Digital Health Profile of South Korea: A Cross Sectional Study

Kyehwa Lee, Libga Seo, Dukyong Yoon, Kwangmo Yang, Jae-Eun Yi, Yoomi Kim and Jae-Ho Lee
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Kyehwa Lee: Department of Information Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea
Libga Seo: Department of Information Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 05505, Korea
Dukyong Yoon: Department of Biomedical Systems Informatics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yongin-si 16995, Korea
Kwangmo Yang: Center for Health Promotion, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Korea
Jae-Eun Yi: Korea Health Information Service, Seoul 04515, Korea
Yoomi Kim: Korea Health Information Service, Seoul 04515, Korea
Jae-Ho Lee: Department of Emergency Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: (1) Backgroud: For future national digital healthcare policy development, it is vital to collect baseline data on the infrastructure and services of medical institutions’ information and communication technology (ICT). To assess the state of medical ICT across the nation, we devised and administered a comprehensive digital healthcare survey to medical institutions across the nation. (2) Methods: From 16 November through 11 December 2020, this study targeted 42 tertiary hospitals, 311 general hospitals, and 1431 hospital locations countrywide. (3) Results: Since 2015, most hospitals have implemented electronic medical record (EMR) systems (90.5 percent of hospitals, which is the smallest unit, and 100 percent of tertiary hospitals). The rate of implementation of personal health records (PHRs) varied significantly between 61.9 percent and 2.4 percent, depending on the size of the hospital. Hospitals have implemented around three to seven government-sponsored information/data transmission and receiving systems for statistical or investigative objectives. For secondary usage of medical data, more than half of tertiary hospitals have implemented a clinical data warehouse or shared data model. However, new service establishments utilizing modern medical technologies such as artificial intelligence or lifelogging were scarce and in the planning stages. (4) Conclusion: This study shows that the level of digitalization in Korean medical institutions is significant, despite the fact that the development and spending in ICT infrastructure and services provided by individual institutions imposes a significant cost. This illustrates that, in the face of a pandemic, strong government backing and policymaking are essential to activate ICT-based medical services and efficiently use medical data.

Keywords: health information system; information and communication technology; electronic medical records; personal health records; clinical data warehouse (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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