The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday announced the establishment of an International High-Computing and Federated Learning Center, which is expected to benefit Taiwanese hospitals and serve as a foundation for Taiwan-Thailand collaboration.
The center is intended to train international “smart” medical models, to develop artificial intelligence (AI) while observing information security and respect for information privacy, to establish models that could be adopted across hospitals, and to establish certification and verification systems that can be used internationally, the ministry said.
Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said that the ministry has been gradually expanding the center since 2024, citing concerns about sovereignty and information privacy.
Photo: CNA
The ministry adopted the federated learning model, with proof of concept completed after involving 16 major hospitals, Shih said, adding that the ministry hopes to expand the system to 100 regional hospitals and ultimately include all Taiwanese hospitals.
Only a portion of medical data and clinical information was taken from the National Health Insurance program’s database, while the remaining information remains stored on local servers, Shih said.
With the ministry-configured AI model, local hospitals can now connect to the system and allow it to learn from their data using a federated learning system, while the information remains safe on local servers, he said.
The center would also help facilitate collaborations between Taiwan and Thailand’s Mahidol University to jointly develop standards to help innovative medical products be verified and marketed in ASEAN, and allow ASEAN and Thai AI models to undergo clinical trials and verification in Taiwan, Shih said.
The center’s need for power and its coolant systems would be met gradually, and its computational resources would be evenly distributed, facilitating the training of AI models, improving the efficiency of edge computing, and expediting government adoption of applied AI and the transition to a digital government, the ministry said.
Separately, Shih said that the amended Standards of Process for the Assessment of Hospitals and Educational Hospitals (醫院評鑑及教學醫院評鑑作業程序) would shift the assessment cycle from every four years to every six.
The changes were modeled after measures undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had positive effects, reduced infections, and also diminished the amount of preparatory work and documentation for hospitals, Shih said.
In addition, the ministry would periodically monitor hospitals and conduct unannounced inspections to ensure they provide the best medical services, he said.
Citing the case of Taichung Veterans General Hospital allowing unlicensed contractors to perform surgery, Shih said patient security is the foundation of medical quality and the ministry has arranged a special inspection.
Taichung Veterans General Hospital on Jan. 7 was reported to have allowed unlicensed medical device vendors to enter operating rooms and perform minimally invasive spinal endoscopic surgeries for at least three years, operating on up to 180 patients without their knowledge.
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