Thirteen hospitals in Taiwan have been named among the world’s “best smart hospitals,” with Taichung Veterans General Hospital ranked 85th, the highest among Taiwanese facilities, according to the World’s Best Smart Hospitals released on Wednesday by Newsweek and Statista.
Newsweek in a statement said that the rankings were based on an international online survey of healthcare professionals and hospital managers, the Statista Smart Hospitals Maturity Survey and Joint Commission International accreditation.
The survey recognized 350 leading medical institutions across 30 nations that are transforming healthcare through technology and innovation, evaluating them across 10 innovation areas, including artificial intelligence (AI), telemedicine, robotics, patient safety technologies and electronic functionalities, the statement said.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Taipei Times
“Smart hospitals utilize advanced technology, including AI and automation, to improve patient care and streamline workflow,” it said. “These modern treatment centers are predicted to become even more prevalent in the coming years.”
It is the second time Taichung Veterans General Hospital has been ranked among the world’s top 100 smart hospitals, improving from 99th place the previous year.
The other Taiwanese hospitals in the rankings include Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital (116th), Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (120th), National Cheng Kung University Hospital (140th), Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (189th) and China Medical University Hospital (228th), the survey showed.
The other ranked hospitals from Taiwan were Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital (262nd), Taipei Veterans General Hospital (272nd), National Taiwan University Hospital (299th), Tri-Service General Hospital-Neihu Main Facility (308th), Taipei Medical University Hospital (328th), Taipei Medical University Shuang-Ho Hospital (333rd) and Taipei Municipal Wanfang Hospital (339th).
The standout category for Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital was “patient safety technologies.”
Chang Gung Memorial Hospitals chief executive officer Yu Chin-pang (游進邦) said that Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital has developed mature patient safety technologies using AI.
For example, prompted by the hospital’s computer system, its medical team is now unlikely to forget to remove a double-J stent from patients returning for a checkup after urological surgery, Yu said.