The government will establish a network between regional responsible medical institutions and intensive care units in small hospitals using information and communication technology (ICT) next year. The aim is to alleviate the operational difficulties of intensive care units by building an integrated control center that allows hospitals in the region to collaborate remotely and enhance the capacity to treat critically ill patients.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare noted on the 16th that it will promote the ‘remote intensive care unit (e-ICU, electronic-intensive care unit) collaboration network construction project’ as a new business next year. The budget for the project is set at 2.5 billion won.
Through this project, the ministry will establish remote intensive care units by launching new calls for applications from two regions and medical institutions early next year. After approximately one year of system construction and testing, the units are scheduled to begin full operation starting in 2026.
In the integrated control center operated by responsible medical institutions, medical staff will be on duty 24 hours a day to monitor information such as the status of patients in regional intensive care units, bed occupancy, and incidents of abnormal symptoms. An alarm function will support rapid response when the deterioration of a patient’s condition is detected, and collaborative services for the patient will be provided when necessary.
Go Hyung-woo, a senior medical support officer at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, “Utilizing South Korea's world-class ICT technology to activate information exchange between hospitals will be an effective solution to address the issues of regional healthcare personnel and infrastructure shortages,” adding, “I will do my utmost to ensure that this project becomes a significant turning point in improving the operational system of intensive care units, one of the key areas of essential regional medical care.”