Ubicare Gaining Attention Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Will Non-Face-to-Face Medical Care Be Allowed?

Expectations to Lead the Telemedicine Market Based on High Market Share in EMR Market

As confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) surge, social demand for non-face-to-face medical consultations is growing. President Moon Jae-in stated in his third anniversary speech on the 10th, "We will focus on fostering non-face-to-face industries such as healthcare, education, and distribution." Although the Korean Medical Association and the Korean Pharmaceutical Association oppose it, public opinion largely favors the introduction of non-face-to-face medical consultations. While it may not be easy to fully implement non-face-to-face medical consultations, the possibility of regulatory relaxation has increased. The industry is expected to grow. Asia Economy takes a look at the current status of companies promoting businesses related to non-face-to-face medical consultations.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyung-su] As COVID-19 cases increase worldwide, interest in non-face-to-face medical consultations is rising. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, major countries have been improving related systems and expanding infrastructure. In South Korea, discussions on easing regulations for non-face-to-face medical consultations are underway in earnest.

Hong Ga-hye, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "As COVID-19 cases surged, the government temporarily allowed non-face-to-face medical consultations," and added, "The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced last month that it is working on amending the Medical Service Act to permit remote medical care between doctors and patients." She continued, "South Korea has high medical accessibility, but since social consensus among medical professionals and the government has not been reached, easing regulations related to non-face-to-face medical consultations is difficult," and predicted, "Due to the COVID-19 situation, the possibility of regulatory relaxation has increased, and growth of industries based on existing online platforms is expected."

One of the companies likely to benefit from the growth of the non-face-to-face medical consultation industry is Ubicare. Ubicare has developed an integrated management solution that maximizes efficiency in related tasks such as reception, consultation, prescription dispensing, insurance claims, and management for medical environments including hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. It has built the largest medical network in South Korea and provides medical information platforms and personal health information management platform services. It holds a 45% market share in the domestic electronic medical record (EMR) market for nursing institutions. EMR is a system that inputs, organizes, and stores patient reception and consultation details, tests, and surgical records electronically. The revenue composition by business is 47% from EMR solutions, 42% from distribution solutions, 8.3% from pharmaceutical and data analysis solutions, and 3.2% from health management solutions.

Since 2016, Ubicare has expanded its corporate scale through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of similar companies. It acquired Vibros, which operates the hospital and clinic reservation mobile service 'Ddokdak,' in 2016, and Brain Healthcare, an EMR company for nursing and oriental medicine hospitals, in 2018.

The solutions provided by Ubicare include 'Uisarang Pre-Check,' 'Uisarang e-Sign,' and 'Uisarang Lab.' Uisarang Pre-Check helps ensure appropriate medical treatment by providing real-time notifications of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA) nursing care cost standards, various latest notices, and review guidelines on the consultation room billing screen.

Ubicare charges monthly subscription fees for its EMR from hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies. Stable monthly revenue is generated. Son Se-hoon, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, explained, "Demand for value-added services linked to EMR is increasing, raising the average unit price," and added, "As long as the number of clinics and pharmacies does not decrease, sales will steadily increase."

Sales from the EMR solution business have been continuously growing. Sales were 16.9 billion KRW in 2014, 18.6 billion KRW in 2016, 22.6 billion KRW in 2018, and 23.8 billion KRW in 2019.

Ubicare's subsidiary Vibros provides a healthcare one-stop service through the mobile app 'Ddokdak,' enabling users to find hospitals and pharmacies, make reservations and check-in, receive waiting status notifications, undergo consultations, make payments, and file insurance claims. The mobile hospital reception service allows patients to register for consultations and check their order via the app without visiting the hospital in person. Since patients do not have to wait in the hospital waiting room until their turn, the risk of infection within the hospital is reduced. As COVID-19 cases increase, the number of vaccinations through Ddokdak's mobile consultation reservation and reception services is also rising.

Lee Sang-heon, a researcher at Hi Investment & Securities, analyzed, "To provide hospital reception services, the EMR system and the app must be linked," and said, "Since Ubicare has a high market share in the EMR market, it is not only a barrier to entry but also facilitates the expansion of hospital reception services."

Ubicare is building a one-stop medical service that enables the entire process from hospital payment to mobile prescription services and pharmacy payment services through a single app. Additionally, it plans to develop a mobile platform that provides personalized health management based on collected and processed medical data. It is also constructing a personal-led health management system that allows individuals to manage their health records themselves using blockchain technology. A cloud EMR providing personalized precision medical services is also in preparation.

Ubicare also has strong financial stability. According to consolidated financial statements, its debt ratio was only 16.3% at the end of the first quarter this year. At the beginning of this year, the largest shareholder changed to Green Cross Healthcare. Green Cross Healthcare acquired 27,482,155 shares of Ubicare (a 52.65% stake) from the previous largest shareholders, Unimus Holdings LLC and Kakao Investment, for 208.9 billion KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.