KT, Samsung Medical Center join hands to export medical tech

South Korean telecommunications giant KT and Samsung Seoul Medical Center are teaming up to export Korea's medical services and digital technology for hospitals, KT said Saturday.

The two sides signed an agreement on Friday, under which they will work together to come up with a monitoring system that uses digital health care devices to check up on patients, and to conduct joint research on ways to use artificial intelligence in hospitals using big data.

KT is currently preparing to open a medical checkup center in Hanoi, Vietnam, and Samsung Medical Center will offer advice in medical facility operations, the company said. Samsung Medical Center will provide support in training local medical staff and also be in charge of follow-up treatment after a patient is diagnosed with an advanced disease during a medical checkup.

The two sides will also carry out joint research on telemedicine services using artificial intelligence, which is expected to help doctors in various medical processes, including disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

KT will be in charge of developing algorithms, while Samsung Medical Center will be working on exploring potential areas for the application of such AI services, KT said.

“I am glad we are able to create synergy in the medical and IT sectors, the two fields in which South Korea has an upper hand in the world,” Kim Hee-chul, professor in charge of planning at Samsung Medical Center, said.

“We will do our best so that South Korea can set the standard for the medical environment in the future," he said.

KT Vice President Song Jae-ho, who heads the AI and DX Convergence Business Division, also confided that the collaboration will become a "success case" of exporting technology aimed at digitalizing medical processes.

"We will expand the operation of the medical checkup center (in Vietnam), which is planned to open next year," Song added.

Samsung Medical Center is the first hospital in the world to receive the highest rating in three out of seven categories in an evaluation of its information technology capabilities conducted by the US-based global organization, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

KT and Samsung Medical Center have been working together since 2019 with the goal of developing and applying digital technology to hospitals.

Forging a partnership agreement in September 2019, the two have jointly developed 5G-powered medical services including digital diagnostic pathology and quick access to proton therapy information in operating rooms.

They agreed to work together to develop AI-enabled care for in-patients and an autonomous robot for operating rooms.