Rapid Growth of Telemedicine Amid COVID-19... Telemedicine at a Crossroads, Seeking Change

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] ‘Non-face-to-face medical care’ platforms, which rapidly grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, are now at a crossroads. Despite a temporary surge in users due to the spread of the Omicron variant, related companies are seeking to leap forward as digital healthcare platforms and strengthen non-face-to-face medical services for stable growth.

Expansion of Digital Healthcare and AI

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 17th, since non-face-to-face medical care was temporarily permitted in February 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, a cumulative total of 4.43 million people have used non-face-to-face medical services through March this year. Adding 5.28 million non-face-to-face medical consultations during COVID-19 home treatment, a total of 9.71 million non-face-to-face medical consultations have been conducted. However, as the Omicron wave has begun to decline, such rapid growth is expected to be difficult for the time being.

Non-face-to-face medical platforms are also seeking change. DoctorNow, which has nearly 6 million cumulative users, recently acquired the healthcare startup ‘Boosters Company’ and succeeded in raising 40 billion KRW in Series B investment. Boosters Company attracted attention by launching an application that offers personalized exercise content and supports consultation and management through medical professionals.

Along with this, DoctorNow is unusually recruiting experienced professionals with double-digit years of experience for a startup, preparing to leap beyond non-face-to-face medical care into a comprehensive digital healthcare platform. A DoctorNow representative explained, "Based on the core medical areas of non-face-to-face medical care and prescription, we plan to focus on diversifying services covering the entire healthcare spectrum from disease prevention to health management."

Soldoc, which provides non-face-to-face medical services based on KakaoTalk, is preparing to advance into an AI-based healthcare platform. At the end of last month, Soldoc was selected as a support target company for the Startup Leap Package project led by the Pohang University of Science and Technology Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation and is conducting a national research project on ‘R&D related to AI analysis of healthcare data.’ In March, Soldoc signed a technology transfer contract with Yonsei University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation to acquire AI-based data collection and analysis technology and plans to challenge demonstration projects linked with local governments in the future. A Soldoc representative said, "Our goal is to become a digital healthcare platform that combines individual users’ lifelog and prescription data."

Service Advancement... Formal Adoption Is Key

Strengthening of non-face-to-face medical services is also ongoing. Olacare, which surpassed 1 million cumulative app downloads within seven months of service launch as of the end of last month, opened ‘KakaoTalk Direct Consultation,’ a non-face-to-face medical and medicine delivery service accessible through KakaoTalk channels without separate app installation. This is to enhance user accessibility. Additionally, Olacare signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Songaria IT, which operates health management service apps for chronic disease patients such as diabetes and hypertension, and is accelerating specialization in chronic disease services by undertaking the national project ‘Specialized Non-face-to-face Medical Platform for Chronic Disease for Digital Innovation’ led by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

NaManuiDoctor has taken steps to increase trust in non-face-to-face medical services. It introduced a ‘patient choice guarantee’ service that allows patients to make advance reservations at their preferred time and select doctors, and strengthened pre-screening functions by doctors and pharmacists to prevent misuse and abuse of medicines. Instead of immediately prescribing and dispensing the drugs patients want, the process undergoes a two-step verification by medical staff. A NaManuiDoctor representative said, "We recognize that there are concerns among patients and medical staff regarding non-face-to-face medical services," adding, "We are striving to build trust through transparent information disclosure and thorough verification processes."

The biggest variable in the non-face-to-face medical care industry’s progress is, above all, the legalization of non-face-to-face medical care. While government-level discussions are underway, legalization must precede as service expansion is based on non-face-to-face medical care. An industry insider pointed out, "Many users have already experienced non-face-to-face medical care, but it must operate within the framework of the law," and added, "We need to continue communicating with the government and the medical community within the scope of protecting the existing medical system to reach a reasonable conclusion."

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