Catholic Medical Center, a hospital network in South Korea, recently conducted a digital health assessment to measure the basic maturity of its hospitals.
Widely adopted digital health assessment tools from HIMSS were applied, specifically Digital Health Index (DHI), Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model (EMRAM) and Infrastructure Adoption Model (INFRAM).
DHI measures an organization’s progress in building digital ecosystem capabilities across four dimensions: governance and workforce, predictive analytics, interoperability, and people-powered health. Meanwhile, EMRAM and INFRAM measure the maturity of an organization’s EMR and IT infrastructure.
RESULT
CMC has eight affiliated hospitals: Seoul St Mary’s, Yeouido St Mary’s, Uijeongbu St Mary’s, Bucheon St Mary’s, Eunpyeong St Mary’s, Incheon St Mary’s, St Vincent and Daejeon St Mary’s. All are connected through a single hospital information system, CMC nU.
Based on DHI’s assessment, hospitals showed varying levels of basic digital maturity, with Seoul St Mary’s Hospital achieving a remarkable score of 310. Overall, CMC was assessed as having a solid foundation for digital transformation with strengths in governance and workforce, as well as interoperability.
WHY IT MATTERS
Despite their different speeds and levels of digital maturity, all CMC hospitals are moving in the same direction with the same digital strategy, said In-Young Choi, professor and deputy chief information officer at CMC. Seoul St Mary’s is the flagship hospital leading CMC’s seven-year digital transformation implementation. New digital technologies and services are first tested and validated here before being replicated at other hospitals.
According to DHI’s assessment, CMC as a group is on track towards a digitally mature ecosystem with Seoul St Mary’s serving as a benchmark to further improve digital healthcare capabilities, especially in predictive analytics and personalized healthcare.
CMC recognized IT coordinators at Seoul St. Mary’s for building a “high-quality” digital health ecosystem. Established in every clinical area, IT coordinators help ensure smooth communication between users and developers through a professional and systematic communication system; enhance the hospital workforce’s capacity to provide digital health care services; and maintain support and infrastructure.
CMC will also focus on increasing the use of EMR and consolidating data centers to improve EMR systems and IT infrastructure.
THE BIGGER CONTEXT
CMC first revealed its vision for digital transformation in 2019. The company’s seven-year strategy outlined eight key digital initiatives and actions to achieve this goal. These include a 12-terabyte clinical data warehouse – which it claims is the largest structured medical data platform in Korea, and a 1,610-terabyte electronic data processing system, which it claims is the country’s first unstructured medical data platform. A big data-based digital pathology platform is also in the works.
To further promote its digital transformation, CMC has established Catholic Information Convergence Institute 2021. This institute is behind CMC’s IT management system, guiding the application and integration of new technologies throughout the corporation.
ON PROFILE
Emphasizing the importance of conducting globally recognized assessments of digital technology maturity, Dr. Dai-Jin Kim, CEO of Seoul St Mary’s Hospital and CMC Chief Information Officer, said: “If hospital organizations want to improve process efficiency, patient safety and healthcare service quality, they must conduct an objective assessment of the current state of digital healthcare services and receive professional advice and feedback on further digital technology improvement.”
“Through such assessments, they can gain enhanced knowledge and stay updated with the latest digital advancements worldwide, information that they may need to upgrade their respective HIS and shape future-oriented policies and strategies of the organization. These assessments can also help them avoid unnecessary trial and error by gathering validated evidence and trends regarding digital investments.”
Dr. Dai-Jin Kim, CEO, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital and Chief Information Officer, Catholic Medical Center
After assessing its digital maturity, CMC also plans to focus on helping patients manage their health and well-being safely at home.
“We plan to focus more on developing services that enable patients to be involved in their health care and treatment. Part of this is the aftercare platform we are developing, which connects a variety of modern services to help patients manage their health outside of hospital.”
Professor In-Young Choi, Vice President of External Relations, Catholic Medical Center
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Learn more about applying AI in hospitals from Professor In-Young Choi at the upcoming HIMSS24 APAC Healthcare Conference in Seoul, South Korea on October 1-4. She will speak at the plenary session “AI Horizons: Exploring the Future of Innovation.” Secure your spot here.
