Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH), led by CEO & President Song Jung-han, is at the forefront of integrating public welfare with healthcare excellence, as it embraces the challenge of redefining patient care.

Song, who took office as CEO and President of SNUBH in March, is a leading authority in the field of diagnostic laboratory medicine. He graduated from Seoul National University College of Medicine in 1988 and has been a professor at the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the same institution since 1997.

At SNUBH, he played a leading role in the Department of Laboratory Medicine since its opening in 2003.

He contributed to the hospital's rapid growth by developing and establishing an advanced diagnostic testing system.

Subsequently, he held various key positions, including Director of Management Innovation, Education and Training, and Human Resources Development. Since 2019, he served as the Vice-President of Medical Services and the Head of Public Health Medical Service, playing a central role in hospital management.

Notably, he has been recognized for his understanding of the role of a national central hospital and his exceptional leadership as a manager while spearheading the project to construct a specialized infectious disease hospital in the greater Seoul area. 

He had also served as the president of the Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine and the president of the Korean Institute of Genetic Testing Evaluation. Song is also currently the president of the Korean Association of External Quality Assurance Service, leading the global standardization of the diagnostic laboratory medicine field in Korea.

In an exclusive interview with Korea Biomedical Review, Song shared his insights on the hospital's pioneering initiatives and its commitment to public healthcare.

"For national university hospitals like ours, it's vital to create a leading model," Song said, emphasizing the crucial balance between public service and sustainability. “Healthcare is an essential element that forms the basis of society.”

However, it will be difficult to push many medical institutions in various fields to focus entirely on the public healthcare, he admitted.

Thus, it is important for national university hospitals like SNUBH to create a model to overcome public healthcare issues, such as the shortage of essential medical care.

Korea is currently facing a severe shortage of doctors in essential care such as emergency medicine and pediatrics. 

In response to the problem, the government plans to raise  the number of doctors  but physicians are strongly opposing the plan  saying more doctors do not lead to more specialists in essential care.

“Areas of serious diseases that are directly linked to life, or rare and intractable diseases that have a small number of patients and are difficult to treat, require both high medical capabilities and a commitment to public service,” Song said. “We will make further efforts to ensure that no citizens are left in the blind spot of essential care."

Song also shared how the Covid-19 pandemic laid bare the vulnerabilities of healthcare systems worldwide.

Healthcare could have collapsed if the pandemic prolonged for a longer period, and this highlighted the need for "specialized facilities,” he said.

SNUBH has taken a proactive role by spearheading the establishment of a specialized infectious disease hospital.

"We find meaning in establishing a specialty hospital,” Song said.

SNUBH is pushing for the construction of the country's largest infectious disease specialty hospital, equipped with about 180 negative pressure beds, with a government budget of about 50 billion won ($37.8 million), and an additional self-funding of about 4 billion won.

SNUBH is highly regarded for its understanding of foreign patients and the level of medical service and clinical environment, as it was the first in Korea to receive Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) international clinical certification.

However, SNUBH's faced challenges in serving international patients in the wake of Covid-19.

Still, the hospital "made a lot of effort" across many departments to allow critical foreign patients to continue treatment through the fast-track system, including testing and surgery while hospitalized, he  explained.

Song stressed that with the temporary easing of regulations on telemedicine, the hospital was able to continue caring for foreign patients who couldn't visit the hospital in-person.

“Based on our hospital's excellent IT capabilities, we developed our own telemedicine solution, Ez on the call, which allowed us to manage pre and post-care for patients abroad,” Song said. “Especially since electronic medical record (EMR) and imaging data could be shared on screen with local patients, the satisfaction was high, and as a result of these activities, we have recorded foreign patient attraction results that have surpassed the pre-Covid era.”

Song stressed that with Covid-19 subsiding, the hospital is again actively providing medical care for foreigners, targeting mainly the Middle Eastern region, Russia/CIS, Arab countries, Russian-speaking regions, and the U.S. forces stationed in Korea.

Home healthcare has also been on Song's agenda, particularly the necessity for accessible medical services for the elderly and disabled.

Song also noted the challenges during the digital transformation era, particularly integrating AI and ensuring accessibility for the elderly.

"Making sure that no one is left behind in the digital transformation of healthcare is an important issue," Song emphasized, signifying the hospital's commitment to inclusivity.

In the realm of digital healthcare, SNUBH has made significant strides with its Healthcare Innovation Park, established in 2016.

“We aim to create an ecosystem encompassing everything from healthcare research to stages that allow clinical application,” Song said. “The Boston biocluster, home to Harvard and MIT, is a cradle of top-tier bio and medical companies worldwide.”

It has everything necessary for academia, industry, research institutes, and hospitals to come together and commercialize innovative technologies, and the hospital's goals are similar to this model, Song added.

In envisioning the future hospital, Song believes in expanding roles beyond clinical care to incorporate research, education, and public health.

"We are planning various activities, including upgrading the outpatient space and expanding the research base," he said, indicating SNUBH's strategy to innovate and adapt to the evolving healthcare landscape.

SNUBH is also setting a new standard for transparency in patient care.

Notably, SNUBH has taken a groundbreaking step with the publication of the Outcome Book, which contains various indicators that allow patients to check the quality of medical services, including treatment outcomes for specific diseases.

In 2018, SNUBH was the first medical institution in Korea to release an Outcome Book, with other medical institutions now also publishing similar materials. 

Since then, the hospital has published an improved version of the Outcome Book each year, disclosing various medical quality indicators, thereby promoting patients' right to know and leading to improvements in the quality of healthcare.

Song sees this as an extension of patient rights and is meaningful as it transparently reveals the qualitative outcomes of medical practices at the hospital.

"This initiative has spurred a movement towards greater transparency across the country's medical institutions," Song said.