3.2 Innovation and Smart Healthcare
Zuoying Armed Forces General Hospital is the earliest military hospital in southern Taiwan to promote digital transformation. As early as 2019, it partnered with Microsoft AI R&D Center, Creatidea Co., Ltd. and Shine Information Service Co., Ltd. to take the lead in introducing Microsoft Azure Internet of Things (IoT) cloud computing technology, establishing an ‘Integrated Health Information System’. This system effectively streamlines information processes across all departments within the hospital. Supported by a comprehensive data analysis framework, it enhances healthcare informatization and smart healthcare from four key aspects, namely management, service, security, and convenience, and injects innovative momentum into healthcare performance and service quality.
Building a Smart Hospital
In line with the Medical Affairs Bureau’s digital policy, the Zuoying Armed Forces General Hospital has actively engaged in the development of smart healthcare applications. At the end of 2024, the hospital, representing the ‘Military Medical System’, participated in the 8th Healthcare+ Expo Taiwan and unveiled its self-developed ‘AI-Assisted Retinal Image Disease Risk Interpretation System’. This system utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) in conjunction with non-mydriatic fundus cameras to analyze and classify retinal images. It can detect potential risks for four common conditions, including diabetes, dementia, glaucoma, and macular degeneration, enables rapid large-scale screening and instant report generation, supports cloud deployment, and facilitates remote interpretation and medical consultation, serving as an accurate yet efficient tool for early diagnosis and health management. It not only achieves early detection and timely treatment but also reduces the burden on medical resources, demonstrating the hospital’s innovative strength in smart healthcare and positive social impact.
Optimizing Medical Processes
Zuoying Armed Forces General Hospital actively promotes smart healthcare transformation by fully introducing automated systems such as smart wards, smart pharmacies, and medical robots, aiming to build a patient-centered integrated healthcare service framework.
In the future, we will continue leveraging smart technologies to optimize medical workflows and plan the development of several innovative systems, including de-identified AI care platform, AI-based outpatient high-risk patient auto-identification and tagging system, intelligent virtual assistant robot, and big data analytics platform that integrates medical records with geographic information. These advancements aim to comprehensively enhance the efficiency and precision of healthcare services.
Clinical AI Applications
Zuoying Armed Forces General Hospital is actively integrating AI into clinical applications, aiming to enhance diagnostic efficiency and medical quality. The hospital has developed multiple smart healthcare systems covering areas such as disease prediction, diagnostic assistance, medical imaging interpretation, and telemedicine, gradually realizing the vision of precision medicine and smart healthcare.
In the future, the hospital will continue to promote the clinical application of AI technologies across various departments, including AI Sleep Apnea Detection System, AI-based Cytology Image Recognition, AI Acoustic Scattering Tissue Imaging Diagnostic System, 3D Imaging Mixed-Reality Remote Collaboration System , etc., to enhance the diagnostic accuracy and treatment efficacy, reduce the risk of human misdiagnosis, and further optimize the quality of healthcare.
Screening and management timeline for remote and outlying islands(Interpretation assisted by the Tri-Service General Hospital AI database and transmitted back to the PHILIPS DECG system)
Non-invasive vascular assessment and analysis
Strengthening National Defense Resilience
In addition to actively collaborating with industry, academia, and research institutions to develop diverse smart healthcare systems, Zuoying Armed Forces General Hospital continuously explores the potential applications of AI, telemedicine, and real-time data analysis in the field of military medicine. Following the strategic guidelines of the Medical Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense, the hospital is dedicated to building AI-powered healthcare systems with battlefield applicability to enhance the hospital’s technological support capabilities in military medical response, battlefield injury assessment, and casualty evacuation, positioning the hospital as a key pillar in advancing smart military medicine.
In 2025, the hospital participated in the National Defense Medical Research and Development Project – ‘Building a Data-Driven Operational Data Mining Analysis and AI Decision Support Dataset’, utilizing data analytics to mine operational data and provide insights for strategic decision-making. By integrating AI, the system supports hospital administrators in making timely and informed operational decisions, and developing three-year project goals with the aim of building a comprehensive operational management system.
