Southern Taiwan Aims to Become 'Health Silicon Valley': Trends and Electronic Health Record Standardization at AI Smart Health Expo

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The expo symbolizes Southern Taiwan's effort to establish itself as a new growth engine in AI smart healthcare, moving beyond its semiconductor base. Over 100 organizations exhibited more than 120 AI health applications. On the policy front, officials reiterated plans for standardizing electronic health records across all of Taiwan under the goals of 'Balanced Taiwan' and 'Healthy Taiwan.' This plan mandates that electronic medical record systems will first be fully built in major medical centers this year, expanding to regional and local hospitals in 2027, and finally reaching general primary care and health centers by 2028. This aims to eliminate paper-based processes and enable nationwide health information linkage. In terms of technical standards, the Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to expand FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) across 30 medical centers in Taiwan and establish a national electronic record standard verification center. The adoption of international standards such as LOINC, SNOMED CT, and RxNorm is also progressing. Specific technological applications showcased include privacy-preserving AI systems that use differential privacy to anonymize personal data (like images) while detecting movements such as falls or getting out of bed. Other solutions presented include devices for measuring stroke risk in remote settings using minimal equipment, and gamified training systems to assist elderly functional recovery. These technologies demonstrate how Southern Taiwan is transforming from merely a semiconductor hub into an innovation hub for AI and data-driven smart health, driven by the 'Southern Taiwan New Silicon Valley' initiative.