Countless services have made our lives easier. One that has recently transformed lives and perceptions is Netflix.

Netflix, a 'subscription' service where users can access content without ownership, swiftly inspired diverse subscription-based models. The global landscape now comfortably embraces paid services.

Imagine applying such a subscription service to the medical field.

There is an attempt to do this. The “K-Health National Healthcare AI Service and Industrial Ecosystem Construction Project,” which Daejeon Metropolitan City started in the second half of this year, includes a project to provide data from medical institutions as a subscription service to companies that need it. The project aims to build and operate a large-scale digital healthcare system for five years until 2027. It is organized by the Daejeon Information & Culture Industry Promotion Agency, and Konyang University Hospital is a major participant.

Korea Biomedical Review met with Dr. Kim Jong-yeup, director of the Biomedical Research Institute at Konyang University Hospital, to learn more about the “K-Health National Healthcare AI Service and Industrial Ecosystem Construction Project,” or simply K-Health Project.

Question: Your institution is participating in the K-Health Project. What exactly is this project?

Answer: In essence, it utilizes healthcare data to develop medical devices and support clinical demonstrations. Although there have been many attempts so far, the distribution of medical data is still not smooth. We are trying to solve this problem in a new way.

Q: What is the goal of this business?

A: The overarching goal is to efficiently distribute dormant medical data from various medical institutions. Companies can then use this data to develop health-focused applications, including AI-based medical devices, with benefits returned to citizens.

Until now, apps have mostly been developed for tertiary medical institutions. To become a service that patients can experience, however, apps that can be used in primary medical institutions are also needed. Through this project, we want to develop services that can be used in primary medical institutions and that patients can feel directly. For example, the Care Network included in the project is a service that eliminates the need for patients to carry video CDs by hand. In this way, the project's ultimate goal is to develop services that directly affect the lives of ordinary people.

The Care Network is a project to build a service that eliminates the need for citizens to copy or carry medical records when visiting primary, tertiary, and tertiary medical institutions. The system will be built so that patients can access their medical records and exchange medical information between medical institutions.

Q: What is the role of Konyang University Hospital in the K-Health Project?

A: We are responsible for establishing a data safety zone, collecting medical data and clinical advice, clinical verification, cooperation with local medical institutions, and linking field applications. The data safety zone collects, stores, and processes medical, health, and healthcare data collected from medical institutions, making it available to demanding companies upon request. The data collected and processed by organizing a standalone data safety zone is thoroughly managed for data export and quality control.

Suppose there is a request from other regions or companies in and outside Daejeon. In that case, medical data will be provided according to the purpose of use, and the collected and processed medical data can only be utilized in the data safety zone. We purchased a pseudonymizing solution to protect personal information and set up a data safety zone by the certification standards of the Personal Information Protection Commission. We also have established an independent network; only authorized persons can enter the data safety zone. It is a physically and software-independent space. It has been thoroughly prepared to protect personal information.

We plan to offer the processed data to companies as a subscription service. Medical data is sensitive data. To protect it, we will protect the data in the form of lending and returning medical data and increase the utilization of companies.

Q: Can we think healthcare data distribution platforms are similar to OTT services like Netflix?

A: That's the most accurate way to understand it. You can't download the data, but you can view it. The data safety zone operates offline and online to provide a subscription service. Some areas of research require some data or personal information unavailable online. Data Safe Zone can support research that includes this information.

Q: How far has the Data Safety Zone been built?

A: We have completed the construction of the physical space in Konyang University Hospital, and the only remaining step is to collect data. We are building data from Konyang University Hospital first. In the future, we plan to collaborate with primary healthcare organizations to collect data that meets the needs of companies.

Q: It seems like the participation of primary healthcare organizations will be important.

A: That's right. That's why we're working on ways to help primary care organizations manage their data. Primary healthcare organizations are struggling with data management, so we are devising ways to help them with this, and we are thinking of providing appropriate incentives to increase their participation. We plan to promote the program in the future actively. Above all, it is a national project, so you can confidently participate.

Q: In addition to primary medical institutions, the participation of companies that will utilize medical data, such as Data Safety Zones and subscription distribution platforms, will also likely be important.

A: That’s correct. Therefore, we plan to support at least six AI service development companies during the project’s five-year period. We plan to support at least six AI service developers over five years, three of whom will utilize online data, and three will utilize offline data.

Q: If the model is successful, can we expect it to expand to a nationwide service?

A: We don't want to end up with just Daejeon. The goal is to spread across the country.

Q: Ultimately, how will the general public, or at least citizens of Daejeon, benefit from this project?

A: With the implementation of the Care Network in this project, Daejeon citizens would no longer need to carry medical records, like X-rays on CDs, between primary, secondary, and tertiary medical centers. They will be able to share test results without a CD. At the very least, it will be convenient. I expect that the continuity of care will be improved, which will help improve the health of citizens.

Q: What would you like to tell the medical community and companies to encourage them to participate in the K-Healthcare Project?

A: I didn't think I could work with email when the first email service came out. But now I do everything via email. It was 10 years ago, I was carrying around X-ray films in the hospital. However, it's all filed away and viewed on a computer.

Currently, generative AI has come along and changed the world. It is possible to mass-produce intellectual labor quickly, and the medical field is no exception to this trend. The situation surrounding the medical community is also changing.

Given this trend, medical organizations will not survive if they do not keep up with data management and utilization trends. Data management and utilization are necessary, so I hope you will join the digital transformation.

I think it's cheaper and more synergistic to be ready when the government is interested and supportive. The industry is faced with the challenge of obtaining clean data. If the data platform is built through this project, it will create an ecosystem where companies can easily conduct research.