[Letter to the editor]A network for hospitals

There is a need for a joint network between hospitals to share patient information.
Not long ago my mother-in-law, who lives in the suburbs, suddenly collapsed and we had to take her to a nearby hospital. But since family members needed to care for her regularly, we moved her to another hospital in the city so we could have easier access.
The problem was, her new hospital didn’t acknowledge the existing data from the other hospital, arguing that a hospital in the suburbs probably had old equipment and lesser capabilities than a city hospital.
My family ended up having to spend an additional 350,000 won on her treatments, an expense we believed was unnecessary. I felt that the hospital was just trying to make money by doing new tests for reasons that didn’t make sense. When they said that a hospital in the suburbs couldn’t be trusted, it just sounded like an excuse.
We wasted both money and time on this unfortunate situation. That is why I think we need to connect all hospitals with a network so that results of medical examinations can be shared. I don’t think it would be too hard for a country that has a strong information technology infrastructure to establish such a joint information-sharing network.
Kim Jong-sin, Sancheong County, South Gyeongsang