Samsung Medical Center sets new bar in smart hospital transformation with AI-ready systems

Samsung Medical Center in South Korea has moved beyond technology deployment toward the practical use of its globally recognised hospital IT infrastructure.

It was recently revalidated at Stage 7 of the HIMSS Infrastructure Adoption Model, nearly four years after it was first validated at this stage. The eight-stage model, updated in 2024, measures an organisation's maturity across five IT areas: cybersecurity, adoption, sustainability, performance, and outcomes.

WHY IT MATTERS

Since its Stage 7 validation in 2022, SMC has advanced its digital infrastructure with a stronger focus on practical utilisation and operational management.

HIMSS validators highlighted the relocation of SMC's Internet Data Centre, executed at an "unprecedented scale." Actual downtime was limited to approximately 20 minutes while maintaining uninterrupted clinical operations.

The move resulted in a 50% reduction in latency and better support for GPU-intensive AI workloads, while freed-up physical space was reallocated for patient care services.

According to Dr Kyu-Sung Lee, chief data and digital officer at SMC's Digital Innovation Office, the expanded infrastructure capacity has established the foundation for large-scale clinical data processing and data-driven operational management.

"Use cases involving high-volume data transfer and processing, such as patient-centred medical imaging sharing, are particularly well positioned to benefit from these improvements," he told Healthcare IT News.

Meanwhile, the expanded infrastructure provides the capacity to accommodate "increased data volumes and a broader analytical scope for environments that continuously collect and analyse system logs, performance metrics, and user activity data."

"This creates the conditions for enhanced scalability and stability in operational management processes," the hospital's CDO said.

SMC has also implemented AI-enabled Security Information and Event Management capabilities, which HIMSS validators said reflect its transition from reactive monitoring to predictive and intelligence-driven cybersecurity operations.

AI-driven analytics have reduced time-to-detection "from minutes to seconds," the validators noted, while reduced manual log reviews led to improved SOC efficiency.

"Initially, security controls were applied in a more policy-driven manner. This approach has evolved into a more adaptive model in which security policies are applied based on system criticality and clinical impact," Dr Lee said.

The hospital's CDO mentioned that AI is applied across the entire cybersecurity infrastructure, including log analysis, anomaly detection, continuous monitoring, and operational automation. This has enabled SMC to move from isolated event-based responses to an integrated security approach, maintaining detection capabilities while reducing manual intervention.

Validators also highlighted SMC's "pervasive IT management," reflected in staff's confidence in proactive issue detection and rapid resolution.

"SMC has strengthened its integrated management framework by aligning IT infrastructure operations, cybersecurity, data management, and user services with overall hospital operations. Collaboration structures and decision-making processes have been refined to ensure that digital infrastructure management is closely integrated with organisational workflows," Dr Lee further explained.

THE LARGER TREND

SMC has consistently set global benchmarks in digital health maturity. In 2022, it became the first hospital worldwide to achieve Stage 7 of the HIMSS INFRAM.

In 2023, it achieved another world-first with Stage 7 validation in the HIMSS Digital Imaging Adoption Model. It also reached Stage 7 in the HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model.

The organisation ranked first globally in the HIMSS Digital Health Indicator in 2023. In 2024, it became the first healthcare organisation in Asia-Pacific to achieve Stage 7 of the HIMSS Analytics Maturity Assessment Model. More recently, it led the world's first care network to be validated at Stage 6 of the HIMSS Continuity of Care Maturity Model.

Following its Stage 7 INFRAM revalidation, SMC is pursuing a more data-driven and operations-focused approach to infrastructure management.

"While earlier efforts were primarily centred on ensuring availability and reliability, future development is likely to emphasise the use of operational data generated across systems to enhance management practices," Dr Lee said. "System performance data, operational logs, and user activity data are expected to be increasingly integrated to support more refined and continuous operational management."

Analysis of service usage patterns and patient feedback is also expected to inform ongoing improvements, as infrastructure operations and digital service delivery become more closely aligned, the hospital's CDO said.