Medical Centers Rapidly Going Digital

You see your doctor with no waiting time thanks to an online reservation. You don’t even wait for X-rays or a blood test because your doctor already made an integrated reservation online. Your prescription is already printed out.

Hospitals are going digital at a rapid pace. Big hospitals, with the existing Order Communication System (OCS), are enhancing their medical services by introducing the Picture Archiving Communication System (PACS), Electronic Medical Record (EMR), and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

Samsung SDS (SDS) and Hyundai Information Technology (HIT) won contracts to build hospital information systems for Hallym University Medical Center and Konkuk University Medical Center, respectively. Yonsei University Medical Center and Kyunghee Medical Center will also open bids for hospital information systems.

The Digital hospital has become a buzzword in the System Integration (SI) industry as a result.

Last month, Samsung SDS launched a hospital information system project that would integrate the systems of Hallym’s five general hospitals by June 2006.

Hallym University Medical Center will run an integrated reservation system so patients don’t have to wait for various checkups. And patients can get their checkup results online. A patient can also get online recommendations on food and habits to avoid if he or she has a liver problem, for instance. Moreover, the medical center will share patient information with nearby hospitals so that patients can receive treatment near home after a surgery at the medical center.

Hospitals are particularly focusing on EMR, the database of medical records.

With the EMR, doctors can have easy access to patients’ medical records and share the information with other doctors, enabling high-quality service.

“You can’t survive the tough competition unless you shorten waiting times and provide quality medical services,” said a spokesperson for Hallym University Medical Center.

Meanwhile, SDS recently assembled its hospital information system engineers and plans to enter overseas markets by providing telemedicine solutions for Spain.

HIT, one of the leading companies in the hospital information system, also plans to assemble its hospital information system engineers with the launch of a recent Konkuk University Medical Center project.

HIT is taking the initiative in winning contracts, boasting its system integration experiences in 30 big hospitals.

Jin-Suk Huh jameshuh@donga.com