The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday it plans to amend the evaluation and designation standards for hospitals that treat foreign patients

According to the ministry, the changes include mandatory fire drills and medicines management and provision so that patients can receive safe treatment.

Specifically, the amendment mandates that all employees take a fire education and drills, increase in safety standards such as smoking cessation, strengthening of safety standards, and the subdivision of management standards for medicines such as injectable medicines, and disposable syringes.

The ministry began to evaluate and designate medical institutions to attract foreign patients last year, in a system to select medical institutions that provide excellent services for incoming patients to raise the reputation and reliability of Korean healthcare.

With the amendment, the ministry will evaluate two areas -- the specialization system for foreign patients, which assesses customized services for foreign patients such as multilingual consultation and interpretation services, and the patient safety system, which evaluates the safe treatment environment.

Hospitals that receive designation can use the ministry-approved mark for two-years and will receive free promotions through the ministry’s channels, which includes the medical tourism integrated homepage (www.visitmedicalkorea.com) and SNS.

“The new evaluation designation will contribute to enhancing the global competitiveness and reliability of Korean medical care,” said Kim Hye-sun from the ministry’s Overseas Medical Service Support Center. “The ministry expects that designated medical institutions will play a leading role as representative medical institutions that foreign patients can trust.”