The pediatric emergency medical system, which has undergone turmoil due to the lack of doctors to treat children and adolescents requiring emergency care, is relieving a sigh of relief.
As a solution, the government recognized “pediatric emergency medicine” as a detailed specialized subject and provided reimbursement.
The Korean Society of Pediatric Emergency Medicine received a "one-year certification" for the detailed system of pediatric emergency medicine from the Korean Medical Association (KMA) and began operation in January last year. It then obtained a five-year “conditional certification” early this year.
On condition of granting the five-year certification, the KMA told the society to revise and supplement part of the contents, including developing educational programs.
As pediatric emergency medicine won recognition as a detailed specialized subject, the Ministry of Health and Welfare also decided to set the reimbursement.
The reimbursements to be applied by the decision include consultation fees, multidisciplinary integrated medical fees, and emergency medical specialists' medical fees, allowing pediatric emergency medical specialists who treat children and adolescent emergency patients to also receive reimbursements for their medical practices.
To calculate reimbursement, the authorities introduced “PEM (Pediatric Emergency Medicine)” as the new confirmation code for pediatric emergency medicine with the pediatric and adolescent department category. They can enter the specific details classification code (JT001) in the specific details entry column and enter the confirmation code of the detailed text.
However, there are no limitations to becoming pediatric emergency medicine specialists. After obtaining a specialist's qualification, they must undergo full-time training at the pediatric emergency medical training hospital designated by the association for at least one year.
Those who have received full-time training or obtained related certificates that meet the requirements for applying for a detailed professional abroad can take the qualification examination to be a detailed specialist in pediatric emergency medicine.
During the full-time training period, they must be recognized for 30 points or more in the training education recognized by the society and complete the Korean Advanced Pediatric Emergency Care Course (KAPECC) at least once. They also must have certificates as providers or instructors of Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).