'Non-face-to-face Medical Care' Platform Industry Appeals to President: "Pilot Project Plan is Virtually a Death Sentence"

Remote Medical Industry Council Demands Full Review
"Should Receive In-Person Consultation First... Is This Common Sense?"

The platform industry has demanded a complete review of the pilot project for non-face-to-face medical consultations announced through the party-government consultation between the People Power Party and the government, and delivered an appeal letter to President Yoon Suk-yeol.

The Remote Medical Industry Council (Wonsanhyeop) publicly released the 'Appeal Letter to the President' in front of the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 24th and handed it over to the Presidential Office's Civil Society Chief of Staff. Wonsanhyeop appealed, "The pilot project for non-face-to-face medical consultations, which is set to begin as early as next week, will be applied only to some citizens, not all citizens as has been done so far," adding, "This pilot project is essentially a death sentence."

The Telemedicine Industry Council publicly released an "Appeal to the President" on the 24th in front of the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, urging a full reconsideration of the pilot project plan for non-face-to-face medical treatment.
[Photo by Telemedicine Industry Council]

Wonsanhyeop evaluated non-face-to-face medical consultations as a successful medical policy with no medical accidents despite being used 36.61 million times by more than 13.97 million people over three years since the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the role of platform companies. Wonsanhyeop stated, "Despite numerous difficulties, we have silently endured with the single-minded determination to protect public health and establish the non-face-to-face medical consultation system," and added, "We have operated our companies maintaining a 'zero commission fee' so that more hospitals and pharmacies can participate and all citizens can use non-face-to-face medical consultations."

They continued, "However, since being included in the national agenda, the related bills on non-face-to-face medical consultations have not passed due to becoming a 'political dispute' in the National Assembly, eventually leading to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's announcement of the pilot project," and criticized, "It has become clear that the Ministry of Health and Welfare's pilot project is essentially an 'anti-non-face-to-face medical consultation' policy that prohibits non-face-to-face medical consultations."

Wonsanhyeop referred to President Yoon's statement during his candidacy when he met startup representatives and said, "Non-face-to-face medical consultation is an unavoidable reality," urging a full review of the pilot project. They pointed out, "Citizens who need non-face-to-face medical consultations are not far away. They are ordinary office workers, dual-income couples, and even chronic patients who are near us or could be ourselves," and questioned, "In an environment where face-to-face consultations are difficult, is it reasonable for the Ministry of Health and Welfare's guideline to tell citizens who have no choice but to choose non-face-to-face consultations to go back to face-to-face consultations?"

Wonsanhyeop also stated, "Non-face-to-face medical consultations combine Korea's core medical technology and IT technology, allowing us to gain a competitive edge in the global market, and Korean citizens will benefit from world-class healthcare policies," and emphasized again, "We can confidently say that the non-face-to-face medical consultation policy is the first step toward all of this."

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