The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday accredited three hospitals in northern Taiwan as medical centers in a quadrennial review, which means an increase in medical capacity and costs for patients in these hospitals.
Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) made the announcement at a news conference about new medical centers held at the ministry in Taipei.
The medical center is the highest level of certification a healthcare facility can be accredited with in the nation.
Photo: CNA
The Taipei branch of the Tzu Chi General Hospital and the ministry’s Shuang Ho Hospital in New Taipei City are new medical centers serving Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung, he said.
National Taiwan University Hospital’s Hsinchu branch was upgraded to a medical center to serve the northern region of Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli counties, he said.
The ministry prioritizes medical care quality of hospitals, as it once every four years conducts the certification process, Hsueh said, adding that the aim is to have an authorized medical center for every 2 million residents.
This means the Taipei metropolitan area should have 10 medical centers, up from the previous eight, and the northern region should have two medical centers, up from one, he said.
The evaluation should have been completed last year, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hsueh said.
Starting on March 1, the three hospitals’ general appointment fee is to increase from NT$240 to NT$420, while the emergency room visit fee would increase from NT$400 to NT$750, he said.
A hospital must routinely provide care for at least 10,000 regular patients and 5,000 emergency room patients per day and attain the top rating in evaluations, according to the criteria for medical center accreditation.
Medical center certification standards have not changed for about two decades and are due for an overhaul, Hsueh said, adding that too many hospitals qualify under the existing metrics.
It is necessary to raise the bar for Taiwan’s quality requirements and change the targets, he said.
Citing an example, he said instead of the number of foreign patients it treats, the criteria regarding a hospital’s performance in international services should be based on its involvement with the nation’s medical foreign aid program.
Taiwan College of Healthcare Executive head Hung Tzu-jen (洪子仁) said the ministry’s certification process lacks transparency, adding that his organization was surprised by the result.
Taiwan has 23.5 million people but 19 medical centers, which means the number of medical centers well exceeds the ministry’s target, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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