Lee Sung-kyu, chairman of the Korea Hospital Association (KHA), emphasized the need to resolve the pending issues in the healthcare system as soon as possible through discussions with the public and the medical community.

Lee stressed that the hospital community must strive to “improve the medical delivery system, raise medical insurance fees, and resolve manpower shortages” to help normalize hospital management in 2025.

At a recent meeting with journalists, KHA Chairman Lee Sung-kyu made these and other points to explain the association’s core agenda this year.

Lee recalled that the entire nation, including the medical community, had a difficult time last year due to the chaotic situation inside and outside the country, including the government-doctor conflict. However, he noted that the government’s recent position change on pending medical issues and the new leadership in the Korean Medical Association offer some hope this year.

“I look forward to resolving these pending issues step by step through discussions with the public and the medical community as soon as possible,” he said.

Lee pointed out that the hospital industry experienced management difficulties, including the departure of trainee doctors from their workplaces, which led to curtailed hospital operations. This forced KHA to engage in governmental relations to maintain the treatment functions of member hospitals and ensure that the government's healthcare reform proceeds rationally to improve the medical environment.

“In 2025, we will continue to strive to create conditions for the early return of medical students and junior doctors, focus on policy projects to improve hospital management, and strive to build a safe medical environment in hospitals,” he said.

Regarding the steps the government must take for medical reforms, Lee cited establishing a healthcare delivery system, providing adequate compensation by dramatically improving the health insurance reimbursement system, creating a safety net for medical accidents, and working out support measures that consider regional medical care and the medical system in vulnerable areas.

Commenting on the medical school enrollment quota increase, Lee said, “The number of medical students should be determined at a reasonable and appropriate level through scientific estimates of the demand for human resources based on medical needs and changes in the medical environment and sufficient input from key stakeholders so that the quality of medical education does not deteriorate given the capacity of medical training.”

Shin Eung-jin, head of KHA’s policy committee, said the association will continue to discuss system improvements with the government.

“Following the government's announcement of the four major tasks for healthcare reform, we have participated in the Special Committee on Healthcare Reform to provide opinions on establishing rational policies that reflect the medical community's views,” Shin said.

Shin noted that the KHA agrees with the government's basic policy direction. However, he stressed that policymakers must ensure that hospitals are not disadvantaged or damaged during the restructuring process. He also suggested that the second implementation plan for healthcare reform, which includes measures to support the development of secondary and specialized hospitals, should be announced as soon as possible.

“Although the committee's activities are temporarily suspended, we will continue to discuss with the government to improve the system as reforms are ultimately needed for the benefit of the people and the medical community,” Shin said.

Yoo In-sang, head of the KHA’s insurance committee, called for an overall increase in medical fees based on the analysis of the health insurance fee system from a macro perspective.

“Although the government is promoting various policy reforms amid the government-doctor conflict as well as the reorganization of the tertiary relative value, the micro-adjustment measures only solve the current urgent problem, which raises doubts about its sustainability,” Yoo pointed out.

Yoo added that after analyzing the health insurance fee system from a macro perspective, the industry needs a balanced and sustainable fee policy that allows medical institutions to maintain their proper medical functions through an across-the-board fee increase and does not cause unnecessary conflicts.

“Among the hospital support measures, the subsidy paid to personnel should be paid to the institution for recruitment. It is not good to compensate specific personnel directly,” he said. “Even regarding the support for community-based medical institutions (to reorganize the delivery system), only about a quarter of the 200 small- and medium-sized hospitals will benefit. In this case, the unselected hospitals will be regressed and reverse discriminated against.”

He said this requires a cautious approach because the regional healthcare system to which the unselected hospitals belong may collapse. When promoting such policies, the government must look beyond five years and proceed with caution.

Kim Jin-ho, chairman of the Korea Small and Medium Hospital Association and vice chairman of KHA, said various regulations should be suspended or relaxed until the shortage of specialists in small and medium-sized hospitals is alleviated.

“With the prolonged departure of trainee doctors and medical students, the medical field is placing a heavy workload for specialists, and the current shortage of new specialists is causing a serious shortage of medical personnel,” Kim said. “It is necessary to suspend or relax related regulations temporarily and ease various designation standards and evaluation indicators until the shortage of specialists is alleviated so that hospitals can flexibly utilize the current medical personnel.”

Kim pointed out that physician labor costs continue to rise due to the government's ongoing policies (such as essential healthcare support).

“However, there are no measures (to address hospital management difficulties) due to rising labor costs,” he said. “Small- and medium-sized hospitals are really at a crossroads. If the staffing standards, such as requiring emergency departments to have emergency medicine specialists, are not relaxed temporarily, the weakest provincial hospitals will collapse first.”