What does it take for a private hospital group to become a blueprint for national health system digital maturity?
At the upcoming HIMSS25 Asia-Pacific (APAC) Conference in July, Dr Kun-Ju Lin, deputy chief of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou’s information security committee, will reveal strategies in pursuing digital transformation and their real-world application.
The multi-specialty hospital in Taoyuan City, Taiwan, has risen to global prominence following its back-to-back Stage 7 validations for several HIMSS digital maturity models: Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model, Digital Imaging Adoption Model, and Infrastructure Adoption Model.
Healthcare IT News had a quick chat with Dr Lin, who shared about his motivations in digital health, their hospital’s driving philosophy, and some AI projects in the pipeline.
Q. Dr Lin, could you tell us an interesting fact about yourself or something that very few people know about?
A. Although I’m a radiologist with nearly 30 years of clinical experience, I never originally intended to become a physician. My early passion was engineering and computer programming – I even used to build small computer games in my spare time just for fun! That technical curiosity stayed with me.
Today, I still enjoy coding. In fact, beyond my strategic roles at CGMH, I personally develop lightweight AI tools and digital prototypes for internal hospital use, from workflow automations to visualisation dashboards. This hands-on mindset helps me stay grounded in what’s practical and useful for clinicians.
Q. What motivates you in your work around digital health transformation?
A. I’m driven by the belief that technology should serve people, not the other way around. In healthcare, this means building systems that reduce the burden on medical staff, improve care efficiency, and empower patients.
In my own department (Nuclear Medicine), we are considered a smaller specialty in the hospital. This means that most enterprise-level systems, such as EHRs or reporting platforms, are rarely customised for our needs. Like many other departments in a similar situation, we often have to build tools ourselves.
That frustration became a source of motivation: I started thinking about how we could develop modular, flexible platforms that could be adapted to different specialties’ needs – not just for my own team, but for the hospital as a whole. That’s when I realised digital transformation must be clinician-led, grounded in real pain points.
Q. CGMH Linkou is fast becoming an exemplar for digital transformation globally… what philosophies enable you to innovate and advance so quickly?
A. CGMH is a private hospital, and that comes with budgetary constraints. But what we lack in resources, we make up for in commitment, creativity, and culture. Our founder instilled a powerful value system in us: “Nothing in the world is easy, but nothing is impossible. If we do it, we do the best.” This mindset permeates everything – from clinical care to digital innovation. Our success comes not from technology alone, but from people who believe in solving real problems and leaders who empower action.
We started small – with structured reporting – and grew organically to lead cybersecurity, AI governance, national smart health projects, and vendor partnerships. What makes CGMH unique is our willingness to cross silos and act fast once we find meaningful value.
Q. Are there any exciting digital projects at your hospital this year or in the pipeline?
A. Yes – several. Building on our HIMSS digital maturity momentum, we are now expanding our digital innovation beyond CGMH to the broader ecosystem.
We’re actively participating in Taiwan’s National Smart Hospital Initiative (2024–2029), with goals to:
support digital upgrades in regional hospitals and clinics
build a scalable, secure AI ecosystem for clinical use
create a vertically integrated digital care pathway that follows the patient across settings
During our HIMSS evaluation journey, we realised that our enterprise data fabric holds enormous potential to support knowledge-driven AI, from structured EMRs to explainable AI recommendations. The ministry-led program creates a win-win situation: it accelerates CGMH’s digital infrastructure upgrade, and at the same time, enables us to contribute tools and experience to uplift the healthcare ecosystem nationwide.
In parallel, we are also implementing AI tools in pathology, imaging, and patient access to demonstrate tangible clinical and operational impact.
Q. What can attendees expect to take away from your keynote this year?
A. Expect a keynote that connects strategy with real-world execution. I’ll share how CGMH approaches transformation as a system-level redesign – driven by people, enabled by data, and guided by long-term vision.
Attendees will take away:
how to select AI and digital tools that bring real value
how to lead transformation under constraints
how to engage clinicians, protect governance, and ensure sustainability
Digital transformation is no longer a question of “whether.” It’s about how to do it right, with impact and empathy.
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CGMH, Linkou and other leading hospitals in the region will be imparting critical insights into their digital transformation at HIMSS25 APAC on 16-18 July. Don’t miss the discussions – register now.
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