Rep. Jeong Tae-ho Proposes Establishment of 'Digital Healthcare Industry Committee'
Comprehensive Plans Every 5 Years to Reflect Policies... Introduction of 'Excellent Company Certification System'
Large-Scale Demonstration Projects Also Promoted... Service Scale of 10,000 People Each
Minister Moon Seung-wook speaking (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Jieun Lee = Moon Seung-wook, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (left), is speaking at a corporate meeting to promote semiconductor investment held at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 16th. 2022.2.16
jieunlee@yna.co.kr
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[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] The government is pushing for the enactment of the 'Digital Healthcare Promotion Act' with the goal of passing it through the National Assembly within this year. The plan includes establishing a Digital Healthcare Industry Committee and formulating a comprehensive plan every five years to accelerate the development of the related ecosystem.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced this on the 24th at the '19th Innovation Growth Big 3 Promotion Meeting' held at the Government Seoul Office. As part of the 'Digital Healthcare Service Industry Promotion Strategy' presented at the meeting, the ministry is working with Rep. Jeong Tae-ho of the Democratic Party of Korea to promote the enactment of the 'Digital Healthcare Promotion Act.' The goal is to enact the promotion law within this year through a member-initiated bill. Rep. Jeong already submitted the 'Act on the Promotion and Support of the Digital Healthcare Industry' as a representative bill on the 10th of this month. The ministry has been reviewing discussions related to the promotion law with Rep. Jeong since the second half of last year.
Establishment of the 'Digital Healthcare Industry Committee'
The core is the establishment of the 'Digital Healthcare Industry Committee' to oversee digital healthcare policies. The plan is for the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy to serve as the chairperson and to form the committee with about 15 members, including experts from related fields. The committee will prepare a 'Comprehensive Plan for the Promotion and Support of the Digital Healthcare Industry' every five years to serve as a guideline for related policies. Additionally, it plans to conduct an annual survey on the status of the digital healthcare industry to reflect in policy-making.
A certification system for excellent companies in the digital healthcare field will also be implemented. Companies certified as excellent digital healthcare firms will receive benefits such as preferential treatment in national research and development projects and tax reductions. The bill also includes measures to promote the use of excellent company products and services by public institutions by reflecting purchase performance in the evaluation of those institutions' operations.
Government's Vision for Fostering Digital Healthcare and 10 Key Focus Areas. [Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]
Furthermore, as part of the promotion strategy, the ministry will push forward a large-scale digital healthcare demonstration project. This is because existing technology development industries have been focused only on product development, and demonstrations have been supported only on a small scale centered on product testing. Accordingly, the ministry plans to link the fragmented project outcomes to develop optimized digital healthcare services and support large-scale demonstrations involving about 10,000 people per service. After selecting service areas considering the possibility of proving service effectiveness and industrial ripple effects, fields requiring early support will be promoted on a non-preliminary feasibility study scale from next year until 2027. The remaining fields will be planned and promoted on a preliminary feasibility study scale from 2024 to 2030.
Development of data-based convergence healthcare devices will also be actively supported. The ministry plans to develop methodologies and evaluation technologies for digital therapeutics, considered third-generation treatment technologies, and encourage private companies to utilize them to maximize development efficiency. It will also promote the development of mobile hospitals capable of opening within 60 minutes even in remote areas. This involves implementing mobility healthcare services capable of remote collaboration by integrating advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and 5th generation mobile communication (5G).
Accelerating the Regulation Reform of Health Data
Regulations related to healthcare data will also be revised to increase utilization. First, the 'Industrial Digital Transformation Promotion Act,' which will be enforced in July this year, will provide a legal basis for utilizing and protecting healthcare data. Based on this promotion act, the ministry will revise regulations related to healthcare data and insurance fees. It is also considering a plan to temporarily list digital healthcare devices on health insurance without new medical technology evaluation if they meet certain conditions such as designation as innovative medical devices or innovative medical technologies.
The ministry also released the '2020 Digital Healthcare Industry Status Survey' on the same day. The survey, conducted over six months from August last year to this month targeting 363 domestic digital healthcare companies, showed that the domestic digital healthcare sales in 2020 amounted to 1.3539 trillion KRW. The total number of employees was 11,775, with an average employment size of 32.4 per company. Among all companies, 72% (261 companies) were small and venture companies and startups with fewer than 30 employees.
Current Status of the Domestic Digital Healthcare Industry. [Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]
The industry cited 'domestic demand slump (71%)' as the main difficulty in business operations. This was followed by 'difficulty in financing (53%)' and 'labor cost burden (43%).' Government requests included 'funding support for technology development (55%),' 'investment promotion policies (47%),' and 'support for investor relations (IR) and initial public offerings (IPO).'
Park Jin-gyu, the first vice minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "While the global digital healthcare industry is growing very rapidly, the domestic market is small and growth is slow due to regulatory and other factors. Intensive government support is urgently needed to create a digital healthcare ecosystem."
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