Two Months into the Telemedicine Pilot Project, Doctors and Patients Are Confused... Industry Faces Collapse

Medical Care Available Mainly for Returning Patients
Difficulty Verifying Documents Leads to Refusal of Treatment
7 Telemedicine Platform Companies Withdraw
"Concerns Over the Disappearance of the Telemedicine Industry"

More than two months have passed since the pilot project for non-face-to-face medical consultations was implemented, but confusion between doctors and patients is only increasing. Medical staff are refusing consultations due to complicated procedures and unclear responsibility, and returning patients who are the target of the pilot project are unable to enjoy the benefits of non-face-to-face consultations.

As the scope of eligible patients for non-face-to-face consultations has been drastically reduced to focus on returning patients, and even those eligible are not receiving proper consultations, the platform industry, which has seen a sharp decline in users and deteriorating profitability, is shutting down its business. With less than a month remaining until the end of the pilot project's grace period, concerns are emerging that if the government does not prepare improvements, the non-face-to-face medical consultation industry, a type of digital healthcare, could disappear domestically.

Non-face-to-face Medical Treatment
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Remote Medical Industry Council on the 4th, the cancellation rate of non-face-to-face consultations by medical staff was 40% last month, the second month after the pilot project began. This is more than double compared to before the pilot project (17%). With the pilot project, the target for non-face-to-face consultations was narrowed to returning patients who must have visited the same hospital within 30 days for the same disease code.

An otolaryngologist in Gyeonggi-do said, "Recently, if the patient has never visited their hospital or clinic before, the consultation must be refused, and the paperwork verification process for returning patients' face-to-face consultation records is cumbersome." Especially for diseases like the common cold, which are divided into several types, even if a patient applies as a returning patient, if the first consultation and disease code differ, they are not eligible for non-face-to-face consultation, so many hospitals and clinics refuse consultations from the start.

Only confirmed cases of first- or second-degree infectious diseases such as COVID-19, elderly, disabled, and residents of islands or remote areas are exceptionally allowed first consultations. Even they face inconveniences. A representative from the Remote Medical Industry Council said, "'Pediatric disabled' patients should be able to receive first consultations, but from the medical staff's perspective, it is ambiguous and they do not want to bear the risk, so there have been complaints from guardians about 100% consultation refusals."

Non-face-to-face consultations once played the role of a 'pediatric crisis solver,' with pediatric consultations accounting for up to 20%, but after the transition to the pilot project, limiting it to returning patients, the proportion is known to be less than 5%. A pediatrician who recently left a non-face-to-face consultation platform said, "For children, only first consultations are allowed, so only medical consultations during holidays or nighttime are possible, but who would wait at a hospital during those times just for that?"

Even the strength of non-face-to-face medical care, drug delivery, has been banned, leading patients to start visiting hospitals and clinics directly. Goodoc's average daily number of non-face-to-face consultations last month decreased by 95% compared to May, and the industry leader Doctor Now saw a 27% decrease during the same period. Seven platforms in the industry, including Seolz, Padak, Chekit, Baropil, Mo, Lulumedic, and Medup, have announced the termination of their services during the pilot project period. An industry insider said, "Once the grace period of the non-face-to-face consultation pilot project ends, more companies will leave the industry."

While the National Assembly is actively working on institutionalizing non-face-to-face consultations, there is a possibility that regulations will be strengthened rather than confusion resolved. At the first subcommittee meeting of the Health and Welfare Committee held on June 29, comments such as "Allowing non-face-to-face consultations for returning patients without disease restrictions is excessive" (Seo Young-seok, Democratic Party) and "In the case of colds, if symptoms persist for more than a week, it is necessary to check for other complications, so it is questionable to consider one disease for up to a month" (Kang Eun-mi, Justice Party) were made.

The industry points out that positive regulation, which lists items allowed for non-face-to-face consultations one by one, is excessive. They say that to maintain non-face-to-face consultations even after COVID-19, the definition of returning patients and the scope of first-time patients eligible must be expanded.

There are also concerns that the domestic non-face-to-face consultation market will fall further behind overseas markets such as the United States, Europe, China, and Japan. According to the market research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global non-face-to-face consultation market is expected to grow from $25.4 billion (about 33 trillion KRW) in 2019 to $55.6 billion (about 72 trillion KRW) in 2025, more than doubling. Among them, North America is growing rapidly from $15.4 billion (about 20 trillion KRW) to $30.6 billion (about 40 trillion KRW). On the 1st, Amazon in the U.S. expanded the service of its non-face-to-face consultation platform, 'Amazon Clinic,' from 34 states to all 50 states and Washington D.C.

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