'We learned to prioritize foreign patient safety via KAHF'

4 medical institutions accredited for foreign patients-focused service

By Lee Kyung-min

“Is there anything inconvenient or unsafe to foreign patients here? How can we best tend to their needs?”

These are the two questions constantly playing in the back of the mind of a woman, surnamed Hong, a manger of international healthcare center at Gachon University Gil Medical Center in Incheon.

Everywhere she goes, the first thing that comes to her mind is how a foreign patient would feel during and after receiving medical treatment at where she works.

“We know it is not an easy decision for patients to come to a foreign country to seek advanced treatment. The decision is all the more hard since it concerns their health, which is the most important thing in people’s lives.”

“That is why we devote our utmost attention to the smallest details trying to make them feel at home, not to mention maintaining top quality of medical services.”

Hong said she became so “thoroughly exacting” after trying to meet stringent standards set by the Ministry of Health and Welfare which oversees and manages the Korean Accreditation Program for Hospitals Serving Foreign Patients (KAHF).

Fifteen staffers of 10 units under the medical center prepared over four months, before applying for the program whose recognition is effective for two years.

Of the 31 medical institutions applied, only four ― Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Inha University Hospital, HanGil Eye Hospital and JK Plastic Surgery Center ― were accredited. Other than JK Plastic Surgery Center in Gangnam, southern Seoul, the three are located in Incheon.

Under the program, jointly run by Korea Health Industry Development Institute and the Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation, medical institutions are evaluated on up to 130 standards.

They include whether there were “competent medical coordinators,” to fully explain in detail their services before, during and after treatments in a language that patients could understand.

This is a perfectly apt and much-appreciated standard, according to Inha University Hospital.

“Foreign patients’ needs vary greatly depending on their countries. We have to consider cultural differences, languages and all other sensitive aspects while they are staying here for what is considered the most valuable to people: health,” a hospital staffer said.

“By establishing this program, and having medical institutions meet the requirements, the ministry set a new standard in what we should prioritize in treating foreign patients.”

The program also evaluates whether medical institutions have measures to prevent medical disputes, and employ arbitration following possible dissatisfactory treatments.

An Uzbekistan girl, second from left, smiles with a doctor who performed a successful operation on her spinal cord injury at a hospital in Incheon in December 2015. / Courtesy of the Ministry of Health and Welfare

Other criteria include whether they have infection control measures, emergency response measures, as well as certified anesthetists, important indications of whether medical institutions maintain services that meet patients’ expectation of safety.

JK Plastic Surgery Center Founder and CEO Joo Kwon said winning the government program was as hard as winning that from the Joint Commission International (JCI), which is considered a recognized leader in international health care accreditation.

“Some of the standards were more exacting and required more resources and attention,” he said.

“But I think it’s commendable that the health ministry established this system amid the growing number of foreign patients seeking advanced treatment in Korea. I think the ministry should maintain the current high standards because it concerns patients’ safety.”

Joo said he will undoubtedly apply for recognition in two years time.

“Earning the accreditation for two consecutive times is more difficult than getting it for the first time. It needs much work, devotion and principles. I will definitely apply in two years.”

KAHF gave not only an additional boost in maintaining the reputation of the medical institution, but also in the government, according to HanGil Eye Hospital.

“We held a joint meeting with a medical agency in Kazakhstan, where representatives said this program would certainly help patients choose our hospital. They said they felt we were more trustworthy with the government accreditation,” a staffer said.

He said many patients that underwent operations there said they would recommend their friends to go to medical institutions that have KAHF.

“While preparing to apply for the program, we learned our strengths and weaknesses. We are happy we had the chance to review our management as a medical institution.”

A ministry official said the efforts will continue to strengthen capabilities through the implementation of KAHF to guarantee safety and convenience for foreign patients.