Health ministry forum weighs locally led integrated care delivery

South Korea's health ministry said Wednesday it convened the fourth Community Integrated Care Forum, where local government officials, public health center staff and researchers discussed how regional authorities should build and run integrated care delivery systems.

The forum was streamed live on the ministry's official YouTube channel. It is part of the government's national policy task 78, "integrated care where you live."

In the first presentation, Min So-young, a professor at Kyonggi University, set out five criteria for a regionally centered delivery system: accountability, expertise, sufficiency, accessibility and integration. She proposed improving how dedicated staff are deployed, unifying the entry point at the eup, myeon and dong level, opening publicly operated care centers in areas with weak services, and expanding the role of public health centers.

Kim Yeon-a, a professor at Sungkonghoe University, followed with a presentation on building a community care ecosystem through local cooperation. She described a fragmented supply structure dominated by small institutions and called for consortium-style regional care projects, village care centers and the creation of care jobs for residents.

In a panel discussion chaired by Kang Hye-kyu, president of the Central Social Service Institute, experts from local governments, public health centers, research institutions and the media debated how regional integrated care systems should develop and how they could be applied in the field.

Park Jae-man, the ministry's integrated care support officer, said the closest level of government to residents has to take the lead. "For integrated care to take root in the field, local governments, which are closest to residents, must take the lead in linking and coordinating regional medical and care resources, and a foundation must be in place for various actors in the community to participate together," he said. He added that the ministry will actively support local governments as they build delivery systems suited to local conditions and develop a care foundation together with their communities.