of pressure ulcers and falls in hospitalized patients to maximize safety management. The status of intensive care units in various hospitals can be monitored in real time, and patient conditions can be tracked. Routine tasks are automated to support busy medical staff. This is a glimpse of the future "smart hospital" brought about by advances in information and communication technology.
Hosted by the Korea Hospital Association, the "International Hospital & Medical Industry Expo" held on the 29th at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, provided an opportunity to see cutting-edge future hospitals at a glance. The "Smart Hospital Special Exhibition" featured eight hospitals currently implementing smart hospital projects, including Kangwon National University Hospital, National Health Insurance Ilsan Hospital, Bundang Seoul National University Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, Ajou University Hospital, Yongin Severance Hospital, Yongin Mental Hospital, and Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, showcasing their ongoing smart hospital models.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute have been supporting the development of a total of 18 smart hospital leading models across three fields annually from 2020 to 2025. The goal is to improve the quality of medical services through the advancement of the entire hospital cycle?from patient visits to outpatient and emergency care, surgery, intensive care units, wards, and discharge.
The hospitals participating in the special exhibition introduced their currently established smart hospital leading models. Samsung Medical Center emphasized "smart logistics." Based on actual usage data of supplies on site, the "standard quantity module" sets the daily required amount, and highly mobile AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) robots deliver necessary supplies to clinical sites during nighttime according to a set schedule and route that minimizes overlap with human traffic. These robots autonomously call elevators, board them, and use RFID (radio-frequency identification) to open and close supply room doors upon arrival. Medical staff no longer need to separately request supplies, there is no leftover inventory, and no personnel are required for inspection and delivery.
Real-time monitoring and collaborative consultation system for the remote intensive care unit at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital.
Bundang Seoul National University Hospital has established a remote intensive care unit real-time monitoring and non-face-to-face consultation system. By connecting intensive care units of physically distant partner hospitals to a hub hospital, it is possible to efficiently utilize scarce intensive care medical resources and provide safe, high-quality intensive care services. To this end, a system has been set up to check the status of intensive care unit beds by region, patients showing abnormal signs, and clinical indicators in real time. Using webcams, patient conditions are monitored in real time, and through the non-face-to-face consultation system, medical staff at the hub hospital can also provide care to intensive care patients at distant hospitals.
In addition, Yongin Severance Hospital introduced a smart integrated infection control system to prepare for infectious diseases. The infection tracking management solution enables real-time location tracking of hospital entrants and analyzes the density of outpatient areas within the hospital in real time to manage crowded times and spaces. The system includes non-face-to-face access control based on hospital zone route separation, non-face-to-face consultation for isolation beds, patient mental health measurement and monitoring systems, and 5G quarantine robots. The Korea Health Industry Development Institute, which supports the development of smart hospital leading models, emphasized, "There is an increasing demand for digital transformation in preparing for future healthcare in the medical field. Smart hospitals will serve as a link to realize digital transformation in healthcare and play a central role within the ecosystem."
The International Hospital & Medical Industry Expo will be held until the 1st of next month. Under the theme "Digital Healthcare Era, Changes in Medical Paradigm," it offers a comprehensive look at the current state of cutting-edge medical industries, including smart hospitals and software as a medical device (SaMD). Various seminars exploring the future of digital healthcare and changes in hospitals and medical environments through metaverse and artificial intelligence (AI) will also be held. Yoon Dong-seop, president of the Korea Hospital Association, said, "With the activation of non-face-to-face services and strengthened infection control activities brought by COVID-19, and the era of digital transformation using ICT technology, the healthcare field is evolving rapidly day by day. We will focus our capabilities on holding substantial expo events and providing proper guidance and proactive responses to the changing paradigm."
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