KT taps Vietnam for digital healthcare and AI-powered diagnosis

KT Corp., a major telecommunications company in South Korea, is set to enter the Vietnamese healthcare market with a pilot telemedicine service and research on medical artificial intelligence later this year.

On April 13, the telecom company signed an agreement with Hanoi Medical University (HMU) to carry out a pilot telemedicine service for patients with chronic diseases. KT and HMU will jointly develop chronic disease management services, conduct research on medical AI and train local medical professionals in Vietnam.   

In preparation for the pilot telemedicine service, KT will collaborate with Vietnamese government agencies, local pharmaceutical companies and medical tech firms as well as HMU. KT will also collaborate with Vietnam’s National Cancer Hospital in developing a follow-up care platform for local cancer patients.   

KT and HMU will soon launch a proof of concept (POC) for the telemedicine service that will be offered to patients with chronic illnesses including high blood pressure and diabetes. Through the POC, patients can receive guidelines to self-measure their health condition, prescription medicine and exercise program. The POC will also provide counseling services by local medical professionals.

Additionally, KT and HMU will conduct research on AI-powered illness expectations and diagnosis, using the telecom firm’s expertise in AI and cloud computing technologies and HMU’s medical database. The research includes the joint development of AI-powered solutions for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, in which KT and Korea’s Kyung Hee University Medical Center have collaborated.

The Vietnamese medical market size in 2022 has reached $23 billion, according to Korea's state-funded Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). As the middle-class population is growing fast in Vietnam, there is increasing demand for chronic disease treatment and medical services.   

“We have tapped Vietnam as the first Southeast Asian country to enter with digital healthcare services given the high demand of its medical infrastructure. Also, Vietnam has few restrictions on telemedical care, including remote prescription and medicine delivery,” said Koh Hun-seok, an official responsible for KT’s bio healthcare business. “After two to three years of business in Vietnam, we will expand digital healthcare services to other Southeast Asian countries,” said Koh.

KT is also strengthening its digital healthcare capabilities in the US. In June 2021, the telecom company closed a strategic partnership with NeuroSigma Inc. to develop and commercialize electronic therapies to treat neurological and neuropsychological disorders including ADHD, depression and epilepsy. 

Write to Han-Gyeol Seon at always@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.