KCDC, KT, Gyeonggi Province and Qualcomm sign MOU for Self Quality Care project

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), as part of its Wireless Reach™ initiative,  Gyeonggi Province, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), and Korea Telecom (KT)  today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for a project that will benefit patients suffering from chronic disease.  The project called Self Quality Care, which will utilize 3G-enabled applications and services, will provide participating patients and health workers with educational health information and reminders to help manage the chronic disease and live healthier lives.

During this project, data gathered from diabetic patients' glucose measurements will be automatically transmitted to KT's u-Health Platform through a 3G Health Home Gateway (HHG).  The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), a non-profit, government-funded research institute focused on developing information technologies, will oversee the implementation and evaluation of the project.  KT will develop the u-Health Platform, which will store, manage and transmit data through the 3G HHG, as well as provide web service solutions and smartphone applications that will enable patients and health workers to better manage diabetes. Ubcare, a Korean software developer and distributor of glucose meters, will provide glucose meters and strips.  Additionally, Ubcare will join KT to create software that will communicate with hospital medical record databases, as well as the u-Health Platform's database, through KT's broadband Internet and mobile broadband services.  

The Self Quality Care project comes at a time when Korea's government is facing challenges relating to the increase in need for resources and costs of providing medical care for a rapidly aging society.  

"Qualcomm has a long history of successful collaboration in Korea, and we are pleased to add this pioneering project to our portfolio of work in the country," said Donald J. Rosenberg, executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Qualcomm.  "Korea was among the first to commercialize 3G wireless technology and we look forward to applying the use of mobile broadband to improving patient health."

Gyeonggi Province, through the Kwang-Myung City Community Health Center, will provide education resources as part of the project's implementation. Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Kim Moon-Soo, said, "Our region will benefit tremendously from this project.  Our citizens will be able to better manage their illnesses and our government will be able to provide health care services more efficiently."

"This collaboration presents a new chronic diseases management model which will help patients manage their chronic diseases by themselves, as well as help the government and companies work with each other," said Dr. Lee Jong-Koo, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The Self Quality Care project benefits both the patient and the public health system and we are grateful for the generous involvement of all the participants."

"In this project, KT plans to link devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs and IPTV devices with medical treatment systems in order to develop a service that will improve the management of chronic diseases and encourage a healthier lifestyle," said Lee Suk-chae, chief executive officer of Korea Telecom.  "The project also aims to maximize the effects of treatment and KT will continue to provide the u-Health service to those areas of medical management that need to be improved."

SOURCE Qualcomm Incorporated