Government to offer higher compensation to top hospitals treating severe, pediatric patients

South Korea is set to enhance financial incentives for tertiary general hospitals that handle a significant number of critically ill and pediatric patients. The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that this move is part of a broader strategy to restructure the tertiary hospital system, encouraging these facilities to concentrate on providing advanced care for the most severe cases.

The core of the new policy is the introduction of an "ICU load index" as a performance indicator for the latter half of 2026. This index will calculate a hospital's performance based on the patient load in its intensive care units, weighted by the severity of the patients' conditions and the proportion of patients under 18 years old. Hospitals demonstrating a higher burden of complex cases will receive greater recognition and, consequently, higher compensation.

This initiative is designed to shift the focus of tertiary hospitals from general care to specialized treatment for critical and rare diseases. The government aims to foster a system where these top-tier hospitals act as final treatment centers for the most vulnerable patients, while less severe cases are managed by regional clinics and smaller hospitals. This aligns with the government's broader healthcare reform policy.

Approximately 80 billion won from the 800 billion won allocated for the tertiary hospital restructuring support project will be distributed based on this new ICU load index. A portion will be allocated proportionally to the index, while the remainder will be distributed in tiered categories, rewarding hospitals with the highest performance. Officials stated that this change addresses a previous limitation where hospitals treating more complex cases were not adequately compensated for the increased workload and resource consumption compared to those with similar bed capacity but less severe patient populations.

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In the future, we will increase the proportion of compensation for the final treatment of severe and emergency patients, supporting tertiary general hospitals to focus on their inherent roles within the medical referral system.