Samsung Medical Center: Leading Healthcare Innovations

The 'World's Best Hospitals' evaluation, published annually by the American weekly news magazine Newsweek, is an indicator that directly shows the status of medical institutions. The overall ranking is determined by evaluating four items (▲Clinical Quality Metrics 40% ▲Recommendations from Medical Experts 35% ▲Patient Satisfaction 18.5% ▲Implementation of Patient Reported Outcome Measures 6.5%), and ranking high in this evaluation means being a hospital recognized by medical experts from around the world.

There has been a tectonic shift in the rankings this year. Samsung Medical Center, which has been raising its rank every year, has seized the title of South Korea's top hospital for the first time. Samsung Medical Center rose 4 spots in the global ranking compared to last year, taking 26th place overall and 1st place among South Korean hospitals. Analysis suggests this is the result of leading medical innovation in various fields since its opening in 1994, pursuing areas such as critical and high-difficulty diseases, patient-centered care, and advanced intelligent hospitals.

■Focus on Advancing South Korea’s Critical Care Treatment Capabilities

Samsung Medical Center opened a new chapter in critical care treatment by establishing South Korea's first Department of Critical Care Medicine in 2013. At a time when customized treatment for individual critical patients was difficult, it presented the direction for South Korea's critical care treatment to move forward by introducing the Critical Care Medicine specialist system and multidisciplinary treatment teams in the ICU.

Recently, Samsung Medical Center was selected by the Ministry of Health and Welfare as the implementing institution for the 'Remote ICU Collaborative Network Project (e-ICU Project).' As a strategic hub hospital for critical care, Samsung Medical Center plans to contribute to raising the level of critical care treatment in South Korea by linking with regional hospitals.

Samsung Medical Center has continuously advanced its treatment capabilities for critical illnesses, achieving several first-in-the-nation milestones. Seong Soo Jeon, Director of the Robot Surgery Center (Professor of Urology), succeeded in robotic surgery using 'da Vinci 5' for the first time in South Korea as well as in Asia in 2024. Furthermore, CAR-T cell therapy, a cutting-edge cancer treatment, was first started in South Korea in 2021 and has secured the most treatment records. The Proton Therapy Center, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, surpassed 2,000 cases of proton therapy for liver cancer for the first time in South Korea in 2024.

The achievements in the field of cardiovascular diseases are also noteworthy. In December 2024, Samsung Medical Center succeeded in 'Pulsed Field Ablation,' a cutting-edge treatment for atrial fibrillation, opening a new path for arrhythmia treatment. Last November, it also succeeded in the highly advanced 'Impella' (a mechanical circulatory support device that assists the damaged ventricular function of patients in cardiogenic shock accompanied by acute myocardial infarction) procedure.

■Capitalizing Research Results... Most Listed Companies Among Hospitals

Samsung Medical Center is also striving in research activities. Since being designated as a research-driven hospital in 2013, it has established an innovative research management system and opened the Future Medicine Building, a dedicated research space, in 2016, building a research platform based on three directions: precision, regenerative, and convergence medicine. Professor Se-Hoon Park of the Department of Hematology-Oncology, who has worked hard within this infrastructure, has even been named one of the world's top 1% researchers.

These research results are leading to industrial development. Samsung Medical Center has focused on capitalizing research data and clinical field experience, with the Future Medicine Research Institute acting as the control tower. Thanks to this, 15 faculty-founded startups have been established to date, and three companies (AIMEDBIO, ENCell, and Geninus) have succeeded in going public. This is the record for the highest number of listed companies held among hospitals in South Korea.

■Leading Digital Innovation in the Hospital Sector… Presenting the Direction of Future Medicine

Samsung Medical Center built its digital infrastructure early on and has walked a leading path as a smart hospital. In 1996, it introduced Asia's first filmless hospital system, and in 1998, it implemented South Korea's first interoperable health information exchange system connecting hospitals. Other first-in-the-nation achievements include the introduction of mobile Electronic Medical Records (EMR) in 2003 and the transition to a paperless hospital in 2008. Furthermore, it completed patent registration for DOCC, a system that links all available hospital resources—from hospital rooms and operating rooms to diagnostic equipment and medical staff—to a 'digital virtual hospital.' Recently, it has been presenting the direction of future medicine by developing numerous Artificial Intelligence (AI) models applicable to clinical settings.

Based on this, Samsung Medical Center became the first in the world to record a perfect score of 400 points in the 'Digital Health Indicator (DHI)' survey conducted by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Last year, President Seungwoo Park delivered a keynote speech at 'HIMSS 2025,' the world's largest medical IT conference, as the first Asian medical institution to do so, introducing the hospital's digital innovation process.

President Seungwoo Park stated, “I am delighted that our achievements in promoting future medicine centered on critical illnesses have been recognized by medical experts from around the world,” and added, “We will not stop our challenge for a healthy and bright future for humanity.”