Table 5.

Matters subjected to Hospital Ethics Committees

1. Matters subjected to HECs (multiple answers allowed)	n = 44
Case consultation	38
High-risk medical practice	24
Healthcare not covered by health insurance	12
Usage of unapproved drugs and devices	12
Highly difficult novel medical technology	9
Off-label use of drugs and devices	15
Organ transplantation	19
Assisted reproductive technology	18
Development of policy for healthcare ethics	33
Development of staff code of ethics	12
Unprofessional staff	2
Education on healthcare ethics	20
Others	2
2. Entity implementing healthcare consultation	n = 44
Not implemented	5
HEC	15
Subcommittee of HEC	16
Separate organization from HEC	8
Patient safety department	5
Ethics support department	3
3. Ethics guidelines developed since 2018 (free-text data)	n = 14
Advance care planning	2
End-of-life care	4
Do-not-resuscitation orders	1
Refusal of blood transfusion for religious reasons	1
Informed Consent	2
Forgoing of dialysis	1
Others	6
4. Ethics guidelines developed in association with COVID-19 pandemic (multiple answers allowed)	n = 41
Allocation of medical resources such as ICU, mechanical ventilators, and ECMO	7
Advance care planning	3
Code of ethics	1
Forgoing of life sustaining treatment	1
Others	1
None	33