South Korea Unveils AI Care Roadmap; Singapore Expands Digital Health Partnerships

South Korea has announced plans to introduce AI-powered home care and automate welfare administration, while Singapore’s NHG Health is exploring smart hospitals and virtual care with Singtel.

South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has unveiled a roadmap to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) across home care, residential care facilities, and welfare administration, as the country faces a projected shortage of 990,000 care workers by 2043. Meanwhile, Singapore’s NHG Health has partnered with telecommunications provider Singtel to explore digitally enabled hospitals, virtual healthcare services, and AI-driven care models.

The South Korean roadmap includes smart homes with round-the-clock AI monitoring of residents’ health, safety, and daily activities. Care facilities are also expected to adopt sensors and robots to reduce staff workloads, while generative AI services to help citizens access welfare benefits are scheduled to begin in 2027. The government aims to automate more than 50% of repetitive welfare administrative tasks.

Joint research into AI and Internet of Things (IoT) care technologies is planned for 2027, followed by the expansion of physical AI and robotics in 2028.

South Korea Selects Six AI Medical Device Consortia

Separately, the MOHW and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute have selected six consortia under the AX-Sprint program to accelerate the clinical adoption and commercialization of AI-powered medical devices.

Led by JLK, Huron, Lunit, Prevenotics, Synergy AI, and Mediwhale, the consortia will evaluate technologies for stroke and Parkinson’s disease, cancer detection, and cardiovascular risk prediction across participating hospitals. The program aims to generate real-world clinical evidence to address barriers to wider adoption and insurance reimbursement following regulatory approval.

NHG Health and Singtel Explore Smart Hospitals

NHG Health’s partnership with Singtel will examine digital infrastructure, AI applications, and virtual healthcare services across hospitals, homes, and community settings. Led by NHG Health’s Centre for Healthcare Innovation, the initiative will explore integrated care pathways and technology-enabled hospital operations.

NHG Health has also launched a Cancer Institute to coordinate cancer care across hospitals and community providers, alongside a Centre for Precision and Genomic Medicine. The latter will offer pharmacogenetic testing and oversee NHG Health’s contribution to Phase III of Singapore’s National Precision Medicine Programme through 2031.

Singapore Funds Six Healthcare Startups

Through Healthcare InnoMatch 2026, NHG Health has selected six healthcare startups to receive combined funding of up to SG3million(2.3 million) to pilot and evaluate their technologies in public healthcare institutions and community settings.

The selected solutions cover clinical technology, AI-based skin cancer detection, pregnancy care, image-guided surgical robotics, robotic ear tube procedures, and digital scanning. The winners have been paired with NHG Health, the National University Health System, and SingHealth for deployment.

Since 2021, the initiative has supported 20 solutions with approximately SG9.7million(7.6 million) in funding.

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