South Korea expands telemedicine pilot and more briefs

South Korea expands telemedicine pilot 

Starting 15 December, the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare will be introducing additional measures to its national telemedicine pilot.

According to a media statement, the programme is now allowing the conduct of telemedicine services at night and on holidays. 

Patients who have had face-to-face treatment within the past six months from a clinic can now also access telemedicine. 

About 100 islands and remote areas where health services remain inaccessible have also been designated as "medically vulnerable areas" where telemedicine can also be provided. 

Moreover, the programme prohibits downloading original prescriptions through a telemedicine application to prevent falsification. Recently, it was brought to the ministry's attention that some providers had prescribed commonly abused medications, violating the telemedicine rule. 

Synapxe integrates Lunit AI CXR into 2 SingHealth hospitals

Singapore General Hospital and Changi General Hospital, both under SingHealth, have recently adopted the AI-based chest X-ray solution from Lunit.

Synapxe, Singapore's national health tech agency, has integrated the Lunit INSIGHT CXR into the clinical radiology workflow of the two hospitals through the AimSG, the national AI platform for medical imaging. 

The integration was initiated through Lunit's partnership with NTT DATA Singapore, which is also part of the AimSG project. It is expected that Lunit's AI will help enhance the hospitals' ability to interpret and diagnose chest diseases.

Lunit to buy AI mammography solution Volpara 

In other related news, Lunit also announced that it is buying New Zealand-based AI mammography solution company Volpara Health Technologies for $193 million. 

The acquisition will support Lunit's expansion in the United States where Volpara is adopted in over 2,000 medical sites. 

Absorbing Volpara's repository of over 100 million high-quality mammogram images will also "supercharge" the company's AI capabilities, it said.