South Korean medical AI company AITRICS has obtained clearance from the Ministry of Health, Vietnam for its AI software for predicting patient deterioration.

VitalCare utilises AI to analyse 19 types of EMR data of patients in general wards to predict possible death, ICU transfer, and cardiac arrest within six hours. It can also predict sepsis within four hours, cardiac arrest within 24 hours, as well as ICU death within six hours. 

The predictive AI-based software, first approved in South Korea in 2022, is now used in over 60 Korean hospitals. The technology has been recently integrated into ezCaretech, one of the popular EHR systems used in the country.  

WHY IT MATTERS

In a statement, CEO Kwang-joon Kim said this regulatory approval marks the company's first entry into the Southeast Asian market. Citing research, he noted that the Vietnamese medical device market is expected to grow to $2.5 billion by next year. 

"We expect that the approval for sales in Vietnam will serve as a bridgehead for expansion into the Southeast Asian market," he said in Korean. 

AITRICS is now preparing to apply for regulatory clearances in Indonesia and Malaysia. 

It is also awaiting approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration after filing an application in August. The $20 million Series B funding it raised early this year partly supported this effort.

THE LARGER TREND

AI is part of the technologies that Vietnam identified as supporting its transition to a smart healthcare system. One of its major promoters is Vinbrain, a health technology company under the country's biggest conglomerate, Vingroup. The company develops a suite of pathology AI solutions called DrAid, supporting the country's early disease detection, including tuberculosis. 

Early last year, Vinbrain partnered with global IT giant Microsoft to bolster AI adoption in the country's healthcare system through joint research, product validation, and data sharing. 

Vietnam currently prioritises EMR adoption in the broader digital transformation of its health system.