Strengthened Performance-Based Compensation for the National Medical Center and National Cancer Center
Up to 950 Million KRW Support for Critical Care Institutions in Maternal and Child Medical Care Pilot Project
Reimbursement Rate for Biodegradable Material Injection in Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy Increased by 40%
To ensure that local residents can receive medical care with peace of mind without having to visit tertiary hospitals in the Seoul metropolitan area, the government will invest 700 billion KRW annually in regional general hospitals equipped with comprehensive medical capabilities. Hospitals with specialized functions, such as the National Medical Center and the National Cancer Center, will see expanded performance-based compensation, and up to 950 million KRW will be provided to "critical care institutions for mothers and children pilot project" facilities that offer intensive care for high-risk mothers and newborns and provide 24-hour emergency response.
Minsu Park, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare, is presiding over the "8th Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee Meeting of 2025" held on the 24th. Ministry of Health and Welfare
On the 24th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare held the "8th Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee Meeting of 2025" and discussed the following: the Comprehensive Secondary General Hospital Support Project, the National Medical Center Essential Medical Specialization Function Compensation Pilot Project, the National Cancer Center Specialization Function Compensation Pilot Project, and improvements to the Maternal and Child Medical Care Cooperation Pilot Project.
First, to implement the "Second Phase of Healthcare Reform Action Plan" announced on March 19, the government will select institutions to participate in the Comprehensive Secondary General Hospital Support Project during the first half of the year and officially launch the project in the second half. This project targets institutions that are certified medical organizations, fulfill the role of at least a regional emergency medical institution, and perform more than 350 types of surgeries and procedures (DRG).
Selected institutions must carry out four key functional innovations: appropriate medical care, enhanced effectiveness of care, resolving local healthcare issues, and strengthening medical cooperation. To help comprehensive secondary general hospitals focus on these innovations, the government plans to invest approximately 700 billion KRW annually in supporting essential functions such as care for moderate-severity patients and 24-hour medical services, as well as providing performance-based incentives for functional innovation achievements.
In addition, a pilot project for institution-level performance-based compensation will be conducted for the National Medical Center, which carries out essential medical specialization functions of high national policy importance. The National Medical Center has served as the central hospital of the national public healthcare system, providing high-quality essential medical care and acting as the lead institution for crisis response during national emergencies such as infectious diseases and trauma.
Through this pilot project, performance indicators will be established to evaluate the National Medical Center’s essential medical specialization functions, and the level of goal achievement will be assessed. Post-performance incentives ranging from 180 million KRW to a maximum of 400 million KRW will be provided. The performance indicators will initially focus on the National Medical Center’s most specialized functions, such as infectious diseases and trauma, but new indicators will be developed and compensation expanded depending on milestone achievements, supporting comprehensive clinical capability innovation befitting its role as a core institution in the public healthcare system.
The National Cancer Center, as a central specialized hospital, will also be compensated to continuously maintain and strengthen its advanced cancer specialization functions in cancer treatment, research, and policy implementation. Although the National Cancer Center has provided care at the level of a tertiary hospital, it has not been designated as such due to its specialization in cancer care, resulting in insufficient compensation.
Accordingly, the government plans to support the National Cancer Center, as the central institution for national cancer control, so that it can more fully perform its cancer specialization functions, including leading cancer care, research, education, and management, providing unmet essential medical services, meeting cancer patient needs, and strengthening care cooperation.
Compensation will also be strengthened for critical care institutions with certain capabilities participating in the Maternal and Child Medical Care Cooperation Pilot Project. This pilot project aims to establish a network and cooperation system between top-tier institutions (representative institutions) and local institutions (critical care institutions and general delivery institutions) in each region for intensive care of high-risk mothers and newborns and 24-hour emergency response.
However, there have been concerns about the appropriateness of compensation, as some critical care institutions have participated as general institutions despite having capabilities similar to representative institutions, resulting in significant differences in reimbursement rates.
To address this, the pilot project reimbursement rates have been improved so that critical care institutions equipped with facilities equivalent to representative institutions, such as MFICU (Maternal-Fetal Intensive Care Unit) and NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), and capable of providing enhanced care for high-risk mothers and newborns and accepting patient transfers, can be compensated at two-thirds the level of representative institutions. Depending on performance, support per institution, which previously ranged from 390 million KRW to 480 million KRW, will be expanded to between 780 million KRW and 950 million KRW.
Once the final selected institutions are announced later this month, the pilot project will begin in May. The Ministry of Health and Welfare expects that this will enable systematic transfer support through cooperation and networking among local medical institutions, creating an environment where high-risk pregnant women can give birth with greater peace of mind.
Meanwhile, at this Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee meeting, it was decided to increase the reimbursement rate for procedures involving the injection of biodegradable materials to prevent complications such as rectal injury during prostate cancer radiation therapy by approximately 1.4 times. Based on tertiary hospitals, the current reimbursement rate of about 145,000 KRW will be raised to around 200,000 KRW.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated, "There have been opinions that a reimbursement rate increase is needed to reflect the difficulty of procedures such as ensuring appropriate patient positioning and adjusting ultrasound location and probe angle," and added, "We will continue to pursue fair compensation for undervalued surgeries and procedures in the future."
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