Seoul National University Hospital and its affiliate hospitals have consolidated their common data model platforms.
The consolidated, cloud-based platform enables collaboration among SNUH, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH), and Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center for data analysis and research. It is part of initiatives to implement the One SNUH Network.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Expanding on SNUH's previous big data platform, the new CDM platform regularly synchronises medical databases from the three hospitals, which cover a total of approximately 6.85 million people and include data on visit occurrences, diagnoses, procedures, drug exposures, and measurements. It also integrates characteristics of patient groups across the three sources to reduce analysis bias.
The consolidated platform is CSAP (Cloud Security Assurance Program) certified and is only accessible through a virtual desktop infrastructure. Data imports and exports require prior approval from the administrator to prevent data leakage.
WHY IT MATTERS
Previously, the three hospitals independently operated their respective CDM platforms that followed the same standards. According to the hospital group, this hindered researchers' pursuit of large-scale studies and collaborations by tapping into data across the SNUH network.
Since launching the consolidated platform in December, SNUH researchers can now access data across the group without restrictions. It has also been made accessible to partner researchers outside the SNUH network, like pharmaceutical companies.
THE LARGER CONTEXT
"The construction of this integrated CDM platform is the first step of cooperation to implement the One SNUH Network and is expected to become the cornerstone of data integration and sharing for the advancement of domestic medical care," Dr Young-Tae Kim said about the project.
Besides the CDM platform, SNUH's research environment also consists of a GPU cluster, a specialised data platform called NSTRI, the CDW research system SUPREME, and DeView, a viewer for pseudonymised medical records.
Last year, the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare designated SNUH as the lead research institute to promote national strategic technologies as mandated by the National Strategic Technology Promotion Act.
To further advance its research capabilities, SNUH set up the Healthcare AI Research Center early this year. Through this new centre, it will develop AI-driven medical systems, data platforms, and diagnostic systems. In April, the hospital introduced what could be the first medical large language model in Korean. Meanwhile, its affiliate hospital, SNUBH, is also working on an AI-powered mission control centre to streamline access to all data across the hospital to support clinical decision-making.
