Panel urges direct transport of critical patients to specialized facilities; regional centers to focus on definitive care, local institutions on minor cases; expanded after-hours care also recommended

Jung Ki-hyun, chairman of the Medical Innovation Committee, briefs reporters on the outcomes of the panel's 10th meeting and future plans at the annex of Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Thursday. [Yonhap]
Jung Ki-hyun, chairman of the Medical Innovation Committee, briefs reporters on the outcomes of the panel's 10th meeting and future plans at the annex of Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Thursday. [Yonhap]

South Korea's Medical Innovation Committee has recommended that the government establish predetermined transfer routes for emergency patients based on the severity of their condition and required treatment, and that patients needing specialized care — such as those with severe trauma or cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease — be transported directly to facilities capable of providing it.

The committee, an advisory body under the prime minister, discussed a set of policy recommendations on timely emergency transport and treatment at its 10th meeting, held Thursday at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul.

The panel said that from the moment an emergency occurs, patients should be swiftly and seamlessly moved to an appropriate facility — through emergency room care and on to definitive treatment — but that longstanding problems persist, including patients using emergency rooms that do not match their severity level and failures to connect them smoothly to the surgical or intensive care they need.

To address these problems, the committee concluded that care pathways must be clearly defined according to patient severity and required treatment, and that the emergency medical system must be restructured so that role-sharing and cooperation among regional facilities ensure patients reach definitive care.

Under the recommendations, the principle of transporting patients to the appropriate facility based on severity and required treatment would be formally established.

Transfer routes — including fallback routes for cases where a primary facility cannot accept a patient — would be set in advance. Patients requiring specialized treatment for severe trauma, cardiovascular or cerebrovascular conditions, or obstetric emergencies would be transported directly to a specialized emergency facility capable of providing that care.

The committee also recommended that regional emergency medical centers, local emergency medical centers and local emergency medical institutions each redefine their roles according to patient severity and treatment capacity.

Regional emergency medical centers would focus on providing definitive care for critically ill patients; local emergency medical centers would handle follow-up care within their areas; and local emergency medical institutions would treat minor emergency cases and stabilize critical patients before transferring them to higher-level facilities.

The committee further recommended that the 119 Emergency Medical Dispatch Center, the National Emergency Medical Center and emergency facilities share real-time information — including bed availability, operating room status, intensive care unit capacity and specialist on-call schedules — to support appropriate transport and treatment decisions.

Data on the reasons patients are not accepted, as well as information on re-transfers and re-referrals, would be systematically analyzed and used to improve regional emergency medical systems.

The committee proposed overhauling the designation and evaluation of emergency medical facilities to center on their actual operational capacity for follow-up care.

Verification that facilities are genuinely providing emergency surgery and intensive care — not merely meeting staffing and infrastructure requirements on paper — would be strengthened. Facilities unable to meet the requirements would be asked to adjust their functions or establish referral arrangements with higher-level institutions.

The recommendations also called for pooling limited follow-up care resources at the regional level to ensure round-the-clock capacity, and for areas with insufficient medical resources to strengthen coordination with neighboring care zones.

For the public, the recommendations included strengthening consultation and guidance to help people choose the right facility based on their symptoms and severity.

When emergency symptoms arise, specialists at the 119 Emergency Medical Dispatch Center and regional emergency medical coordination centers would advise on appropriate responses and direct patients to suitable facilities.

The recommendations also called for expanding routine care options available to non-emergency patients outside of emergency rooms during nights and holidays, with fee supplements by time of day and operational support to encourage facilities to participate.

The committee additionally proposed using AI to verify analyses of emergency transport data, and improving staffing and compensation systems to build a sustainable foundation for the emergency care network.

"The core of emergency medical system reform is ensuring that emergency patients are swiftly transported to the right facility and receive the definitive care they need, including surgery and intensive treatment," committee Chairman Jung Ki-hyun said at a briefing after the meeting. "I hope these recommendations serve as a turning point toward a system where people can receive timely emergency care no matter where they live."


thlee@heraldcorp.com