[Best Anti-Corruption Policy]

Let’s join integrity initiative of medical institutions - going clean together!

- Let’s join integrity initiative of medical institutions – going ACRC introduces best anti-corruption initiatives of medical institutions, including Korea Veterans Health Service, National Cancer Center, and Chungbuk National University Hospital, etc. clean together! -

May 22, 2020

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

The Republic of Korea

The Korea Veterans Health Service, the National Cancer Center, and Chungbuk National University Hospital are taking the lead in establishing a culture of integrity in the medical sector by self-inspection of the medical fee claim process and expanding participation of internal and external stakeholders in integrity policies.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Pak Un Jong) has been identifying and spreading the best practices of various institutions in multiple fields so that public and private sectors can tap into them to establish and implement their own integrity policies.

The ACRC has selected cases of the Korea Veterans Health Services, the National Cancer Center, and Chungbuk National University Hospital as the best integrity policies in the medical field.

The Korea Veterans Health Services (KVHS) conducted a self-inspection and prepared a system to prevent unfair claims for medical costs of imaging diagnosis.

The National Cancer Center (NCC) has operated various employee-participating integrity systems, forming internal consensus on promoting integrity policies and raising interest in “integrity.”

Chungbuk National University Hospital (CNUH) has implemented a culture of integrity by providing training for “Going Clean Together” to suppliers of medicines and medical devices.

(Fraudulent Claim Prevention System) KVHS conducted self-inspection and established a preventive system to curb unfair claims for imaging diagnosis costs in advance.

KVHS Veterans Hospitals conduct medical tests using medical devices for imaging diagnosis, and after its own imaging specialists read the results of the tests, they put in a claim for the medical fee incurred upon imaging diagnosis, adding 10 percent of the fee to the total cost. In this process, excessive or erroneous claims can be made, so KVHS conducted a fact-finding survey to identify potential corruption risk factors including excessive or erroneous claims in Veterans Hospitals.

As a result of the fact-finding survey, KVHS found cases in which additional claims for medical fees were falsely made even when images were not read due to excessive workload or lack of knowledge of the criteria for claim, or were read but the specialists did not provide medical opinions, and cases where lump-sum claims were made without confirming individual images one by one to check if those images were read by specialists or not. In response, each Veterans Hospital shared these problems and discussed ways to improve the situation, while KVHS required them to conduct continuous self-inspection on the claims for imaging diagnosis fees.

Furthermore, KVHS improved the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system by developing a computer program that can automatically check unread images and creating a new format for diagnostic comments by specialists on progress records to prevent unfair or erroneous claims for unread images.

(Expansion of Employee-Participating Integrity Policy) National Cancer Center (NCC) operates various employee-participating anti-corruption systems to encourage voluntary participation of employees and thereby spread the culture of integrity.

In order to create an atmosphere of spreading a culture of integrity within the institution, the “Integrity Pledge Day” was designated and NCC members voluntarily participated in it, making it an opportunity to renew their mindset not to lose their initial determination for anti-corruption.

In addition, after setting up the week of integrity, NCC raised interest in “integrity” by running such events as “Integrity Scholarship Quiz,” “Integrity-Related Issue Sharing” and “Integrity Golden Bell” to help employees actively participate during the week of integrity.

In addition, customized integrity education was provided to medical staff and researchers on the basis of cases that may occur on the site.

Until now, it has been difficult for medical institutions to form a consensus on promoting integrity policies or increase participation rates due to the diverse work characteristics and personnel composition of internal members, including medical staff, researchers and office workers.

NCC was able to increase the participation rate of employees and increase interest in integrity by operating various systems in which employees directly participate.

(Integrity Education for Going Clean Together) Chungbuk National University Hospital (CNUH) conducted anti-corruption activities targeting suppliers of medicines and medical devices to enhance their understanding of the agency’s integrity policies and spread the culture of integrity.

In order to prevent possible corrupt acts in the process of contract for the delivery of medicines and medical materials, CNUH conducted training under the slogan “Going Clean Together” for not only the hospital’s staff but also the contractors.

While providing actual case-oriented education regarding illicit requests for money and entertainment from medical staff and hospital officials, CNUH provided a detailed guideline on reporting procedures and informed trainees of specific protection measures for reporters, asking for active reporting and cooperation.

As a result of the integrity education that CNUH provided by discovering nexus with the private sector based on its work characteristics where cooperation from outside stakeholders is essential, mutual communication channels were established and execution power was secured for vulnerable areas.

ACRC Director General of the Anti-Corruption Bureau Lim Yoon Ju said, “Even in medical institutions at the front line in the fight against COVID-19, “integrity” is also a value that cannot be given up. By establishing a corruption prevention system through the participation of internal and external stakeholders, medical institutions will be able to strengthen the drive for integrity initiatives and further spread them throughout society.”