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Samsung Medical Center staff use the hospital's in-house conversational AI system, SMC-GPT, in a hospital ward. / Courtesy of Samsung Medical Center

Samsung Medical Center and Severance Hospital have both been named "Leaders in AI Innovation" in a global smart hospital ranking. Samsung Medical Center also ranked fourth worldwide in the overall smart hospital rankings. The recognition reflects the achievements of South Korean hospitals in an international evaluation following their efforts to expand the use of AI across healthcare, including medical information management, clinical support and disease prediction.

According to the healthcare industry on Oct. 22, Samsung Medical Center and Severance Hospital were selected as "Leaders in AI Innovation" in the World's Best Smart Hospitals 2027 rankings, jointly published by U.S. news magazine Newsweek and global research firm Statista. The category, introduced for the first time this year, recognizes hospitals based on their adoption and use of AI technology and their capabilities in the field.

This year's smart hospital evaluation covered hospitals in 33 countries worldwide. Recommendations from medical professionals accounted for the largest share of the evaluation at 67.5%, followed by a digital maturity survey assessing the adoption of AI, robotics, telemedicine and other technologies at 30%, and digital healthcare accreditations at 2.5%.

Samsung Medical Center ranked fourth worldwide in the overall smart hospital rankings, climbing 11 places from 15th last year. It placed behind Mayo Clinic in the U.S. (first), Cleveland Clinic (second) and Mount Sinai Hospital (third), making it the highest-ranked hospital outside the United States. It also maintained its position as the top-ranked hospital in South Korea for the sixth consecutive year. Samsung Medical Center received a perfect score of 5 out of 5 in the digital maturity assessment.

Severance Hospital was named a "Leader in AI Innovation" based on its achievements in using AI-powered patient management and disease prediction technologies. Under its "Next Severance" strategy, the hospital has been expanding the clinical application of digital technologies, including building systems to predict demand for hospital beds, operating rooms and intensive care units in advance and respond accordingly.

Both hospitals are also expanding the use of AI in actual clinical settings. Samsung Medical Center launched an AX Task Force dedicated to AI transformation in June and operates its self-developed conversational AI system, SMC-GPT. The system is used to support medical staff in tasks such as summarizing medical records, drafting documents and providing guidance on internal hospital policies.

Severance Hospital uses its patient monitoring system, SeVue, to integrate and manage information from medical devices in hospital wards. The system analyzes patients' vital signs in real time to detect early signs of deterioration and alert medical staff. It is linked to electronic medical records (EMRs) to improve the efficiency of patient management and reduce the workload of medical staff.

The two hospitals differ in their main areas of AI application. While Samsung Medical Center focuses on using generative AI to support clinical and administrative tasks, Severance Hospital is expanding its use of AI in patient management, including real-time monitoring of patients' conditions and prediction of disease risks.

The adoption of AI technology is also continuing in clinical support and disease prediction. Samsung Medical Center plans to introduce an AI service called DAIA in the second half of this year, linked to its internal medical information systems. The service is expected to support electronic medical record searches and analysis, patient information summaries and the documentation of conversations between medical staff and patients.

Severance Hospital has developed an AI model called LiMPC to predict the risk of liver metastasis in pancreatic cancer patients. The technology uses 21 variables available from electronic medical records, including blood test results, age and sex, to predict the risk of liver metastasis that is difficult to detect through imaging examinations. According to the hospital, the model demonstrated prediction accuracy of more than 80% in validation using data from several medical institutions in South Korea.

"At a time when AX has become a major topic of discussion, the future of healthcare will be more advanced than we currently anticipate," said Park Seung-woo, president of Samsung Medical Center. "Nevertheless, I believe that the patient-centered care we pursue will remain unchanged. We will continue to innovate together with patients and share with the world the future of healthcare we have created with our own hands."

"This result recognizes the efforts of all our staff, including medical professionals, who have consistently introduced digital technologies into clinical settings to provide better medical services to patients," said Lee Kang-young, president of Severance Hospital. "We will use AI and digital technologies to improve the efficiency of medical staff's work and create a clinical environment that allows them to focus more on patients."

                                                                                                              Bae Da-hyun