Korea to unveil policies, boost university hospitals to enhance medical care

[Photo by Lee Seung-hwan]

South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare officially announced the expansion of medical school seats with the release of the “Essential Medical Care Innovation Strategy” on Thursday, but public attention is firmly on the lack of a specific number. Instead, the ministry said it will increase the number of doctors, currently the lowest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, by expanding the total number of medical school seats to fill the gap in essential medical care and prepare for the transition to an ultra-elderly society. The government also said it would establish a plan to manage the quality of medical education, such as securing and evaluating professors as well as establishing a capacity adjustment system based on demand.

The ministry will introduce a policy package to encourage doctors to enter essential and regional medical care, after concerns were raised that manpower concentration in the metropolitan area will continue if medical school seats are increased.

The policy also includes measures to ease legal burdens, related investments, and a medical fee increase to reorganize the compensation system. The government said it would also invest an additional 1 trillion won ($735.84 million) in medical finances annually.

The government will also raise the medical fees for severe and essential medical care, enabling more doctors to practice essential medicine with the medical school seats expansion. Additional compensation for high-difficulty and high-risk care, a raise in medical fees for undervalued care, and enhanced compensation for pediatric care will be implemented sequentially starting in 2024. Compensation for intensive care units, isolation units, and aseptic care units will also be increased, and hospital charges for hospital and clinic-level neonatal and maternity units will also be increased by 50 percent.

To enable essential medical care personnel to provide a consistent level of service, the government will reduce the legal burden on medical personnel while providing relief to patients in the event of medical disputes. To this end, the Act on Remedies for Injuries from Medical Malpractice and Mediation of Medical Disputes will be amended to increase the state’s share of medical expenses to 100 percent from 70 percent in cases of unavoidable medical accidents in childbirth from the end of 2023. The amendment also increases the scope of special cases of criminal punishment for medical personnel and supports medical liability insurance.

The government will also strengthen its cooperation with local hospitals and clinics, with national hospitals as the backbone of essential medical care, to prevent the collapse of local medical infrastructure. The goal is to ensure that emergency treatment is completed locally without having to travel to a large hospital in metropolitan areas. To achieve this, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, instead of the Ministry of Education, will oversee national university hospitals to ensure balanced development in areas such as treatment, research, and education.

As national university hospitals struggle to secure well-qualified medical personnel due to the regulation on total labor cost for public institutions, the government plans to lift restrictions on total labor cost and medical seats to secure quality doctors.

The government will also provide national university hospitals with funding to secure beds and staff for intensive care units and emergency rooms, as well as continuing to enhance compensation for less profitable essential medical centers. This plan is aimed at allowing people in every region to receive emergency care within the critical timeframe.

The roles played by Seoul National University Hospital, National Medical Center, and National Cancer Center will also be strengthened to enhance the capacity for regional definitive treatment of severe diseases and lead innovation in essential and public healthcare.

“We will dramatically increase national university hospitals’ capacity to the level of large hospitals in the metropolitan area, enabling them to treat severe diseases in the region and close the gap in the medical system,” Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said.

The government will also continue to consult with the medical community. “We will proceed with the expansion of medical school seats quickly once the the work site capacity and training capabilities are fully reviewed,” Cho said. “We will consult with the medical community after preparing a plan to expand medical school seats and policies to support local essential medical care, as well as collecting views from the public, patient groups, and experts.” The ministry also plans to set up consultative bodies modeled after the Dutch Advisory Committee on Medical Manpower Planning and the Japanese Subcommittee on the Supply and Demand of Medical Personnel to flexibly adjust the number of medical school seats.