Samsung Medical Center in South Korea has achieved a high score globally for HIMSS Digital Health Indicator.
Launched in 2020, the DHI measures a healthcare organization’s progress in building a digital health ecosystem across four dimensions: governance and workforce, predictive analytics, interoperability and people-enabled health.
The hospital scored 365/400 for DHI.
WHY IT MATTERS
Through the evaluation, SMC was able to identify and resolve several interoperability issues by launching a real-time data dashboard called the DOCC PAN system.
“Now, our care teams can directly monitor patients’ conditions in real time and respond to events appropriately without interruption in communication,” said Jong Soo Choi, PhD, project leader of the DHI Assessment at SMC.
SMC’s Visible ARS service is considered a prime example of health powered by a person. “When a patient calls the hospital, they are automatically directed to the visible ARS service. From there, they can make appointments and receive health care information through their mobile phones,” Choi explained.
Soon, SMC plans to launch a systematic platform that connects all dimensions of DHI to “increase the target adoption rate for each maturity model and [which] can provide caregivers with individual patient information accurately and intuitively,” Choi also said.
THE BIGGEST TREND
While the hospital scored the highest marks (98%-99%) in each of the four indicators, there were still areas where SMC said it fell short of its expectations; is now working to improve in these areas by meeting the requirements for various assessments of the HIMSS digital maturity model.
In the area of interoperability, for example, it will complete the changes to reach Stage 7 for the Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) and the Community Care Outcomes Maturity Model (C-COM) to improve interoperability – especially interactive sharing of social determinants of health data and direct integration of laboratory and device data with patient EMRs.
Its bid for a C-COM accreditation will also support improvements in its governance and workforce capability, particularly by having digital tools to support SDOH.
Efforts to become certified for the Continuum of Care Maturity Model will help increase the health outcome enabled by the person. These include providing chronically ill patients with access to digital tools and programs and using predictive analytics to track population health outcomes and SDOH.
Finally, it aims to increase its predictive analytics capability, particularly in producing health outcomes analytics to inform personalized care strategies, by working on its Adoption Model for Analytics Maturity accreditation.
SMC has exceeded Hong Kong Hospital Authority in DHI, which also scored quite high at 358/400. Early last year, another South Korean hospital, Korea Anam University Hospitalalso received the DHI evaluation and scored 308/400.
Indonesian Hospital Association or LOST is looking to partner with a local hospital to be evaluated for DHI as part of its three-year collaboration with HIMSS, which began last October.
In Australia, Queensland Government used HIMSS to assess the progress of the digital health ecosystem of its hospitals and health services.
ON THE RECORD
“Samsung Medical Center’s world-highest HIMSS DHI score results from the hospital’s effort to implement high-tech global intelligence as part of our digital transformation. Not stopping at this top score, we will continue to get share in measurement tools presented by HIMSS, such as the Phase 7 Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model and Digital Imaging Adoption Model, to implement digital health and maximize DHI outcomes.From DHI’s evaluation of HIMSS , SMC created a future digital health roadmap with an objective understanding of our current maturity,” commented Prof Wonchul Cha. MD, CMIO and Director of SMC’s Digital Innovation Center.
“As one of the leading advanced smart hospitals across the globe, SMC has continuously invested in improving our digital system and transforming the digital health ecosystem around the world. Today, SMC has gradually developed a medical system optimized for personalization of treatment and care, using predictive analytics based on patient-generated data and empowering patients to have autonomy,” also said Prof Meong Hi Son, MD, head of the Advisory Committee at SMC’s Digital Health Transformation Centre.
“By completing the DHI evaluation, SMC has learned that there is still room for improvement in every dimension for a better patient journey at SMC. For example, SMS is committed to improving our interoperability capacity and ensuring the flow seamless flow of data and service not only for physician teams and healthcare providers, but for patients and users in general,” said Prof Mira Kang, MD, Deputy Director of SMC’s Digital Innovation Centre.
