A proposal for the disruptive innovation of healthcare delivery system in Korea

Article information

J Korean Med Assoc. 2012;55(8):791-797

Publication date (electronic) : 2012 August 16

doi : https://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2012.55.8.791

Kwang-Jum Kim, PhD

Graduate School of Healthcare Management and Policy, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

Corresponding author: Kwang-Jum Kim, kjkim@catholic.ac.kr

Received 2012 April 13; Accepted 2012 June 10.

Abstract

In March 2011, after a series of discussions, the Korean government released a basic plan for functional reestablishment of medical institutions. However, the policy has ended up reestablishing the functions and roles of medical institutions without considering the advance of medical technologies and the emergence of new forms of providers. The advances of the medical knowledge and technologies enable the provision of lower-cost, higher-quality, more accessible healthcare services. Therefore, the reestablishment of medical institutions' functions needs to be done on the basis of medical technology advancement. In this article, policy suggestions and managerial implications for healthcare service providers are discussed based on disruptive innovation. It is expected to contribute to the discussions on the healthcare delivery system of Korea.

Keywords: Healthcare delivery system; Medical technology; Disruptive innovation

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This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Figure 1

Technological progress and the basis of competition (Modified from Christensen CM, et al. The innovator's pre-scription: a disruptive solution for health care. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2009) [7].