South Korea proposes healthcare shift to prevention-based community care

South Korea’s Medical Innovation Committee has issued a set of recommendations to reform the national healthcare system in response to a super-aging society. The committee proposes shifting from a treatment-centered model to a community-based system that prioritizes disease prevention, health management, and integrated medical and care services.

Key proposals include restructuring local public health functions. Under the plan, municipal and district health centers would focus on strategic planning, public health crisis response, and coordination, while health support centers and local clinics would provide direct services such as disease prevention and health promotion. The committee also emphasized the need to ensure basic primary healthcare access in medically underserved areas through strengthened public-private cooperation and mobile medical services.

To support this transition, the committee recommended establishing an AI-based community health management platform to standardize and link information across health, medical, and care sectors. Additionally, the plan calls for a revised financial and compensation system that allocates resources based on community health needs rather than individual project performance, alongside efforts to stabilize and train the local healthcare workforce.