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| Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong, right, speaks during a policy consultation meeting between the government and the ruling People Power Party at the National Assembly to discuss telemedicine services, Wednesday. At left is PPP chief policymaker Rep. Park Dae-chul. Yonhap |
Use of 1st time patients, drug delivery to be removed from pilot program
By Jun Ji-hye
Fewer people are likely to receive non-face-to-face medical services, or telemedicine, starting next month. The government made the decision to narrow the telemedicine services currently available, Wednesday, allowing mainly second-visit or regular patients to benefit from its trial program.
The Telemedical Industry Council under the Korea Startup Forum claimed the decision does not reflect the usage trend of telemedicine, citing its survey showing that 99 percent of patients using telemedicine services were first-time patients.
The trial program will not allow drug delivery, either, inviting criticism that the government removed one of the biggest benefits of telemedicine.
Telemedicine services, which are illegal under the current Medical Services Act, were allowed temporarily in Korea starting in February 2020 early on in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government is seeking to launch a pilot program, as the legal basis for such services will vanish on June 1 when the government is set to downgrade the classification of COVID-19 from the top level.
The idea for the pilot program was necessitated by the time it would take for the National Assembly to pass relevant bills to institutionalize the services. Also, there has been considerable demand to continue the services after the public health emergency ends.
The ongoing telemedicine services did not set limitations on users as they were permitted temporarily in order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases at medical institutions.
But the pilot program limits users of the services to patients seeking follow-up appointments only.
Patients suffering from chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes can use telemedicine if they have visited the same clinic at least once within a year for treatment of that disease. Others can use the services when they have visited the same clinic at least once within 30 days to treat the same disease.
Telemedicine platform operators claimed the government's guidelines are unrealistic.
"Platforms are not able to directly check if a user is a first-time patient or second-time patient," an official from the Telemedical Industry Council said.
"According to the government guidelines, patients should prove how many times they have spoken to a doctor about the same disease on their own. This means patients will have to keep relevant documents such as receipts for their first visit in preparation for their follow-up visit when they do not even know if they will need it."
The limitation on eligible users is not welcomed by clinics, either, as it would require more effort and work for them to check the number of visits by patients who want to use the telemedicine services.
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As for drug delivery, the government decided not to allow it, accepting the pharmaceutical association's opinions that the delivery system could be abused.
The guidelines require patients or their guardians to pick up drugs on their own after a prescription written by a doctor is sent to a pharmacy via email or fax.
Critics say it is also unrealistic for patients who have spoken to a doctor through a digital device at home to go to a pharmacy to pick up their drugs.
"Earlier this year, I used a telemedicine service and received my drugs through an express delivery when I had a bad cold and suffered from muscle pain," said Lee Young-lok, 37, who works for a consulting company in Seoul. "If I have to go to a pharmacy to pick up my drugs anyway, I don't see the need to use the telemedicine service."
The guidelines restrictively allowed telemedicine services for first-time patients if they suffer from infectious diseases, live on islands or mountain areas or have mobility difficulties.
The government also discussed a measure to allow services for infants and children, even when they are first-time patients, during holidays and at night. But this was excluded due to opposition from doctors who cited concerns over possible errors in diagnosis.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said its guidelines are not a final version and will be finalized before June 1.
"We will continue to address the deficiencies of the services identified during the pilot program," a ministry official said.
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