AI Plan Links Neighborhood Clinics and Top-Tier Hospitals in a 1.5-Tier Care Model

According to AI TIMES, a research team at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital proposed an AI-based "1.5-tier healthcare system" on September 17 that would connect neighborhood clinics and top-tier hospitals. Instead of building a new institution, the idea is to add a digital network on top of existing infrastructure, which already has an electronic medical record penetration rate of more than 95%, and use it to link patient movement and information flow. In this model, AI would help with triage at the first visit, organize documents such as referral letters and discharge summaries, identify risk signals missed in existing tests, and monitor patients even outside the hospital. The research team said that in an environment like Korea, where patients flock to large hospitals and consultation time is short, such a connection function could serve as an alternative to strengthen weak links in primary care. It also emphasized that the same approach could be flexibly applied in places with very different medical conditions, such as cities, rural areas, fishing villages, and disaster zones. However, it made clear that the final decisions on diagnosis, treatment, and prescriptions must remain with medical professionals, and that AI should be used only as a support tool.