Tertiary Hospitals' Major Surgeries Up 35%... "Shifting Focus to Emergency and Rare Diseases"

Medical Service Volume Recovers Six Months After Structural Transformation Project
Proportion of Appropriate Patients Rises to 52%
Specialized Referrals and Transfers Also Increase Actively

Since implementing the structural transformation project last October to focus on the treatment of severe, emergency, and rare diseases at tertiary general hospitals, the proportion of severe surgeries such as cerebral aneurysms and cancer, as well as severe emergency and pediatric patients, has increased at these hospitals. The volume of medical services, which had sharply declined due to the collective resignation of residents opposing the expansion of medical school quotas, has also largely recovered.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 9th, as of January this year, the proportion of patients with appropriate conditions such as severe surgeries, severe emergency, and pediatric cases at 47 tertiary general hospitals nationwide participating in the 'Tertiary General Hospital Structural Transformation Support Project' was 52%, an increase of 7.2 percentage points from 44.8% in January last year.

In particular, the volume of medical services, which had decreased during the emergency medical response period starting from February last year, has recovered its capacity centered on severe surgeries and hospitalizations since the start of the structural transformation support project. The number of severe surgeries at these tertiary general hospitals surged by about 35%, from 28,000 cases in September last year to 37,000 cases in December. During the same period, the number of patients increased by 9%, from 2.03 million to 2.22 million, and the number of hospitalized patients rose by 16%, from 160,000 to 190,000.

A Ministry of Health and Welfare official explained, "Tertiary general hospitals are focusing on patients with severe, emergency, and rare diseases, while non-severe patients use general hospitals, resulting in the total number of patients at general hospitals or higher recovering to 98% of the level in December 2023."

To ensure patients can safely receive treatment at regional secondary hospitals, the medical cooperation system between tertiary general hospitals and regional secondary hospitals is also being strengthened. Currently, 41 tertiary general hospitals have established fast-track systems with regional secondary hospitals. As a result, patients who were treated at secondary hospitals can now receive treatment and be admitted to tertiary general hospitals within a few days if there are suspected severe conditions such as cancer or acute leukemia, significantly reducing waiting times for medical care, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Specialized referrals, introduced to prevent concentration at large metropolitan hospitals and strengthen regional medical cooperation, increased from 859 cases in November last year to 7,076 cases in January this year, while specialized transfers rose from 4,565 cases to 18,923 cases.

In tertiary general hospitals, the number of beds in rooms with five or more beds has decreased, while beds in rooms with two to four beds have increased, resulting in improved quality of inpatient services. As of January this year, five-bed rooms in tertiary general hospitals decreased by 52.4% and rooms with six or more beds decreased by 31.7% compared to September last year, whereas beds in two to four-bed rooms increased by 61.5%. Intensive care unit beds were also expanded by 112.

The government stated that it is steadily executing support funds amounting to about 3.3 trillion KRW annually to ensure stable operation while tertiary general hospitals undergo structural transformation. Last month, the '24-hour Medical Support Fund' was pre-paid to support around 1,395 specialists and 1,433 nurses for 24-hour medical standby (on-call) for severe and emergency patients. In February this year, the 'Bed Structural Transformation Support Fund' was pre-paid to allow tertiary general hospitals to reduce general beds by 5-15% while expanding beds for intensive care units, regional emergency and trauma centers, emergency treatment beds, and stroke intensive care units for policy purposes.

Jung Kyung-sil, Director of the Medical Reform Promotion Team, said, "Tertiary general hospitals are shifting away from competition over medical volume to focus on improving the quality of care centered on severe, emergency, and rare diseases." She added, "We will also promptly initiate the 'Comprehensive Secondary Hospital Support Project' announced last month in the 'Second Medical Reform Implementation Plan' to support the structural transformation of secondary hospitals following tertiary general hospitals and establish a desirable medical delivery system."