Oriental Clinic Caught Ordering Exercise Therapists and Nursing Assistants to Perform 'Hanbang Chuna Therapy'

NHIS, First Case of Fraudulent Receipt Since Benefit Application
Unqualified Individuals May Cause Physical Harm to Patients During Implementation

▲National Health Insurance Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] A Korean medicine clinic was caught illegally claiming medical care benefits by allowing unqualified personnel to perform Chuna manual therapy, which must be conducted directly by a licensed Korean medicine doctor. This is the first case of fraudulent receipt of medical care benefits detected since Chuna manual therapy was covered by insurance.

The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) announced on the 13th that it had uncovered Korean medicine clinics that employed unqualified personnel such as exercise therapists to perform Chuna manual therapy in place of Korean medicine doctors, in cooperation with the police.

Chuna manual therapy is a manual therapy where a Korean medicine doctor directly applies stimulation to the patient's body using hands or auxiliary tools such as a Chuna table. It is one of the Korean physical therapies especially preferred by the elderly, and was originally a non-insured service fully paid by patients, but has been covered by health insurance since April 8, 2019.

The NHIS only recognizes medical care benefits for Chuna manual therapy performed at medical institutions (excluding long-term care hospitals) where a Korean medicine doctor who has completed the pre-education for Chuna therapy organized by the Korean Medicine Doctors Association and reported to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service has opened a Korean medicine treatment department. The Korean Medicine Doctors Association advises that "if Chuna manual therapy is performed by unqualified personnel without Korean medical expertise, there is a risk of physical harm to patients."

However, Seoul A Korean medicine clinic, which was caught this time, employed exercise therapists from May 2019 to February 2021 and had them perform Chuna manual therapy approximately 4,500 times on 600 patients, receiving about 140 million KRW in medical care benefits from the NHIS. Exercise therapists mainly work at fitness centers (gyms), explaining how to use equipment and joint exercise methods, and the exercise therapist certificate is not a nationally certified qualification.

B Korean medicine clinic employed nursing assistants from May 2019 to January 2021 and had them perform Chuna manual therapy about 220 times on 50 patients, claiming and receiving approximately 7 million KRW in medical care benefits from the NHIS.

The NHIS will immediately recover the improperly paid medical care benefits and conduct additional investigations into similar unqualified Chuna manual therapy practices.

Lee Sang-il, Executive Director of Benefits at NHIS, stated, "We plan to continuously strengthen benefit investigations related to Chuna manual therapy," adding, "If unqualified personnel are found during the investigation, we will cooperate with investigative agencies to ensure that patients can use medical institutions with confidence."

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