11 institutions sign MOU to bridge regional healthcare gaps through AI-driven medical services

Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service President Hong Seung-kwon (fifth from left) and National University Hospital Association Chairman Baek Nam-jong pose with other attendees at a signing ceremony for a joint cooperation agreement on AI transformation of regional, essential and public healthcare, held Monday at Chungnam National University Hospital in Jung-gu, Daejeon. [Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service]
Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service President Hong Seung-kwon (fifth from left) and National University Hospital Association Chairman Baek Nam-jong pose with other attendees at a signing ceremony for a joint cooperation agreement on AI transformation of regional, essential and public healthcare, held Monday at Chungnam National University Hospital in Jung-gu, Daejeon. [Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service]

The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service signed a joint cooperation agreement with 10 national university hospitals Monday at Chungnam National University Hospital in Jung-gu, Daejeon, committing to an AI-driven transformation of regional, essential and public healthcare.

The agreement brings together 11 institutions in total: the hospitals affiliated with Gangwon, Kyungpook, Gyeongsang, Busan, Seoul, Jeonnam, Jeonbuk, Jeju, Chungnam and Chungbuk national universities, along with HIRA.

The participating institutions agreed to work together to advance key government policy goals — narrowing regional disparities in healthcare access, expanding essential medical services and strengthening public healthcare — by building an AI-based advanced medical system.

The 11 institutions will cooperate across four areas: linking health and medical data and building AI training infrastructure; jointly developing and piloting AI-based essential and public healthcare service models; running AI education programs to strengthen the capabilities of regional medical personnel; and proposing global-standard medical AI technology standards and policies.

The parties also plan to establish a working-level consultative body — the Regional, Essential and Public Healthcare AI Transformation (AX) Implementation Council — to set up a concrete framework for carrying out the agreement.

"If HIRA's vast health and medical big data is combined with the outstanding clinical capabilities of national university hospitals, we can create powerful synergies to fill the gaps in regional, essential and public healthcare," HIRA President Hong Seung-kwon said. "Through this agreement, we will successfully build an AI-based personalized healthcare service model."


thlee@heraldcorp.com