In Busan, a collaborative system is being established to ensure that public hospitals can quickly admit elderly patients who require hospitalization while receiving home healthcare.
The National Health Insurance Service's Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Regional Office and Busan Medical Center signed a memorandum of understanding on July 30 to create a 'Home Healthcare Support Cooperation System.'
The two organizations will jointly promote initiatives including the establishment and operation of a home healthcare support system, training and capacity building for home healthcare staff, community connections for patient admissions and discharges, case meetings, information sharing, and collaborative projects to enhance community integrated care.
The home healthcare center will consist of a team of doctors, nurses, and social workers who provide home visits and nursing care to elderly individuals with mobility challenges. While they assist with routine health management, rapid connections to medical facilities are essential when acute illnesses or fractures occur, making continued home treatment difficult.
Under this agreement, if a home healthcare center physician determines that hospitalization is necessary, the medical staff at Busan Medical Center will assist with patient care and admission procedures. After treatment, patients will be transitioned back to home healthcare and community care.
Importantly, all designated home healthcare centers in the Busan area will be able to utilize the support system without needing separate contracts or participation applications.
Training for field staff will also be conducted. Busan Medical Center plans to hold its first practical training session for nurses at home healthcare centers in September, with plans to expand training to social workers and others based on demand.
A representative from the Health Insurance Service stated, "While the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Service provide non-face-to-face educational materials, training is necessary to enhance the services and skills required in actual home healthcare settings," explaining the rationale behind the initiative.
This project is not a nationwide initiative from the Health Insurance Service headquarters but rather a collaborative model first planned at the regional level by the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Regional Office. The Service is also considering expanding the collaboration to public medical institutions and clinics in Ulsan and Gyeongnam once the operational system in Busan is established.
The effectiveness of reducing emergency room visits and hospitalizations through home healthcare has already been demonstrated by data.
According to materials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare (May 2025) presented by the Health Insurance Service, the annual number of emergency room visits for home healthcare users decreased from 0.6 to 0.4, and the average annual hospitalization days dropped from 6.6 to 3.6. In contrast, non-users saw an increase in hospitalization days from 6.3 to 8.5. This indicates that home visits and nursing serve as a barrier against emergencies and unnecessary hospitalizations.
While this marks a significant first step toward community integrated care, establishing a concrete implementation framework remains a challenge.
Currently, there are no dedicated personnel assigned for this project. The Health Insurance Service's long-term care department and Busan Medical Center's public healthcare cooperation team will carry out the project alongside their existing duties.
No quantitative project goals, such as the number of individuals supported or annual hospital admissions, have been set. In response, the Health Insurance Service stated, "The original purpose of the system is to assist individuals in maintaining home living as much as possible without hospitalization, rather than merely filling quotas for admissions."
The publicly available agreement only outlines basic directions, such as admission procedures. The effectiveness of the project will depend on how well the operational processes, including contact systems between institutions, case management methods, and regular training schedules, are refined in practice.
Director Jo Jun-hee stated, "This agreement is the first step toward establishing a regional cooperative healthcare and care system between public healthcare and health insurance. We will continue to build a close cooperation system with local medical institutions, including Busan Medical Center, to support elderly individuals in living safely and healthily in their communities."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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