'Public Healthcare AI Highway' Connecting Regional Public Hospitals Opens First Section

Demonstration connects Gangwon National University Hospital and Yeongwol Medical Center
AI support from patient transfers through discharge and referral back to local hospitals
Phased expansion to 8 hospitals this year and 35 next year

The "Public Healthcare AI Highway," which enables regional public hospitals to use advanced medical AI technology developed at major hospitals, has opened its first section. The system uses AI to support medical staff throughout the process, from transferring patients between hospitals to discharge and referral back to local hospitals. The government plans to expand the network to 72 public hospitals nationwide by 2029.

On November 11, the Ministry of Health and Welfare held a pilot opening ceremony for the "Public Healthcare AI Highway," connecting Gangwon National University Hospital in Chuncheon and Yeongwol Medical Center in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, online in real time. The system uses three types of AI agents to support the process from inter-hospital transfers through surgery and discharge to referral back to local hospitals. The event was held via a two-way live broadcast linking the children's hospital at Gangwon National University Hospital with the pediatrics department at Yeongwol Medical Center.

This pilot opening marks the first real-world implementation of the "AI Basic Healthcare Strategy" announced by the government last August. The ministry said it had established the "Public Healthcare AI Highway," a dedicated distribution network that packages high-performance medical AI models validated by leading medical institutions, including Seoul National University Hospital, with high-speed dedicated networks, national graphics processing unit (GPU) computing resources, and a standard integration platform, and delivers them to regional hubs and secondary public hospitals.

At the opening ceremony, a virtual scenario demonstration was held, simulating the entire process of transferring a pediatric patient in need of emergency treatment from Yeongwol Medical Center to Gangwon National University Hospital, followed by surgery, discharge, and referral back to a local hospital. The demonstration was integrated with the actual electronic medical record (EMR) systems of both hospitals, and showcased the functions of three specialized AI agents designed to ease medical staff's administrative burden and ensure continuity of care.

The ministry explained that the medical AI services demonstrated at the event represented a proactive implementation in regional public hospitals of "EMR-integrated agent" technology, an advancement beyond the simple, standalone adoption of individual tools. This technology is the next step in the three-stage development of the medical artificial intelligence transformation (AX).

AI currently widely used in clinical settings is generally "standalone" (Stage 1), requiring users to open a separate screen or viewer apart from the electronic medical record (EMR). The "Public Healthcare AI Highway" has proactively introduced "AI-integrated EMR" (Stage 2) technology into the public healthcare system. This technology enables AI to analyze the clinical data it needs directly within the clinical interface and draft documents.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is implementing a phased roadmap of "development → pilot testing → full-scale project" to ensure the systematic adoption of the "Public Healthcare AI Highway." Under the plan, the ministry will complete connections to the "Public Healthcare AI Highway" for eight public hospitals participating in pilot testing by the end of 2026, then expand the network to as many as 35 public hospitals starting in April 2027.

At a policy meeting held immediately after the opening ceremony, attendees including presidents of national university hospitals, directors of regional medical centers, platform companies ezCaretech, Infinity Healthcare, and Naver Cloud, and representatives of medical AI companies such as Lunit and VUNO discussed ways to advance the technology and expand its use in clinical settings. The ministry plans to actively incorporate the opinions raised at the meeting into the design of the full-scale project scheduled to begin in April 2027, the next budget proposal, and improvements to the relevant systems.

Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong said "This highway connecting Yeongwol and Chuncheon is the first stretch on the road toward a Korea where everyone can access high-quality healthcare, wherever they are. Going forward, we will enable medical staff at regional public hospitals to use AI to spend less time on paperwork and more time with patients, and dramatically improve the quality of care."

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