Government-Supported 'Smart Hospital' Contest... "Creating a Safe Environment for Patients"

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute announced the call for applications for the '2023 Smart Hospital Leading Model Development Support Project' on the 14th.

Smart hospitals are hospitals that utilize information and communication technology in healthcare to enhance patient safety and improve the quality of medical services. The Ministry of Health and Welfare selects target hospitals for the project annually to support the development and demonstration of smart hospital leading models.

This year, under the theme of 'Creating a Patient Safety Environment,' support will be provided in three areas: ▲Creating a smart medication safety environment ▲Medical staff education and training ▲Smart hospital environment management. The project call will be open for three weeks from the 15th of this month to the 5th of next month. The submitted project plans from medical institutions (consortiums) will be comprehensively reviewed for feasibility, appropriateness, and execution capability to select the implementing institutions.

[Photo by Ministry of Health and Welfare]

The selected medical institutions will receive subsidies of up to 1 billion KRW to promote the establishment of smart hospital leading models and service demonstrations by the end of the year. Eun Seong-ho, Director of Advanced Medical Support at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "We will strive to expand smart hospitals by applying various information and communication technologies to medical institutions so that the public can receive safer and higher-quality medical services."

Cha Sun-do, President of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, said, "The development of smart hospital leading models has supported improving patient experience ultimately by supporting medical staff tasks through hospital operation efficiency and optimization. This year, we plan to spare no effort to support coexistence and cooperation within local communities for smartification, including expanding participation from regional small and medium-sized hospitals."