An integrated community care system from March 27 will be launched nationwide. Shown is First Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Seuran on March 5 announcing the system's implementation at Government Complex-Seoul in Seoul's Jongno-gu District. (Ministry of Health and Welfare)

By Xu Aiying

An integrated community care system nationwide will start on March 27 to allow senior citizens and disabled people to spend their later years where they have lived their whole lives rather than at hospitals or medical facilities.

Thus discharged patients and people in need of care can receive integrated support by applying once for services customized for them at their nearest public welfare centers or the National Health Insurance Service instead of visiting each ministry to file individual applications.

Local governments will identify the needs of applicants, devise individualized support plans ranging from medical and nursing care to support, and connect customized services.

The completion of the system is based on a plan spanning the introductory (2026-27), stabilization (2028-29) and advancement (2030-) stages. Services will come in four areas: health care, health management, long-term care and daily living support.

Administrative procedures have also grown more sophisticated. When an application for integrated care is submitted, a beneficiary's needs will be identified in detail through a comprehensive assessment of 58 items.

After a support plan from a related department is finalized, monitoring every three months will allow flexible modification of the plan reflecting changes in the recipient's condition.

The basis for nationwide integrated care has also reached its final stage. Most of the country's 229 cities, counties and districts have enacted related ordinances and deployed specialized organizations and personnel.

A network linking hospitals and local communities has also been reinforced. A forthcoming system with 1,162 cooperating hospitals nationwide will identify patients scheduled for discharge who require care for referral to local governments.

Based on a survey, a five-year basic support plan will come in the second half of the year and specific measures for implementation will be finalized.

xuaiy@korea.kr