On October 7, 2024, Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) announced the establishment of three major AI centers to tackle key challenges in advancing smart healthcare: implementation, certification, and reimbursement.
The initiative will initially involve 16 hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), Taichung Veterans General Hospital (Taichung VGH), Taipei Veterans General Hospital (Taipei VGH), and National Cheng Kung University Hospital (NCKUH). These institutions represent major medical centers and regional hospitals across Taiwan's northern, central, and southern regions.
The three newly established centers are the "Responsible AI Implementation Center," the "Clinical AI Certification and Verification Center," and the "AI Impact Research Center." They will be led by NTUH Superintendent Ming-Shiang Wu, Taichung VGH Superintendent Shih-ann Chen, and National Cheng Kung University President Meng-Ru Sheng, respectively. These centers aim to promote collaboration across different levels of the healthcare system, accelerate the commercialization of AI healthcare products, and build public trust in AI technologies, marking a significant milestone in Taiwan's smart healthcare development.
According to MOHW, the "last mile" of medical AI adoption faces three major obstacles: lack of trust from doctors and patients, difficulties in securing certifications, and the absence of clear reimbursement standards within Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) system for AI-based treatments. The new AI centers will address these challenges by establishing standardized mechanisms to help the healthcare industry and market reach consensus on AI standards and best practices.
Chien-Chang Lee, director of MOHW's Department of Information Management and head of the AI center initiative, outlined the goals of each center. He explained that the Responsible AI Implementation Center will help medical institutions establish information security and privacy protocols, ensuring AI systems remain interpretable and transparent. It will also address "AI model decay," where the accuracy of AI models diminishes over time, by creating a lifecycle management system to ensure AI reliability.
The Clinical AI Certification and Validation Center will collaborate with the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) to streamline certification processes for domestic AI healthcare devices, expediting their commercialization. The center will also foster cross-hospital collaboration to ensure AI products are applicable across different medical institutions.
The AI Impact Research Center will focus on conducting clinical trials to demonstrate the efficacy of AI medical solutions, providing data to support their inclusion in the NHI system for reimbursement.
These centers are expected to establish clear standards and build a collaborative environment for the faster adoption of AI technologies in healthcare, ensuring both industry and public trust.
Article translated by Willis Ke
