Remote Medical Platforms Expanding Their 'Size' to Support Home Treatment

Rapid Response to Secure Users of Non-Face-to-Face Medical Services Amid Surge in COVID-19 Cases
Free Support for Consultation Fees and Medicine Delivery Services by Dr. Now and Others
Reliable Assistance for Home Treatment Patients Through Remote Medical Care
Video Content Provided on Home Monitoring Precautions
Positive User Feedback... Calls for Official Adoption

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] As the Omicron variant spreads rapidly and the number of COVID-19 patients receiving home treatment surges, the telemedicine platform industry has stepped up to offer support such as free consultation fees and medication delivery. This is interpreted as a strategy to support home-treated patients by leveraging the convenience of non-face-to-face medical care while also securing new users.

According to industry sources on the 16th, major domestic telemedicine platforms have recently begun providing services for COVID-19 patients under home treatment. After the quarantine authorities decided to focus home treatment management capabilities on high-risk groups aged 60 and over, and to allow mild or asymptomatic general management groups to receive non-face-to-face consultations twice a day for free, platforms quickly responded.

From Remote Consultation to Medication Delivery

‘Dr. Now,’ a representative telemedicine platform that has achieved a cumulative user count of 1.4 million, started offering the entire process free of charge from the 14th of this month for general management group home-treated patients, including COVID-19 symptom-related consultation fees, medication costs, and medication delivery. Home-treated patients can receive remote consultations through about 400 affiliated medical institutions registered on the Dr. Now app and can also use prescription medication delivery services to receive medicine at home. Regardless of residence, users select an affiliated hospital on the app, enter their symptoms, and the hospital contacts the patient directly. After the consultation, prescribed medication is delivered either the same day or via courier. Jang Ji-ho, CEO of Dr. Now, said, "We want to mobilize all of Dr. Now’s remote consultation system and safe delivery infrastructure to ensure patients receive treatment and recover as quickly as possible."

‘Soldoc,’ a KakaoTalk-based telemedicine platform, also supports remote consultations for home-treated patients. Soldoc’s main consultation areas are chronic conditions such as infant skin diseases and hair loss, but it has expanded its service scope to respond to the Omicron variant. Through collaboration with affiliated hospitals, it provides consultations, prescriptions, and medication delivery services for symptoms commonly experienced by confirmed patients, such as high fever, cough, and sore throat. In particular, medication prescribed to home-treated patients is delivered with no shipping fee and prioritized delivery. Soldoc allows consultations via KakaoTalk chat and video call functions without a separate app. Additionally, it offers video content where medical staff explain the correct use of self-diagnosis kits, interpretation of results, and precautions during home monitoring.

Furthermore, ‘My Doctor’ provides free consultation fees, dispensing fees, and medication delivery fees to home-treated patients and operates an emergency night customer center until 10 p.m. to respond to any urgent situations. ‘Ollacare’ also prioritizes remote consultations for home-treated patients and supports medication delivery fees, having reinforced delivery personnel and improved its telemedicine system.

"Official Introduction of Telemedicine Needed"

Home-treated patients have responded positively to the swift actions of telemedicine platforms. On internet communities where COVID-19 confirmed patients share information, posts about the convenience of non-face-to-face consultation services and how to use the apps are steadily increasing.

There are also calls for quarantine authorities to officially adopt telemedicine platforms in the home treatment process. These platforms already have online systems for non-face-to-face consultations and regular monitoring, as well as medication delivery systems, and each platform has partnerships with hundreds of hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies, enabling them to simultaneously involve these medical institutions in remote consultation and monitoring systems. A Soldoc representative said, "Currently, each service is individually providing COVID-related services on a public interest basis. If there is an official request from the quarantine authorities, many platforms are expected to participate in the non-face-to-face consultation and monitoring process for home-treated patients."

Meanwhile, since non-face-to-face consultations were allowed on a limited basis in February 2020 when COVID-19 began spreading in earnest, the domestic telemedicine market has grown rapidly. More than 20 related companies have been established so far, and the cumulative number of non-face-to-face consultations reached 3,523,451 as of last month.

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