Government Discusses Permanent Allowance of Non-Face-to-Face Medical Consultations at Hospitals and Clinics

"Reviewing Institutionalization Based on the Medical Act Amendment Proposed in the National Assembly"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The government is considering a plan to permanently allow non-face-to-face medical consultations, which have been temporarily operated since the spread of COVID-19.

A Ministry of Health and Welfare official stated on the 17th, "The relevant department is broadly discussing non-face-to-face medical consultations with the medical community and civil society according to the medical-government agreement." The medical-government agreement between the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korean Medical Association on September 4, 2020, specifies that "developmental plans for non-face-to-face medical consultations will be discussed in a consultative body."

Currently, non-face-to-face medical consultations have been temporarily permitted since February 2020 to respond to the COVID-19 infectious disease. The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to review institutionalizing non-face-to-face medical consultations based on the Medical Service Act amendment bills submitted to the National Assembly. The amendment bill related to non-face-to-face medical consultations at local clinics, proposed by Democratic Party lawmakers Kang Byung-won and Choi Hye-young, is still pending in the National Assembly.

Recently, the government announced the "Post-Omicron Response Plan," stating that temporary non-face-to-face medical consultations will be maintained for the time being. Kwon Deok-cheol, the first head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said, "Although home treatment and isolation treatment will be discontinued, non-face-to-face medical consultation services will continue."