MOHW Adds Critical Care Medicine, Infectious Diseases as Official Specialties; Payment Adjustments Expected
Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has officially added critical care medicine and infectious diseases as official specialties, increasing the total to 25. This move is expected to standardize training and certification for these fields, boost talent cultivation, and potentially lead to adjustments in health insurance payments.
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- 📰 Published: April 25, 2026 at 18:14
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Central News Agency
(Central News Agency reporter Tseng Yi-ning, Taipei, 25th) Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang stated today that critical care medicine and infectious diseases have been officially added as official specialties, increasing the total number of official specialties to 25. In the future, training and certification for personnel in these two fields will be standardized, and investment in talent cultivation will be injected, with health insurance payments also expected to be adjusted.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced a draft amendment to the "Specialty Physician Subspecialty and Certification Regulations" in November last year, adding infectious diseases and critical care medicine as physician subspecialties, and revising the name of otolaryngology to otolaryngology-head and neck surgery.
Shih Chung-liang attended the opening ceremony of the "2026 Taiwan Surgical Association Annual Meeting and International Academic Conference on Surgical Joint" today and stated in a joint media interview afterward that infectious disease and critical care medicine specialties were officially added as official specialties yesterday, becoming the 24th and 25th official specialties.
Regarding infectious diseases, Shih Chung-liang explained that during the COVID-19 (2019 coronavirus disease) pandemic, all sectors recognized the critical role played by infectious disease physicians, including hospital infection control, assisting with epidemiological investigations, and supporting epidemiological investigators. He believes that professional recognition is needed to respond to emerging infectious disease threats, hence the inclusion of infectious diseases as an official specialty.
Critical care specialties have a wide scope, Shih Chung-liang said, ranging from internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics to other subspecialties, all of which have critical care needs, such as immediate thrombus removal after thrombosis or stroke, or post-transplant care, organ rejection, and responses to other organ impacts. Critical care is very crucial.
Shih Chung-liang said that critical care specialties face great pressure and challenges, and have encountered bottlenecks in recent years. He hopes that by being listed as an official specialty, human resources can be clearly managed, and relevant health insurance payments can be adjusted, otherwise, it might be too late when lives truly need to be saved. After official recognition, one is to recognize it as an important part of the medical system, and the other is that training to certification will be standardized, and investment in talent cultivation will be injected in the future, and health insurance payments may also differ.
President Lai Ching-te said today that the total national health insurance budget will exceed NT$1 trillion this year, hoping that health insurance funds can be adjusted to promote "different work, different pay." In response, Shih Chung-liang explained that with the injection of public budgets, the health insurance point value has risen to an average of 0.95 or even 0.97 NT dollars per point, providing more room to adjust various payment standards.
Shih Chung-liang pointed out that adjustments have been continuously made since last year and this year, prioritizing the increase of payment points for specialties with tight human resources. Considerations include the effort required for surgery, the cost of talent cultivation, and essential but small market specialties like pediatric surgery, or difficult-to-retain specialties, where unit prices will be increased. Surgical recruitment rates have been over 90% in recent years, showing stable growth, while pediatrics is still struggling and declining, so efforts will start with pediatrics. (Editor: Chen Jen-hua) 1150425
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(Central News Agency reporter Tseng Yi-ning, Taipei, 25th) Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang stated today that critical care medicine and infectious diseases have been officially added as official specialties, increasing the total number of official specialties to 25. In the future, training and certification for personnel in these two fields will be standardized, and investment in talent cultivation will be injected, with health insurance payments also expected to be adjusted.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced a draft amendment to the "Specialty Physician Subspecialty and Certification Regulations" in November last year, adding infectious diseases and critical care medicine as physician subspecialties, and revising the name of otolaryngology to otolaryngology-head and neck surgery.
Shih Chung-liang attended the opening ceremony of the "2026 Taiwan Surgical Association Annual Meeting and International Academic Conference on Surgical Joint" today and stated in a joint media interview afterward that infectious disease and critical care medicine specialties were officially added as official specialties yesterday, becoming the 24th and 25th official specialties.
Regarding infectious diseases, Shih Chung-liang explained that during the COVID-19 (2019 coronavirus disease) pandemic, all sectors recognized the critical role played by infectious disease physicians, including hospital infection control, assisting with epidemiological investigations, and supporting epidemiological investigators. He believes that professional recognition is needed to respond to emerging infectious disease threats, hence the inclusion of infectious diseases as an official specialty.
Critical care specialties have a wide scope, Shih Chung-liang said, ranging from internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics to other subspecialties, all of which have critical care needs, such as immediate thrombus removal after thrombosis or stroke, or post-transplant care, organ rejection, and responses to other organ impacts. Critical care is very crucial.
Shih Chung-liang said that critical care specialties face great pressure and challenges, and have encountered bottlenecks in recent years. He hopes that by being listed as an official specialty, human resources can be clearly managed, and relevant health insurance payments can be adjusted, otherwise, it might be too late when lives truly need to be saved. After official recognition, one is to recognize it as an important part of the medical system, and the other is that training to certification will be standardized, and investment in talent cultivation will be injected in the future, and health insurance payments may also differ.
President Lai Ching-te said today that the total national health insurance budget will exceed NT$1 trillion this year, hoping that health insurance funds can be adjusted to promote "different work, different pay." In response, Shih Chung-liang explained that with the injection of public budgets, the health insurance point value has risen to an average of 0.95 or even 0.97 NT dollars per point, providing more room to adjust various payment standards.
Shih Chung-liang pointed out that adjustments have been continuously made since last year and this year, prioritizing the increase of payment points for specialties with tight human resources. Considerations include the effort required for surgery, the cost of talent cultivation, and essential but small market specialties like pediatric surgery, or difficult-to-retain specialties, where unit prices will be increased. Surgical recruitment rates have been over 90% in recent years, showing stable growth, while pediatrics is still struggling and declining, so efforts will start with pediatrics. (Editor: Chen Jen-hua) 1150425
Choose to stand with facts; every sponsorship you provide is a force to protect press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency's "First-hand News" APP to stay updated with the latest news.
The text, images, and audio-visual content on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted and utilized without authorization.