The Longitudinal Trend of Cardiac Surgery in Korea from 2003 to 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate longitudinal changes of the utilization of operational and surgical medical care inside and outside a metropolitan area over 10 years, analyzing the residential areas of patients and the locations of medical facilities for major cardiovascular surgery.

Data analysis was conducted by classifying the addresses of patients and the locations of medical care facilities of metropolitan cities and provinces, using data from the National Health Insurance Corporation from January 2003 to December 2013.

There is serious concentration of major heart surgery to medical facilities in Seoul; this problem has not improved over time. There were differences in percentages of surgical procedures performed in the metropolitan areas according to major diseases. In the case of Busan and Daegu provinces, at least 50% of the patients underwent surgery in medical facilities in the city, but there are other regions where the percentage is less than 50%. In the case of provinces, the percentage of surgical procedures performed in medical facilities in Seoul or nearby metropolitan cities is very high.

Policies to strengthen the regional capabilities of heart surgery and to secure human resources are required to mitigate the concentration of patients in the capital area. Many regional multi-centers must be designated to minimize unnecessary competition among regional university hospitals and activate a win-win partnership model for medical services.