Night and Holiday Pediatric Consultation Fees Doubled... 'Preventing Pediatric Medical Service Gaps'

The government has decided to increase the number (compensation) of related medical personnel and expand budget support necessary for infrastructure development such as facilities and equipment to fill the gap in the collapsing pediatric medical system. The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced follow-up measures on the 22nd, concretized based on the confirmed government budget plan following the announcement of the pediatric medical system improvement measures in February.

Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Consultation

First, to strengthen support for severe and emergency pediatric care, budget support for facilities and equipment costs of the Children's Public Specialized Medical Centers will be increased about sixfold (from 1 billion KRW this year to 6.1 billion KRW next year). The government also plans to expand the participating institutions in the pilot project for post-deficit compensation, which differentially compensates for medical cost losses incurred during the operation of the Children's Public Specialized Medical Centers.

The number of Pediatric Specialized Emergency Medical Centers treating severe pediatric emergency patients will increase from 10 to 12, and operational support will be expanded to 7.8 billion KRW (currently 5.2 billion KRW). Additionally, an emergency medical management fee will be newly established for Pediatric Specialized Emergency Medical Centers, and observation fees for severe emergency and emergency treatment areas will be increased by 100% for children under 1 year old and 50% for children aged 1 to under 8 years.

Support for pediatric inpatient care will also be strengthened. Pediatricians say that the difficulty of treatment increases the younger the child. Currently, a 30% additional compensation is applied for treating children under 8 years old, but a 50% additional compensation will be applied when treating children under 1 year old. Furthermore, inpatient fees for neonatal rooms and mother-child rooms at hospital and clinic levels will be increased by 50%. A new age-based additional compensation of 50% will be introduced for wards where inpatient care is provided by dedicated specialists when admitting pediatric patients under 8 years old. To maintain a constant pediatric inpatient care system, a 30% additional compensation will be applied for night shifts.

Inpatient fees for pediatric and neonatal intensive care units will be increased. Currently, compensation for intensive care unit operation is based on the number of beds, which has led to criticism that pediatric intensive care units, which originally have low bed occupancy rates, operate at a deficit as medical institutions run them. Therefore, compensation will be improved by applying the number of patients and the level of securing personnel such as nursing staff and dedicated specialists, allowing medical institutions to continuously expand necessary equipment, facilities, and secure medical personnel for severe pediatric care.

Focused compensation will be provided for pediatric care during night and holiday hours, where medical gaps are likely to occur. From 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next day, late-night additional fees for outpatient clinics and pharmacies treating children under 6 years old will be doubled.

For Moonlight Children's Hospitals that provide pediatric care during late-night hours on weekdays, an average of 200 million KRW in operating expenses per hospital will be supported, and fees will be compensated differentially at 1.2 to 2 times the existing night care management fee rates according to weekly operating hours.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to promote cooperation between hospitals to connect pediatric patients during night and holiday hours, which are difficult to handle by individual institutions, and establish a cooperative system centered on secondary hospitals for rapid pediatric patient linkage within regions.

To ensure sustainable supply and demand of pediatric and adolescent medical personnel, a monthly training allowance of 1 million KRW will be provided to residents and full-time pediatric specialists. The Ministry also stated that it plans to alleviate the legal burden on medical personnel through a social consultative body regarding unavoidable medical accidents and establish a system to support victims of medical accidents.

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