The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Information Service recently helped connect researchers and hospitals as part of their initiative to promote the use of data for medical research.
WHAT MATTERS
In support of the MOHW’s Medical Data Utilization Project, tThe KHIS helped bring organizations on board to join the initiative, especially those involved in pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
At a recent meeting they hosted, four research agreements were signed, including those between:
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Samjin Pharmaceutical and Samsung Seoul Hospital, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Hanyang University Hospital;
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Hanmi Pharm Co. and Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea Daegu Guro Hospital;
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Whanin Pharmaceutical Co. and Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Seoul Asan Hospital;
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Human Deep Co. and Konyang University Hospital
According to a press statement, the said parties have agreed on expanding access to medical data and on the respective research area in which the data will be used.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health through KHIS pledged to continue supporting their efforts.
THE GREATER CONTEXT
Since 2020, the MOHW has been helping hospitals set up a data infrastructure so they can leverage their health data for medical research and improve healthcare.
Data is necessary for the development of AI and big data technologies. However, medical data in South Korea remains dispersed and locked within institutions; Their quality also varies per institution. This makes it difficult for digital health researchers to collect and use them.
In February, the MOHW launched its data utilization project to accelerate research and promote collaboration between data-driven institutions in industry and academia. This project supports digital health researchers by connecting them with hospitals to access medical data. She also offers expert advice on data processing and safe use of data.
As part of this project, the MOHW has recently designated five institutions as centers for the safe use of medical data. These centers were considered to have physical, technical, and managerial safeguards in place to enable researchers to safely use public medical and clinical data.
ON THE RECORD
“We expect that these agreements will stimulate innovative research activities using medical data in the digital health field. We will provide all necessary support to contribute to the health of patients, their families and the public,” said Eun Seong-ho, Director of the Bureau of Advanced Health Technology Policy of MOHW commented.