Rewriting the Medical Field with AI: KHF 2025

Digital Health Innovation at KHF2025 (K/T)

KHF 2025 provides a snapshot of health-tech trends, with digital and AI innovation booths all gathered in one place.

Hospital medical records using LLMs, Google-based workflow automation, and public DTx initiatives unveiled.

Clinical adoption cases are diversifying…raising the question of what to use and how to use it.

“Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is no longer just being applied to clinical settings; it is reshaping daily life.” Korea’s largest healthcare exhibition, the Korea-Hospital and Health Tech Fair (KHF2025), kicked off on the 17th at COEX in Seoul for three days.

 

KHF2025 held its opening ceremony on the 17th and commenced its three-day schedule.

Experts and stakeholders at the venue remarked that the medical field has now moved beyond simply adopting AI technology to actively exploring how best to utilize it.

 

Now in its 12th year, the event highlighted the use of AI in hospitals and digital innovation across the sector.

 

A wide range of players—from startups to public institutions—showcased their approaches to applying AI in healthcare, drawing significant attention.

 

Right at the exhibition entrance, medical imaging company DK Medical Solution drew visitors’ attention with its equipment and technology that adopts medical AI.

 

The company partnered with Google for the past 3 years, integrating Google Workspace collaboration tools and generative AI technologies into clinical workflows.

 

DK Medical Solution showcased technology it developed in partnership with Google

For example, AI agents can take care of hospital documentation and repetitive administrative tasks.

 

A DK Medical Solution representative explained, “Previous AI adoption sometimes led to what we call ‘AI fatigue,’ placing burdens on medical staff.

 

We found the solution through Google.

 

In fact, hospitals that have implemented this system responded with comments like, ‘It’s much better than expected, beyond what we imagined.’” New AI technologies showcased by NIPA in the Digital Health Special Pavilion The National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), under the Ministry of Science and ICT, also participated in this exhibition, showcasing its digital health industry support strategies.

 

NIPA has been overseeing medical AI projects for over a decade and responded swiftly to new developments—for instance, just three months after the emergence of ChatGPT last year, it began planning new projects in the healthcare field.

 

The digital healthcare special hall organized by NIPA was structured around three themes: ▲Large-scale AI ▲DTx (digital therapeutics) ▲Public healthcare.

 

Specifically, projects were unveiled for specialized counseling LLM services to manage chronic conditions in children and adolescents and to provide mental health care for depression and suicide prevention, as well as the development of digital therapeutics for conditions such as bruxism and irritable bowel syndrome.

 

NIPA highlighted the companies and technologies it is supporting at its Digital Healthcare Special Pavilion.

In particular, the AI-powered emergency medical network “Smart Ambulance” drew attention for its role in narrowing regional healthcare disparities.

 

According to Myung-sook Yoon, a team leader at NIPA, the Smart Ambulance project was developed from 2019 to 2021 and is now in operation as an AI emergency system linking 119 ambulances with hospitals in real time in parts of Gangwon, Jeonnam, and Chungcheong (including Gwangyang and Yeosu) provinces.

 

When a patient’s condition is recorded by voice in the ambulance, it is transcribed into text in real time and sent to the emergency room.

 

The system also automatically displays bed availability at nearby hospitals using GPS, helping to reduce the so-called “ER ambulance carousel” problem.

 

Yoon emphasized that the paradigm of medical AI is shifting.

 

“In the past, domestic medical AI support was concentrated on diagnostic areas such as CDSS (Clinical Decision Support Systems) and medical imaging interpretation.

 

Now, the focus is shifting toward pre-care (disease prevention) and post-care (prognosis management).

 

For technology to take root in practice, it is crucial to enhance flexibility and usability at the level of the end user.” NIPA plans to continue supporting digital health policies through regulatory sandboxes and assisting regional hospitals in their digital transformation.

 

AI is no longer novel - “We must consider what to use and how to use it” Industry stakeholders generally expressed positive expectations regarding the integration of medical AI, as observed through this event.

 

At the same time, challenges remain.

 

Hospital representatives visiting the booths remarked, “There are so many AI solutions that we don’t know which ones to actually use.” For this reason, experts at the fair predicted that the role of solutions would increasingly shift from merely developing AI suitable for clinical medicine to helping determine which AI systems to use.

 

An industry official commented, “In clinical settings, the most common question is which AI solution to use among so many.

 

Ultimately, finding the most optimized service will become critical.

 

The consulting sector will also continue to expand, evolving into more customized services.”

Many companies participating in KHF2025 prominently featured AI technology in their promotional activities.

For instance, cost-related issues such as insurance reimbursement remain significant hurdles to adopting AI in healthcare.

 

Experts were in consensus that institutional support is essential to ensure that the benefits of AI technology permeate every corner of the healthcare field.

 

The experts particularly emphasized pan-ministerial cooperation.

 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare should establish reimbursement policies grounded in safety and efficacy, while the Ministry of Science and ICT supports initial adoption through pilot projects and infrastructure development—a two-track approach.

 

If regulators adopt a more flexible mindset and actively incorporate feedback from medical practitioners, the medical AI integration efforts highlighted at KHF2025 may well take root soon in more hospitals, pharmacies, and other care settings in Korea.