[Exclusive] National Cancer Center IT system falters despite 25.9 billion won paid out of 34.3 billion won, as verification remains incomplete

The 'Next-Generation Information System Construction Project' being pursued by the National Cancer Center on a scale of 35.3 billion won is facing difficulties. Approximately 75% of the contract amount has already been paid, but data verification for the hospital information system, which is set to launch as early as November this month, has not yet been completed. The system of the National Cancer Management Headquarters, responsible for national cancer management tasks such as national cancer screening and cancer registration, has experienced development delays, leaving its launch schedule undetermined.

According to documents received from the National Cancer Center by Heo Jong-sik, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker (Incheon Dong-gu Michuhol-gu Gap) on the Health and Welfare Committee of the National Assembly, 25.916 billion won (75.4%) has already been paid out of the total contract amount of 34.389 billion won for the next-generation information system construction project. Of this, 16.296 billion won was progress payment and 9.62 billion won was advance payment.

The project involves developing an integrated system for the affiliated hospital, research institute, and National Cancer Management Headquarters. It is divided into four areas—hospital information system, infrastructure and security, research information system, and National Cancer Management Headquarters system—and is being carried out by a consortium of four companies. The project cost totals 35.3 billion won, comprising 13.8 billion won in national funds and 21.5 billion won in self-funded budget, with a contract period of 40 months scheduled to end on April 28 next year.

However, development delays have raised red flags for the project's progress. The hospital information system (including EMR), which aims to launch next month, has 39 cases still classified as being in the 'review stage' out of 855 integrated test defects. Of these, 14 are directly related to patient care, including nursing (11 cases) and prescription/treatment (3 cases), while the remaining 25 relate to administrator functions.

Verification to confirm whether data from the existing system has been accurately transferred to the new system has also not been completed. As of the 23rd of last month, the functional verification rate in the medical information field was 96.3%, but the data verification rate stood at only 78.5%. In the appropriate treatment field, the functional verification rate was 85.0% and the data verification rate was 87.5%.

The interface verification rate for connecting the new system with other systems was 73.3% in the first round and 73.0% in the second round, with the second round actually lower. The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system is structured so that examination orders, medication instructions, drug dispensing, and nurse medication confirmation follow sequentially based on a doctor's prescription input. If the system is launched without sufficient verification of connections between systems, it is difficult to rule out treatment disruptions such as missing or duplicate prescriptions or unlinked test results.

The open rehearsal, which checks the actual launch situation in advance, was at the stage of '2 sessions scheduled (3 if insufficient).' The National Cancer Center stated that if the launch is delayed, an additional approximately 2.7 billion won per year would be required to maintain the existing hospital system.

Personnel turnover was also frequent among the company responsible for constructing the hospital information system. At Company A, 81 people left from 2024 through June this year, with 30 of them concentrated in the first half of this year.

The progress rate of the information system for the National Cancer Management Headquarters, another key area, remained at 77.84%. This is 22.16 percentage points lower than the planned progress rate (100%). Among the detailed systems, the National Cancer Knowledge Information Center had the lowest progress rate at 52.17%. A bigger problem is that no agreement on the schedule has been reached since December last year, leaving the launch timing undetermined.

Out of 10 target systems, only two have completed both unit testing and integrated testing, while three are still under development. The National Cancer Center's internal audit team classified five systems as difficult to complete within the year in May.

The National Cancer Center cited insufficient management capabilities of the construction company, frequent personnel turnover, and inadequate task completion as causes for the delay. In fact, 180 people have left the four construction companies from 2024 through June this year. At Company B, which is in charge of the National Cancer Management Headquarters system, 28 people left in 2024 and 22 in 2025, totaling 57 departures by June this year. The National Cancer Center stated, "The majority of personnel who participated in the initial design and planning have been replaced, causing disruptions in execution such as task delays."

Heo (Rep.) criticized, saying, "While 75% of the contract amount has been executed, 180 construction company personnel have left, and the national cancer management system has failed to set a launch date even after ten months, causing the entire project to stumble." He added, "Unreasonable launches must be stopped until verification related to EMR, which is directly linked to patient safety, is complete, and the National Cancer Center and the Ministry of Health and Welfare must clearly bear management and supervisory responsibility for the fact that a project with 13.8 billion won in national funds has reached this state."

A source from the Next-Generation Information System Construction Promotion Team at the National Cancer Center stated, "We are taking seriously the fact that the next-generation information system construction process has not proceeded smoothly, and we are concentrating all efforts of the current institutional investor to complete the project with the safety of citizens and patients as our top priority." The source added, "For the hospital information system approaching launch, we will thoroughly carry out data and interface verification and supplement integrated test defects during the remaining period to ensure system stability so that there are no disruptions in treatment."

The source continued, "We will also closely cooperate with the performing consortium to supplement deficiencies and complete the delayed National Cancer Management Headquarters information system project as soon as possible," emphasizing, "We will directly inspect the entire process until the safety and completion level of the system are sufficiently verified, and lead the project responsibly."