We plan to proceed with a pilot project with Russian Railways in the first quarter of 2018.

KT announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Russian Railways to promote digital healthcare business at the 1st Healthcare Cooperation Forum hosted by the Korean Embassy in Russia.

Russian Railways is a semi-public enterprise engaged in passenger rail transport and is one of the world's top three rail transport companies. In addition to rail transport, it operates 102 hospitals with a total capacity of 18,200 beds and 71 clinics capable of accommodating 862,000 visiting patients. It also runs 10 railway cars equipped with diagnostic equipment and medical staff, as well as 5 mobile advisory diagnostic centers. In 10 cities across Russia, Russian Railways clinics are the only medical facilities.

KT plans to launch a pilot project in the first quarter of 2018 to enable effective primary care in emergency situations by installing KT digital healthcare solutions in station hospitals and trains owned by Russian Railways.

KT's digital healthcare solution is a mobile health diagnostic solution integrated with ICT technology that can rapidly diagnose diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (angina, myocardial infarction), respiratory diseases, diabetes, and prostate cancer using small amounts of blood and urine. In addition, simple ultrasound examinations can be used to check for abnormalities in abdominal organs such as the kidneys, liver, and gallbladder, perform ultrasound examinations of the fetus in pregnant women, and conduct basic tests on the musculoskeletal system and blood vessels.

In particular, a major advantage is that the solution itself has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communication capabilities, allowing patient diagnostic data to be saved directly to the Mobile Electronic Medical Record (Mobile EMR).

The Russian government is currently promoting the 'eHealthcare Project (2010–2020)' for the informatization of the healthcare industry as a means to overcome public distrust regarding the poor medical infrastructure and services of public healthcare institutions. Recently, domestic and international healthcare and IT companies have been actively participating in research and development projects for medical systems and platforms. In Moscow, the Skolkova International Medical Special Zone has been established, and support benefits, such as exceptions to licensing and certification requirements, are being granted to medical personnel and medical devices from foreign hospitals.

In line with this trend, KT plans to fully enter the Russian market by collaborating with promising domestic and international SMEs to expand its diagnostic device lineup to include mobile stethoscopes, electrocardiographs, blood pressure monitors, and blood glucose meters, and by upgrading its KT Digital Healthcare Platform (m-Hospital), an integrated patient diagnostic data management system, to suit local needs and usability in Russia.

Ko Yun-jeon, Head of KT’s Future Business Development Group, stated, “Through the signing of this MOU with Russian Railways, we have reaffirmed the value of KT’s digital healthcare solutions and platforms. The business conducted based on this MOU will serve as an important reference for expanding KT’s digital healthcare business in the Russian market.”