'As Expected, Jeonnam National University Hospital' Achieves 1st Grade in Acute Stroke Evaluation for 9 Consecutive Times

HIRA Evaluates 249 Medical Institutions Nationwide

Top 20% Selected as 'Best Medical Institutions'

Jeonnam National University Hospital (Director Jeong Shin) announced on the 31st that it received a first-grade rating for the 9th consecutive time in the "10th Acute Stroke Adequacy Evaluation" conducted by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service.

Based on this evaluation result, the hospital was also selected as one of the top 20% best medical institutions and will receive additional funding.

Stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases are high-risk illnesses ranking fifth among causes of death in South Korea. The high disability rate and complications following stroke onset increase the burden of medical expenses.

Accordingly, since 2005, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service has been conducting adequacy evaluations to continuously manage the quality of stroke medical services, aiming to reduce mortality and disability rates and to encourage active quality improvement of medical services in care institutions.

This stroke adequacy evaluation was conducted over six months from October 2022 to March 2023, targeting acute patients admitted through the emergency room within 7 days after stroke symptom onset at 249 general hospitals or higher-level institutions.

The main evaluation criteria included six indicators: ▲Presence of a Stroke Unit (staff and facilities) ▲Intravenous thrombolytic agent (t-PA) administration rate (within 60 minutes) ▲Early rehabilitation assessment and implementation rate ▲Functional evaluation at discharge ▲Incidence rate of pneumonia during hospitalization ▲30-day in-hospital mortality rate (hemorrhagic and ischemic).

Accordingly, Jeonnam National University Hospital achieved a first-grade rating with a total score of 99.94 points, which is higher than the overall average score of 88.13 points.

In particular, for the monitoring indicators ▲Length of stay per case (Long-term Indicator, LI) and ▲Medical cost per case (Cost Indicator, CI), Jeonnam National University Hospital scored 0.61 and 0.69 respectively, significantly higher than both the overall average and the average scores of tertiary hospitals. This indicates that the hospital had shorter hospital stays and lower medical costs, reflecting a very high level of acute stroke treatment at Jeonnam National University Hospital.

Since the 2008 evaluation, Jeonnam National University Hospital has maintained a first-grade rating for nine consecutive times, confirming its status as the nation’s top acute stroke treatment institution. The hospital not only has a dedicated stroke intensive care unit but also operates a smooth collaborative system among related departments such as neurology, neurosurgery, and rehabilitation medicine, achieving excellent treatment outcomes.

Director Jeong said, “Achieving a first-grade rating in the recent intensive care unit adequacy evaluation as well as the acute stroke evaluation, and being selected as the best medical institution, is the result of all medical staff’s efforts. As a regional base hospital and a regional cardiovascular and cerebrovascular center, we will do our best to treat critically ill patients.”

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