As ESG (environment, social, and governance) management emerged as a global topic, the government has begun to develop an ESG management model applicable to medical institutions, drawing the medical community's attention.
It's been quite a while since ESG was on the lips of managers, forcing businesses to adopt environment-friendly, socially responsible, and keep transparent governance structures for sustainable growth, experts said.
As social expectations on medical institutions grow, hospitals also find it increasingly important to introduce ESG management.
Large university hospitals and smaller clinics are practicing ESG management seeking win-win among patients, guardians, and medical consumers by, for instance, minimizing medical waste and disposable products and conducting projects to support medically underprivileged people.
On Monday, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) said it would begin to develop an ESG activity model to induce the management renovation of medical institutions from the viewpoint of ESG. The state health insurance agency then issued a public notice on “research service to develop ESG activity model to improve public health.” The NHIS plans to spend 130 million won ($91,600)
The NHIS plans to present ESG-related visions, management goals, and strategic systems that can be applied to tertiary general hospitals and general hospitals through the study. In addition, it aims to derive ESG management topics and implementation plans suitable for medical institutions distinguished from business corporations.
Through this, it will also present the implementation tasks for each area of environment, social responsibility, and governance and derive policy tasks for an integrated ESG model.
The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) has also said it would consider introducing ESG indexes in its standards to designate and evaluate tertiary general hospitals.
In a recent parliamentary audit of the administration, Rep. Han Jeong-ae of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea stressed the need to do so. In its reply to the National Assembly, HIRA said, “We will consider the idea with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to encourage tertiary general hospitals to fulfill its social responsibility for the economy, society, and environment aside from its original duty of medical treatment and education.”
work out ESG assessment indexes, HIRA will survey ESG management situation at tertiary general hospitals, examine related studies at home and abroad this year, and prepare ESG indicators next year.
We will conduct relevant research this year to prepare detailed and practical ESG indicators this year, and come up with reasonable and sustainable assessment indexes by holding consultations with experts and hospital officials next year,” HIRA said.