Government Establishes Medical Accident Safety Net... "Innovating Dispute Mediation System and Promoting Criminal Special Cases"

Establishing a Medical Accident Safety Net for Both Patients and Medical Staff
Promoting Criminal Exception for Medical Accidents, Investigation Improvements, and Patient Advocates

The government is launching a safety net for medical accidents targeting both patients and medical staff. It plans to innovate the dispute mediation system including patient advocates, expand medical accident liability insurance and mutual aid, and promote the legislation of criminal exceptions for medical care performed with utmost effort.

Noh Yeon-hong, Chairman of the Special Committee on Medical Reform, is speaking at the 6th Special Committee on Medical Reform held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 30th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Special Committee on Medical Reform (Special Committee) announced the first medical reform implementation plan, which was deliberated and approved at the 6th meeting held on the morning of the 30th.

First, to minimize wasteful medical lawsuits, the credibility of the 'medical dispute mediation system' will be enhanced. The Special Committee explained, "In the early stages of medical accidents, medical staff and institutions were reluctant to provide detailed explanations and express regrets due to civil and criminal legal burdens," and "as a result, distrust and conflicts between patients and medical staff worsened, leading to wasteful lawsuits."

Accordingly, "referring to overseas cases, the system will be institutionalized so that expressions of regret or apologies during the explanation process of medical accidents will not be disadvantageous in investigations or trials, and standard guidelines for communication enhancement between patients and medical staff, as well as education and counseling support, will be provided concurrently."

During the medical dispute mediation procedure, the plan is to establish patient assistance and a balanced appraisal system to implement a public medical accident proof system and increase reliability through transparent system operation. To this end, a provisional 'patient advocate' will be newly established to assist patients lacking medical and legal knowledge during the mediation process, and a conference appraisal system involving various social sectors will be strengthened to investigate the substance of medical accidents from diverse perspectives. The patient advocate system will support cases involving death, unconsciousness for more than one month, permanent disability, or other serious injuries.

Additionally, to improve consistency and expertise in medical appraisals, a multiple and cross-appraisal system involving two or more medical professionals will be introduced for serious accidents such as death, along with the development of standard appraisal report guidelines and specialized appraisal education. For transparent system operation, a provisional 'National Ombudsman' system involving patients, consumers, and medical professional organizations will be introduced, and procedures for appeal against appraisals and expanded mediation consultation opportunities will be implemented through amendments to the 'Medical Dispute Mediation Act.'

The risk of high compensation will be mitigated by activating medical accident liability and comprehensive insurance and mutual aid. To alleviate the burden of high civil compensation and ensure prompt and sufficient compensation, the expansion of medical accident liability and comprehensive insurance products and the introduction of a mutual aid system will be pursued. Furthermore, from next year, the government will partially support insurance premiums for medical accident liability insurance and mutual aid for residents and specialists in essential medical departments with high medical accident risk.

At the same time, the compensation limit for force majeure accidents will be raised considering civil compensation amounts. The current maximum compensation limit for force majeure childbirth medical accidents will be increased from 30 million KRW to 300 million KRW. The scope of force majeure accidents will also be reviewed for expansion beyond childbirth to include severe pediatric cases and severe emergency surgeries, considering overseas cases and medical evidence.

Through investigations utilizing medical appraisals and mediation results, face-to-face investigations will be minimized, and legislation of criminal exceptions for medical care performed with utmost effort will be promoted. This is a plan to minimize face-to-face investigations by linking medical dispute mediation procedures with criminal procedures and using medical appraisal results regarding the facts and medical negligence in the investigation process. Additionally, considering the avoidance of essential medical practices and departments due to the burden of criminal litigation, the application of criminal exceptions for medical accidents that are not clearly gross negligence will also be reviewed.

However, as a prerequisite for applying exceptions, measures to strengthen medical accident explanations, participation in medical dispute mediation procedures, and enrollment in liability and comprehensive insurance will be sought. Since there are differences in opinions between the medical community and patient and consumer groups regarding the application, requirements, and scope of exceptions, detailed legislative plans will be concretized through discussions between the Special Committee and the expert committee.