First Public Release of Dementia Care Evaluation Results... 25% Achieve Grade 1, Average Score 72.9 Points

HIRA Announces '1st Dementia Appropriateness Evaluation'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] In the first dementia adequacy evaluation conducted in Korea, one out of four medical institutions received a first-grade rating. The average score for dementia medical services provided by 889 medical institutions was recorded as 72.9 points.

The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service announced the results of the "1st Dementia Adequacy Evaluation" on the 28th. The evaluation was conducted on 52,504 cases of patients who were newly prescribed dementia medication in outpatient clinics over six months from October last year to March this year at 889 institutions, including 43 tertiary general hospitals, 264 general hospitals, 143 hospitals, 18 nursing hospitals, 28 psychiatric hospitals, and 393 clinics.

The evaluation indicators included ▲the proportion of attending physicians who are neurologists, psychiatrists, or doctors who have completed dementia-related education, ▲the rate of structural brain imaging tests performed, ▲the rate of blood tests performed, and ▲the rate of screening and scale tests assessing memory and cognitive function.

Among the evaluation indicators, the proportion of neurologists, psychiatrists, or doctors who completed dementia-related education was 80.9% overall. The proportion of new dementia outpatient patients who underwent structural brain imaging tests (CT or MRI) was 63.9%, and the proportion of patients who completed all 27 essential blood test items was 35.7%. The screening and scale test implementation rate was 91.6%, with clinics showing a lower rate of 87.1% compared to other types of institutions.

As of 2020, the estimated number of dementia patients aged 65 and older in Korea is approximately 840,000, with the annual national dementia management cost estimated at 17.3 trillion KRW. Among this, medical expenses account for about 2.8 trillion KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.