Medical Reform Special Committee Discusses Transition of Tertiary Hospitals Structure and Establishment of 'Patient Advocate System'

"Transition of Tertiary Hospitals Structure... Focus on Adequate Compensation"
"Establishment of Patient Advocate System to Assist from Early Stage of Medical Accidents"

The transition of tertiary general hospitals to focus on severe and emergency cases is underway, and a 'patient advocate system' to assist patients during medical disputes is expected to be newly established.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

No Yeonhong, chairman of the Medical Reform Special Committee (Special Committee), announced this during the 5th Special Committee briefing held on the afternoon of the 11th at the Government Seoul Office. He stated, "The problem of patients flocking to large hospitals in Seoul regardless of symptoms and diseases has been intensifying," and added, "We have decided to prioritize efforts on restructuring tertiary general hospitals. The main point is to provide sufficient compensation to ensure stable operation while tertiary general hospitals pursue five major structural innovations: treatment, treatment cooperation, beds, personnel, and resident training."

He continued, "The structural transition will first undergo a three-year pilot project and then be institutionalized step by step. We will accelerate efforts so that the pilot project can start from September," and explained, "For tertiary general hospitals participating in the pilot project, we will raise fees for intensive care units, hospitalization, and severe surgeries, and introduce a pilot fee system that compensates standby costs such as on-call duties necessary for emergency care through health insurance for the first time."

He also mentioned that discussions were held on the direction of innovation in the medical dispute mediation system. Chairman No said, "We discussed ways to activate communication between patients and medical personnel to minimize conflicts when medical accidents occur," and added, "We are considering institutionalizing expressions of regret by medical staff, as seen in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, while also reviewing potential issues that may arise during the legislative process given the differences in legal systems in Korea."

Furthermore, he stated, "We had in-depth discussions on establishing a tentative patient advocate system to assist patients and victims from the early stages of medical accidents, including professional counseling and selection of key issues for appraisal."

He emphasized that concrete discussions were also conducted to enhance the expertise and reliability of appraisals. He explained, "There was consensus among committee members that for multiple and cross-appraisals, participation of medical appraisal committee members should be expanded for serious cases such as deaths, and the pool of appraisal committee members should be significantly increased from the current 300 to over 1,000," and added, "Standardization of appraisals through appraisal databases and appraisal report preparation guidelines was discussed, along with the introduction and certification to strengthen appraisal capabilities."

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