Ministry of Health and Welfare to Hold Public Hearing for Improving Telemedicine System

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is set to improve the system to promote non-face-to-face medical consultations. Non-face-to-face medical consultation is a healthcare service where patients receive video diagnosis and prescriptions from doctors using information and communication technologies such as computers or video communication at home without visiting medical institutions. The Ministry plans to enhance the system's effectiveness by ensuring safety and efficiency.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare will hold a public hearing on the 14th to improve the non-face-to-face medical consultation system. Park Min-su, the second vice minister of the Ministry, stated, "We will improve the pilot project model for non-face-to-face medical consultations to meet the public's demand and convenience," adding, "We plan to focus primarily on discussing the scope of initial consultations allowed and the criteria for follow-up visits." The Ministry is supplementing guidelines for non-face-to-face consultations through simulations. It is also gathering opinions from stakeholders in the industry and medical fields through the 'Non-face-to-face Medical Consultation Pilot Project Advisory Group.'

According to the pilot project guidelines implemented from the 1st, follow-up patients eligible for non-face-to-face consultations are those with chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes who have had at least one face-to-face consultation for the relevant disease at the medical institution within the past year. For diseases other than chronic illnesses, patients must have had a face-to-face consultation for the relevant disease at the medical institution within the past 30 days. The Ministry is preparing measures to strengthen the follow-up criteria for chronic diseases while relaxing them for other diseases.

For initial consultations, the permitted areas will be expanded. Currently, patients eligible for initial consultations include residents of islands and remote areas, long-term care grade holders aged 65 or older, persons with disabilities, confirmed infectious disease patients, and pediatric and adolescent patients under 18 years old (during holidays and nighttime). Pediatric patients can only receive consultations but not prescriptions. A Ministry official explained, "Additionally, the Ministry has heard many complaints from patients in areas lacking medical institutions outside of islands and remote areas," and added, "We are also discussing allowing prescriptions for pediatric patients."

Conflicts of Interest, What Are the Issues?

A member of the Non-face-to-face Medical Consultation Pilot Project Advisory Group said, "The medical and industrial sectors agree on the necessity of non-face-to-face consultations," adding, "While the medical community prefers a gradual and cautious approach, platform companies want to accelerate progress, but it is positive that discussions are moving toward a direction where guidelines can be negotiated."

The Korean Medical Association's demands are clear. They prioritize follow-up consultations and insist that medical institutions should be centered on clinics. They also argue for legal safeguards to reduce medical accidents. Platform companies want initial consultations to be opened and legislative uncertainties resolved. The market atmosphere suggests these demands are somewhat acceptable.

The problem lies with the Korean Pharmaceutical Association. The association is negative about the non-face-to-face medical consultation project, fearing that prescription and delivery of pharmaceuticals within platforms could lead to the collapse of local pharmacies. They also pointed out that prescription and delivery of pharmaceuticals could encourage drug misuse. There is no amendment to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act proposed in the National Assembly. The controversial issues of drug prescription and delivery fall under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, not the Medical Service Act. Currently, all proposed bills relate only to the Medical Service Act. In fact, it is difficult to find alternatives with the current bills.

"Resolve Legislative Uncertainty," a Cry for Help

The market warns that innovation services could collapse into a 'second Tada incident' due to government regulations and opposition from existing industries. Non-face-to-face medical consultations, temporarily permitted since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, have proven effective. According to the August issue of the monthly journal ‘Health and Welfare Forum’ published by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on the 27th, reviewing the status of non-face-to-face consultations claimed under health insurance during the temporary period (from February 24, 2020, to January 31, 2023), there were a total of 7.36 million claims and 3.29 million users. Although the number of claims was not high, accounting for 0.176% of total outpatient claims in 2021, the cumulative share of consultations by clinic-level medical institutions was 86.2%, indicating no concentration in higher-level hospitals. Researcher Kim Dae-jung said, "This partially alleviates concerns raised by the medical community about concentration."

Nevertheless, discussions on the amendment to the Medical Service Act, which includes the institutionalization of non-face-to-face consultations, have been delayed due to opposition from some lawmakers. Platform companies related to non-face-to-face consultations are in a precarious situation. More than 30 platform companies have been collapsing one after another. Seven platform companies, including Seolz, Padak, and Chekit, have ceased their non-face-to-face consultation businesses, and the second-largest company, Namanui Doctor, has also announced business suspension. According to the Remote Medical Industry Council, the number of non-face-to-face consultation requests dropped significantly from 5,000 in May to 3,500 last month. The cancellation rate of consultations has risen to 60%.

Platform companies appeal that they can survive only if legislative uncertainty is eliminated. Most non-face-to-face consultation platform companies are startups. Kim Sung-hyun, CEO of BlueAnt (Olacare), said, "Legislative uncertainty is the biggest obstacle to building an industrial ecosystem," adding, "As uncertainty grows, investors are reluctant to invest." He continued, "Leading companies that have received investments face increased risks for follow-up investments, leading them to reduce personnel and business scale," and "Companies that have not received new investments cannot cover monthly operating costs of tens of millions of won and are closing down."

Along with this, CEO Kim said, "I hope that the results checked in the pilot project will be reflected in legislation, not through rigid legislation but through flexible legislation," adding, "Medical consultations should go beyond simply connecting patients and medical staff to encompass remote monitoring and comprehensive preventive care."

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