During the doctors' strike, South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare has announced a new project that will leverage artificial intelligence to develop a clinical decision support system for emergency departments.
The company will invest 22.8 billion won ($16.7 million) in the project over the next five years and aims to achieve the following goals:
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Establish an ER database
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Developing technology to optimize the treatment process in the emergency room
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Develop an AI model to experience ER
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Developing CDSSs to predict conditions such as cardiac arrest, cardiovascular disease, and sepsis
of This project includes Samsung Medical Center, Seoul Asan Medical Center, Korea University Medical Center, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Hanyang University Hospital
South Korea's National Emergency Medical Center will also participate in the project, providing data and supporting AI demonstrations, and the Ministry of Health's Korea Health Industry Promotion Agency will also provide support through task management, evaluation, and consultation.
why is it important
The Ministry of Health said in a statement that it launched the project to seek national solutions to pressing problems in hospitals, particularly the lack of emergency medical resources and low emergency care capacity in health facilities outside major cities.
The government also noted that there is demand among members of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine and the Korean Society of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine for emergency room AI that helps detect patient deterioration early and reduce patient waiting times.
Larger trends
Since February, around 10,000 junior doctors across the country have been on strike, filing for resignations in large numbers and holding mass walkouts to protest the government's plan to increase medical school admissions. This plan is considered a measure to increase the number of medical workers in order to meet the increasing medical demand in Asian countries, where the population is rapidly aging. Their collective actions have put a strain on emergency departments, forcing many to cut back on hours and stop providing life-saving treatments. Since then, the government has used the military and retired doctors to maintain the public health system.
