Vice Minister Ki Jae: "Expanding Pseudonymized Health and Medical Data... Smooth Progress of MyHealthWay"

Policy Meeting on Health and Medical Data Held on the 29th

Lee Ok-won, 1st Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Lee Okwon, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, emphasized on the 29th that "the growth potential of the health and medical data industry is immense and its explosive power will be considerable," adding, "It is necessary to ensure that key government policies such as the expansion of pseudonymized health and medical data integration and utilization, and My Healthway are implemented without setbacks." The government estimates that the economic value of domestic health and medical data will reach around 2 trillion won annually.

At 10 a.m. that day, Vice Minister Lee held a 'Policy Meeting for the Development of the Health and Medical Data Industry' and made these remarks. The Ministry of Economy and Finance explained that the meeting was held ahead of the launch of the 'Financial MyData Project' in January next year and the enforcement of the 'Data Basic Act' in April. Key public and private figures attended the meeting, including Lim Geunchan, Director of the Health and Medical Information Service; Park Hanjun, Director of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA); Professor Shin Suyong of Sungkyunkwan University; Lee Eun-sol, Co-CEO of MediBloc; Kim Hyungwook, Vice President of KT and Chairman of the Digital Health Industry Association; Kim Jedong, Executive Director of the Life Insurance Association; Professor Yoo Soyoung of Seoul Asan Hospital; and Ko Hwangkyung, lawyer at the law firm Kwangjang.

Vice Minister Lee evaluated that the institutional foundation necessary for revitalizing the data economy is rapidly being established through amendments to the three data-related laws, the enactment of the Data Basic Act, and the promotion of the Data Dam project. In particular, the amendment of the three data laws now allows the use of pseudonymized information without the consent of the data subject and the introduction of MyData in the financial sector. MyData refers to a project that collects personal financial information to provide services such as credit, asset, and health management.

He viewed that the growth of a private-sector-centered data industry ecosystem will create a new growth engine for the Korean economy. According to a survey conducted last year by the Presidential Committee on the 4th Industrial Revolution, 84% of the public agreed that personal health information could be used for public interest purposes, and 87% agreed for medical technology development purposes. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the economic value of domestic health and medical data is estimated at around 2 trillion won annually. Accordingly, Vice Minister Lee emphasized that health and medical data should be utilized as a core infrastructure for national health management and as a resource for future medical industry innovation.

Going forward, the government plans to continuously improve the 'Health and Medical Data Utilization Guidelines' enacted last September. It also plans to improve the standards for processing pseudonymized medical imaging information. The government is considering expanding the number of specialized institutions for pseudonymized data integration from the current four?National Health Insurance Service, HIRA, Korea Health Industry Development Institute, and National Cancer Center. Regarding the My Healthway project, the government plans to complete pilot system demonstrations by next year and establish a platform ecosystem by 2023. My Healthway is a project that establishes a system enabling individuals to easily utilize scattered data across various hospitals. Vice Minister Lee stressed, "It is necessary to fully gather opinions from the medical and industrial sectors to ensure that key policies currently being promoted by the government, such as the expansion of pseudonymized data integration and utilization in the health and medical fields and the My Healthway (MyData project), are implemented without setbacks."

Professor Shin Suyong, who participated in the meeting, pointed out, "There is a need to further enhance the interoperability of electronic medical record (EMR) systems between hospitals and the level of data sharing, and institutional improvements and supplements are necessary to expand cases of pseudonymized data integration and utilization in the health and medical fields." He added, "The government should establish an institutional foundation that promotes data sharing and distribution and delegate the role of data utilization to the market to foster innovation." Vice Minister Lee responded, "I agree that creating a data utilization environment where the private sector's creativity can be freely expressed is important for genuine innovation. We will continue policy efforts to enhance the safety of health and medical data utilization to alleviate public concerns, while maintaining continuous communication with experts and industry to boldly improve systems and provide unwavering policy support."

The Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "The opinions raised at the meeting will be actively reflected in future policy tasks through internal review and consultation with related ministries."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.