Seoul National University Hospital in South Korea was recently validated for phase 6 of the HIMSS Infrastructure Adoption Model.
The hospital’s IT infrastructure architecture was assessed in five areas: mobility, security, collaboration, transportation, and data center, as identified in the previous INFRAM framework. Earlier this year, HIMSS introduced a new INFRAM framework, which now assesses an organization’s infrastructure maturity based on cybersecurity, adoption, sustainability, performance and outcomes.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
SNUH, the teaching hospital of Seoul National University School of Medicine, recently made major changes to its network infrastructure. It underwent the assessment for HIMSS INFRAM to measure the strength of their infrastructure.
Between 2021 and 2022, the hospital built and migrated to a software-defined data center (SDDC) private cloud that virtualizes and manages server, storage, and network resources. The hospital also moved from an internal server room to an external data center—the first hospital in South Korea to do so. In addition, the hospital migrated to an X86 operating system from a UNIX-based system.
“Since last year, our HIS, PACS and other IT systems have been running on a private cloud. This has allowed us to reduce physical servers, data center space usage and power consumption to a fifth of what they were before, resulting in significant cost savings.”
Chang Wook Jeong, CIO, Seoul National University Hospital
Earlier this year, the hospital replaced its complex three-tier network configuration and large, outdated chassis-type network equipment with a software-defined network (SDN)-based environment to simplify and minimize physical network configurations. It also replaced its network equipment with a high-speed wired/wireless network infrastructure.
SNUH is currently building a disaster recovery center, which it will use to provide critical clinical services, including HIS and PACS, and major hospital operations during disasters. Construction began in May and is scheduled for completion in December.
According to HIMSS, SNUH has strong infrastructure management, advanced data center capabilities and robust IT infrastructure security.
“Technically, SNUH uses advanced encryption, multi-factor authentication, robust network and endpoint security, real-time monitoring, and disaster recovery systems. It has also achieved Korea’s National Information Security Certification. These measures ensure patient data protection, operational continuity, and regulatory compliance, reinforcing SNUH’s status as a leading and secure healthcare organization,” said Andrew Pearce, HIMSS VP of Analytics and Global Advisory Lead.
SNUH is now working on reaching the highest stage of the INFRAM.
THE BIGGER TREND
SNUH follows Taiwan’s Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Linkou achieved Stage 6 INFRAM this year. Apollo Hospitals in India is also currently validated for Stage 6 INFRAM.
ON THE RECORD
SNUH CIO Jeong said it took them two to three years to achieve Stage 6 INFRAM, sharing: “We improved the overall system to transition to a private cloud, brutally discarded legacy systems to move to an SDN network environment, and adopted a next-generation network environment. All these processes were not just to achieve Stage 6 of INFRAM, but were the result of infrastructure innovation and efforts for a more stable and efficient infrastructure transition.”
Being validated for Phase 6 of the INFRAM, Jeong continues, is an achievement for both SNUH and the broader Korean healthcare sector.
“Achieving Stage 6 INFRAM has significant significance not only for us, but also for the broader Korean healthcare industry. It was an excellent opportunity to prove that efficient services are possible via cloud infrastructure and SDN-based network environments, while maintaining stable services. We expect this achievement to be a game changer for the Korean healthcare infrastructure market.”
“We believe the HIMSS INFRAM validation provides an excellent opportunity to diagnose SNUH’s infrastructure level and highlight its value globally.”
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