Large hospitals to transfer minor cases to local medical centers

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The Ministry of Health and Welfare will start a pilot program this month to encourage large general hospitals to transfer less critically ill patients to local medical institutes in a bid to build a more effective health care system in which patients with more serious conditions can receive treatment on time.

The ministry said Thursday that three large general hospitals — Samsung Medical Center, Inha University Hospital and Ulsan University Hospital — will participate in the pilot program, aimed at enhancing the original functions of general hospitals so that they can focus on more serious cases through the establishment of a cooperative system with local medical institutes.

Details of the program were discussed at a meeting presided over by Park Min-soo, the second vice minister of health and welfare.

The program is designed to facilitate a cooperative system between large hospitals and smaller medical institutes so less critically ill patients can be transferred to local medical centers that are close to the patients' homes, thereby allowing the large hospitals to focus on treating patients who are in more critical condition.

The ministry came up with the program as complaints have been raised that some critically ill patients were not treated properly or missed the critical timing for receiving treatment, which would have allowed them to survive, at general hospitals that are crowded with people with less severe symptoms.

Unnecessary competition to secure more patients between large and smaller medical centers has also been cited as one of the causes of the ineffectiveness of the country’s health care system.

“The program will help build a more rational system dealing with patients in accordance with the severity of their illnesses or injuries,” a ministry official said. “The program will also help large hospitals and local medical institutes grow together.”

The ministry received applications for the program from large hospitals across the country in the latter half of 2022 and selected the three participating hospitals last year.

Under the program, the three hospitals will expand medical personnel, facilities and equipment to focus more on treating critically ill patients as well as those with rare or incurable diseases, while transferring those with less critical conditions to cooperative institutions.

Toward that end, the three hospitals will recruit staffers who will take full charge of supporting the transfer of patients and sharing information regarding treatment between the large and smaller hospitals, so that the transferred patients can continue their treatment without any anxiety.

A system will also be established to prioritize a transferred patient for treatment in a large hospital if their condition worsens after being transferred.

The ministry will offer incentives to these three hospitals on a yearly basis after evaluating therapy outcomes and patient satisfaction as well as the degree of cooperation with local medical centers.

“The program is a new approach as it compensates each hospital in accordance with their achievement,” the ministry official said.

“Through this, we seek the mutual growth of medical institutions and, in the long run, enhanced medical capability and quality to treat serious cases.”

The ministry said that it will monitor developments of the pilot program for about two years before expanding the number of participating facilities.