“How much are the socioeconomic losses from patient safety incidents?”... Expansion of patient safety status survey implementation

The government has decided to expand the patient safety survey to understand the social and economic costs caused by patient safety incidents.

On the 14th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare deliberated, resolved, and finalized the 2nd Comprehensive Patient Safety Plan (2023?2027) at the 14th National Patient Safety Committee. The Comprehensive Patient Safety Plan is established every five years according to the Patient Safety Act enacted in 2015, following the death of the late Jeong Jong-hyun, who was 9 years old at the time in 2010, due to a chemotherapy drug administration error at a hospital. The 1st Comprehensive Plan focused on building basic infrastructure such as collecting patient safety incident information, establishing central and regional patient safety centers, and deploying dedicated personnel within medical institutions.

A Ministry of Health and Welfare official stated, “The 2nd Comprehensive Plan focuses on strengthening the existing infrastructure while spreading a culture of patient safety.”

The Ministry plans to expand the patient safety survey through this 2nd Comprehensive Plan. To collect more empirical data on patient safety incidents, the number of surveyed medical institutions will increase from 15 in 2022 to 75 by 2027. Since patient safety incidents directly relate to human casualties and cause significant social and economic losses, a detailed investigation is necessary.

The government will also increase national-level support systems. To secure the foundation, the role of the Central Patient Safety Center will be expanded, and essential personnel will be secured to build a national medical safety network, thereby strengthening the capabilities of the national patient safety control tower. For integrating patient safety-related data, information systems of related organizations will be linked, and a plan to establish an integrated management system for patient safety research and development (R&D), overseeing the safety of medical technologies, was also presented.

The capabilities of healthcare institutions will also be enhanced. Currently, medical institutions above a certain scale are required to have dedicated patient safety personnel, but as of last year, the deployment rate was only 25%. Through establishing committees and providing incentives to expand patient safety infrastructure in small and medium-sized medical institutions, the goal is to raise this figure to over 40% by 2027. The size and number of regional patient safety centers will also increase. By institutionalizing patient safety executive education programs, patient safety management guidelines for frequent incidents will be developed. When there is a risk of significant harm to patient safety, a ‘caution alert’ is issued to medical institutions, and plans were also proposed to strengthen the patient safety reporting and learning system through case analysis of these alerts.

The comprehensive plan also includes a vision to raise public interest in spreading a culture of patient safety. To this end, patient safety activity participation programs will be developed, and in building patient safety management systems, not only the government and local governments but also patient-related organizations and groups will be allowed to participate.

Park Min-su, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, “We will faithfully implement key tasks for accident prevention, such as activating public participation in patient safety activities, strengthening the capabilities of healthcare institutions to reduce patient safety incidents on the ground, and expanding national-level support systems.” He added, “Considering changes in the healthcare environment and public demand, we will establish annual implementation plans and enhance the effectiveness and feasibility of the comprehensive plan through performance reviews.”