Maritime Telemedicine System
As an island nation surrounded by the sea, Taiwan experiences frequent maritime operations and logistical supply activities. Given the limited availability of specialist physicians onboard naval vessels, the need for telemedicine consultations becomes especially critical during emergencies. However, maritime communication quality is often affected by weather conditions and satellite signal interference, posing significant challenges to medical support. To address these challenges, Zuoying Armed Forces General Hospital, in collaboration with CSBC Corporation, Taiwan and Far East Medical Electronics Technology Limited, jointly developed the ‘Maritime Telemedicine Consultation Platform’. Through the special channel setting of the information security network, the platform integrates smart medical devices with physiological data analysis technologies, enables real-time video interaction and collaboration between onshore physicians, shipboard medical officers, and vessel commanders. This innovation not only significantly enhances the quality and efficiency of maritime emergency medical care, but also provides a safer and more reassuring working environment for naval personnel.
In 2023, our hospital signed a tripartite memorandum of cooperation with the Fleet Branch of the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and CSBC Corporation, Taiwan. Through the ‘Maritime Telemedicine Consultation Platform’, the hospital has extended onshore medical resources to the patrol range of 4,000-ton class vessels. This initiative provides crucial support to medical officers aboard the ‘humanitarian rescue vessels’, assisting in the conduct of emergency medical aid, collaborative surgical procedures, and real-time monitoring of patients’ vital signs in order to prevent deterioration of patient conditions
Information Security Management
In order to strengthen information security and protect patient privacy, our hospital has obtained ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 information security management system certifications, and established an ‘Information Security Management Committee’. We have formulated the ‘Patient Privacy and Personal Data Protection Policy’, strictly adhering to the ‘Personal Data Protection Act’ and the ‘Medical Care Act’. A dedicated cybersecurity team is responsible for implementing information security policies, conducting regular penetration tests and incident response drills to proactively defend against cyberattacks and data breaches, ensuring the stability and security of the hospital’s medical information systems. Since 2024, the hospital has further implemented information security monitoring and anomaly detection systems, with zero major cybersecurity incidents reported to date, demonstrating our forward-looking vision and high resilience in cybersecurity governance. We remain committed to building a safe, intelligent, and efficient medical environment for both military personnel and civilians.
Zuoying Armed Forces General Hospital is actively enhancing its medical information applications and information security measures to improve collaborative defense capabilities between military and civilian healthcare systems through data sharing and remote support mechanisms. In order to strengthen the feasibility and security of the ‘Military-Civilian Medical Collaboration Program’, the hospital is currently working with professional information security organizations to implement data encryption technologies in electronic medical record management. This technology features high traceability and anti-tamper characteristics, effectively increasing the integrity and reliability of medical records while reducing potential cybersecurity risks.
Information Security Policy Implementation
In accordance with the Ministry of National Defense’s classification of cybersecurity responsibility levels, our hospital is designated as a Level B unit. As such, we are required to comprehensively implement cybersecurity management across three key dimensions, namely management, technical, and awareness and training.
Management aspect: Our hospital has established a sound information security policy and related regulations to ensure the enforceability of all security measures. These policies are regularly reviewed and updated to address the evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats.
Technical aspect: Our hospital employs advanced cybersecurity technologies and protective systems to safeguard internal data from threats. We continuously enhance system defense to ensure the stable operation of our information systems.
Awareness and training aspect: The hospital regularly conducts cybersecurity education and awareness activities to ensure that all staff and IT personnel fully understand and comply with relevant security protocols. This enables effective implementation of information security practices in daily operations and helps prevent potential risks and threats.
Through the integration and implementation of the above three aspects, the hospital is committed to establishing a comprehensive and continuously reinforced information security management system in order to protect patient privacy, safeguard the confidentiality of medical information, and ensure the stability and reliability of medical services.
Cybersecurity Incident Response
In the event of cybersecurity incident, the hospital will promptly activate its response mechanism based on the ‘IT Department Server Room Emergency Response Plan’. In order to enhance responsiveness and prevent potential risks, a monthly emergency drill simulating a hospital information system (HIS) failure is conducted. These drills are carried out in collaboration with designated task groups, including the Policy Guidance Group, Planning and Control Group, and Operations Execution Group, to simulate crisis scenarios and comprehensively evaluate response procedures and recovery capabilities during system disruptions, ensuring that the hospital can respond promptly and maintain continuous operations. This proactive measure not only strengthens the hospital’s ability to handle incidents but also enhances the overall stability and reliability of its medical services.
