NECA pushes to incorporate medical AI use in clinical practice guidelines

The National Evidence-based Healthcare Coordinating Agency (NECA) has announced a plan to promote the use of medical artificial intelligence by incorporating it into clinical guidelines.

On Wednesday, NECA held a roundtable discussion on the topic of “Current Status and Key Issues of Medical AI Use in Clinical Practice,” and announced the results on Thursday.

It organized the discussion to share actual cases of medical AI use, discuss clinical situations and issues, and explore ways to establish appropriate standards for future use.

At the meeting, Professor Jung Kyu-hwan of Sungkyunkwan University delivered a keynote speech outlining the current trends in medical AI development in Korea, trends in the approval of AI-based medical devices, the potential and limitations of generative AI in medical applications, and the necessity of multi-institutional pilot studies.

Among the following presentations were: “Actual Case of Generative AI in Drafting Medical Records” by Professor Yoo Seng-chan of Yonsei University College of Medicine; “Medical AI Clinical Demonstration Platform” by Professor Kim Jong-yeup of Konyang University Hospital; “Development of a Korean Medical LLM” by Professor Lee Hyung-chul of Seoul National University Hospital; “Cases and Challenges of Medical AI Application in Pediatric Emergency Care” by Professor Son Myung-hee of Samsung Medical Center; “LLM for Supportive Care” by Professor Lee Man-kyung of Samsung Medical Center; and “Discharged Patient Management PRO Platform Operation by Professor Ock Min-su of Ulsan University Hospital.

In the panel discussion, Park Jae-young, editor-in-chief of The Korean Doctors’ Weekly, served as the moderator, and Park Hyung-joon, a division director at Shihwa Medical Center, and Lee Sang-hyup, department head at Lunit, shared their perspectives from the medical field and industry, respectively.

Notably, it was suggested that to effectively introduce AI in the medical field, government regulations should be implemented more flexibly to create an environment where AI medical technology can be applied and verified in the field in advance, and that more data should be secured.

Kim Eun-jung, a researcher at the National Assembly Research Service, emphasized the role of the National Assembly in policymaking and suggested that it is necessary to strengthen the protection of patient data privacy and expand the scope of AI medical data utilization to activate non-face-to-face medical care. She also mentioned the importance of training physician scientists at the national level.

Lee Seong-jae, a member of the public participation group at NECA, emphasized that it is still difficult for the public to feel the benefits of AI in the medical field, and that communication between medical staff and patients in actual face-to-face situations must be further enhanced.

“The development of medical AI is an opportunity to contribute to the improvement of public health, but ethical and social discussions must accompany it,” NECA Director Lee Jae-tae said after the discussion. “NECA will continue its multifaceted efforts to ensure that technologies that can be used in medical practice are translated into practical policies through the reflection of clinical guidelines and collaboration with relevant ministries.”