The South Korean government will support the artificial intelligence (AI) transformation of hospitals.
The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) said it will accept applications for the "AI-Specialized Hospital AX-Ready Pilot Program" until the 26th of next month, aimed at supporting the AI transformation (AX) of medical sites.
The program targets the implementation of an integrated AX package that covers the entire patient journey. Going beyond the adoption of individual AI solutions focused on diagnosing specific diseases, it aims to achieve a patient-centered AI transformation encompassing diagnosis, treatment, administrative efficiency, and prognosis management.
The program is open to consortia led by public medical institutions at the general hospital level or above, with mandatory participation from AI solution and cloud computing companies. Selected projects will receive a total budget of 10 billion won ($7.4 million) over two years.
Through this initiative, MSIT plans to validate leading AI medical models and standard frameworks before establishing a large-scale regional AI-specialized hospital network in the future. Three key tasks will be demonstrated in the pilot program: phased adoption and expanded use of medical AI; the establishment of a region-complete AI health management collaborative care platform; and AI-based automation and efficiency improvements in hospital operations along with smart monitoring. The ministry plans to build an "AI-specialized hospital network" that connects and optimizes hospitals within a region on an AI basis beyond the individual hospital level, and to implement a "medical AI full-stack" model that integrates infrastructure, platforms, and AI services.
"This pilot program will serve as an opportunity to rapidly implement various AI technologies and solutions as integrated services," said Kim Kyung-man, director general of the Artificial Intelligence Policy Bureau at MSIT. "We will successfully build leading AI-specialized hospital models and a medical AI full-stack centered on public medical institutions, creating a foundation where AI innovation can contribute to strengthening regional, essential, and public healthcare capabilities."
