Full-Scale Shift to Medical AX from Health Centers to Emergency Rooms... 72 Responsibility Hospitals to Be Connected

Announcement of "AI Primary Healthcare Strategy" to Fill Gaps in Regional, Essential, and Public Healthcare
Deployment of AI Packages at Health Centers and Establishment of Integrated Emergency AI Platform
Creation of National Health Data Hub an

The government has announced plans to support the use of medical artificial intelligence (AI) services at public health centers and clinics in underserved areas across the country in order to address the concentration of patients at major hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area and eliminate gaps in regional, essential, and public healthcare. The government aims to completely redesign the healthcare system around AI, encompassing local clinics, emergency care, public hospitals, and national medical data, so that the quality of medical services provided in the regions matches that of large hospitals in Seoul.

On July 22, at a 'Regional, Essential, and Public Healthcare Forum' chaired by President Lee Jaemyung at the Blue House, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Science and ICT presented the 'AI Basic Healthcare Strategy.' With the vision of "AI for Life: Medical Innovation for All," this strategy comprises three pillars: ▲ AI-powered healthcare innovation that citizens experience in their daily lives ▲ Building an AI-driven (AX) foundation to enable access to advanced medical services nationwide ▲ Establishing a sustainable AI medical innovation ecosystem. These pillars break down into 10 key policy initiatives.

Starting next year, the government will introduce an AI package to public health centers and subcenters nationwide, supporting services such as image interpretation assistance, automatic electronic medical record generation, and chronic disease management. In medically underserved areas, primary care clinics in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and family medicine will receive a 'Primary Care AX Voucher.' On islands and in remote regions, pilot programs will allow visiting nurses and remote doctors to use AI for non-face-to-face collaborative care.

In the field of emergency medicine, the government will implement and roll out a pilot 'Integrated Emergency AI Platform' (tentative name) to assist with patient transfers and hospital matching using AI. To address transfer delays caused when ambulances struggle to locate available hospitals, the system will analyze each hospital’s clinical capacity and emergency medical resources in real time. Within emergency rooms, AI-based clinical decision support systems will guide medical staff. Additionally, real-time information sharing among 119 emergency centers, central emergency medical centers, and medical institutions will be further advanced.

The inconvenience of having to copy medical images onto CDs when transferring between hospitals will also be addressed. An inter-hospital medical information sharing system will be established using the 'My Health Record (PHR)' platform. Meanwhile, the new 'National AI Health Assistant' service will use AI to summarize and interpret prescriptions and medical records—typically written in complex medical terminology—into easier language for patients.

'AI Highway' Connecting 72 Public Hospitals Nationwide

Regional public hospitals that have fallen behind in adopting AI due to challenging finances will be connected through the 'Public Healthcare AI Highway.' Beginning in the second half of 2026 with three regional responsibility hospitals and six local responsibility hospitals, all 72 responsibility hospitals nationwide will be linked by 2029. This will enable the joint use of various AI services, such as image interpretation, electronic medical record generation, and patient referral summaries. Outdated information systems at local medical centers will be replaced with AI-friendly information systems, and the standardization of clinical data will also be promoted.

Hospital operations themselves will also be reorganized around AI. The government will push for the development of an 'AI Native Hospital Information System (AI Native HIS)' to provide integrated, AI-based support for clinical care, nursing, surgery, and administrative operations. Pilot projects for regionally specialized AI hospitals will also be undertaken. These hospitals will integrate a range of technologies, including commercial medical AI, AI-based collaborative care, ward monitoring, and AI-enabled rounding and nursing charting.

To establish a data-based foundation—crucial for medical AI competitiveness—the government will build a national health and medical data hub by combining the data from public institutions, national university hospitals, and research institutes. Additionally, it will pursue the development of a 'Korean Medical AI' based on domestic clinical data and independent AI foundation models. This is expected to reduce reliance on overseas AI models, establish a 'sovereign medical AI' system, and further rationalize the regulations on the use of pseudonymous data to encourage research.

For the sustainability of AI medical services, the government will also revise compensation systems. Moving away from systems that only reward individual uses of AI technology, it will consider evaluating and compensating overall outcomes achieved through AI. At the same time, the government plans to establish medical AI ethics and security guidelines, foster a workforce specializing in AI and biohealth, and promote the establishment of a WHO AI Hub in Korea, thereby strengthening Korea's leadership in global medical AI innovation.

Jung Eun-kyung, Minister of Health and Welfare, stated, "AI is a tool to fill gaps in regional, essential, and public healthcare and to protect the lives of citizens," adding, "We will work with relevant ministries to faithfully implement the AI Basic Healthcare Strategy and create an environment where everyone can access the medical services they need, regardless of where they live."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.