Samsung Medical Center ranks 4th in Newsweek's World's Best Smart Hospitals 2027
In short
Samsung Medical Center in Seoul placed fourth in Newsweek's World's Best Smart Hospitals 2027, up 11 places from 15th a year earlier. It trails only the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Mount Sinai, all in the United States. The hospital said it was also the top-ranked Korean hospital for a sixth straight year.
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Samsung Medical Center placed fourth in Newsweek's World's Best Smart Hospitals 2027, the hospital said on 22 October. Yonhap reported that the list published that day put the hospital behind the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Mount Sinai Hospital, all in the United States. MD Anderson Cancer Center, also in the US, was fifth. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
The hospital was 18th in 2025 and 15th in 2026, a rise of 11 places this year. It is first among Korean hospitals for the sixth year running. Asia Economy said it is the highest-ranked hospital outside the United States, and Newsis said the same, noting that all the hospitals ahead of it are American. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
According to Asia Economy and Newsis, the evaluation focused on hospitals' digital transformation and use of AI. Alongside expert recommendations from Korea and abroad, it examined seven areas: digital information systems, digital infrastructure, education and feedback, AI, robotics and automation, governance and certification, and evaluation and audit. The hospital was named an AI innovation leader, defined as an institution scoring 70% or more in that field. It received the full 5 points for digital maturity, a mark that only it and the Mayo Clinic achieved among the top five. [ 1 , 2 ]
The hospital also reached stage 7, the top level, in four areas of the US Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) assessment: INFRAM, EMRAM, DIAM and AMAM. Asia Economy and Newsis report that it was the first in the world to reach stage 7 in INFRAM in 2022 and in DIAM in 2023. [ 1 , 2 ]
The hospital launched an AX (AI transformation) promotion unit in June and runs SMC-GPT, a conversational AI system it built itself. Asia Economy said SMC-GPT supports question answering, medical record summaries, document drafting and guidance on hospital procedures, and that the hospital plans to expand its role as an interface to medical robots and automation systems. Asia Economy added that an AI service called DAIA, linked to the hospital's DARWIN information system, is due later this year, and Yonhap likewise said an AI system linked to the in-house information system will appear in the second half of the year. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Hospital director Park Seung-woo said that as AX becomes the topic of the era, future medicine may be more advanced than now expected, but that patient-centred care will not change. He said the hospital would keep innovating with patients and share the future medicine it built with the world. Newsis added that leaders of Cleveland Clinic, Mount Sinai and MD Anderson visited the hospital during the World Hospital Congress recently held in Korea, and that the Mayo Clinic plans to visit within the year. [ 1 , 2 ]
Why it matters
The hospital presents the result as a sign of how far ahead its AI transformation is. The documents are the hospital's own announcement and reports based on it, so they give no independent assessment of the ranking.
Key facts
- Samsung Medical Center ranked 4th in Newsweek's World's Best Smart Hospitals 2027, behind the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Mount Sinai. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The hospital was 18th in 2025 and 15th in 2026, so it rose 11 places this year. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- MD Anderson Cancer Center in the US ranked 5th. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The hospital was named an AI innovation leader and received the full 5 points for digital maturity. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- It is the top-ranked Korean hospital for a sixth consecutive year. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The evaluation covered seven areas, including digital information systems, AI, and robotics and automation, along with expert recommendations from Korea and abroad. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The hospital launched an AX (AI transformation) promotion unit in June and runs an in-house conversational AI system, SMC-GPT. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Samsung Medical Center took 4th place in Newsweek's World's Best Smart Hospitals 2027, after the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Mount Sinai. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- It rose 11 places from 15th in 2026, having been 18th in 2025. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- It was selected as an AI innovation leader and scored 5 out of 5 for digital maturity. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- It is first among Korean hospitals for the sixth year in a row. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- It reached HIMSS stage 7, the top level, in four areas: INFRAM, EMRAM, DIAM and AMAM. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Only the Mayo Clinic and Samsung Medical Center received full marks for digital maturity among the top five. [ 1 , 2 ]
Still unclear
- Whether the hospital's description of its ranking as a sign of fast AI transformation reflects Newsweek's own assessment. The statement comes from the hospital as relayed by the outlets; no Newsweek text is among the documents.
- Whether this is the hospital's best result ever among Korean institutions. Only one outlet says this is the highest result on record for a Korean medical institution.
- Whether the Mayo Clinic will visit Samsung Medical Center this year. Only one outlet reports the planned visit, and it gives no source for it.