Non-face-to-face Follow-up Patients Focused, Dedicated Institutions Prohibited... Government-Medical Community Agreement

Lee Hyung-hoon, Director of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare (second from left), is delivering opening remarks at the "2nd Medical Issues Consultative Body" held on the 9th at Conference House Dalgaebi in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Amid efforts to legislate telemedicine, the government and the medical community have agreed to prohibit medical institutions dedicated solely to telemedicine and to operate telemedicine services primarily for returning patients.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korean Medical Association announced on the 9th that they reached this agreement during the 2nd meeting of the 'Medical Issues Consultative Body.'

The Ministry of Health and Welfare accepted the Korean Medical Association's proposal and agreed on the following under the goal of promoting public health: ▲ face-to-face consultations as the principle, with telemedicine used as a supplementary measure ▲ operation focused on returning patients ▲ implementation mainly at clinic-level medical institutions, with dedicated telemedicine-only medical institutions prohibited.

Additionally, during the process of establishing essential medical support measures, both parties agreed to continue discussions on current issues based on trust and cooperation between the government and medical representatives. To this end, they engaged in in-depth conversations about the scope and types of key tasks needed and decided to specify discussion topics through future meetings, the Ministry explained.

At the meeting, the Ministry of Health and Welfare was represented by Lee Hyung-hoon, Director of Health and Medical Policy, Cha Jeon-gyeong, Director of Health and Medical Policy Division, Lim Kang-seop, Director of Nursing Policy Division, and Kang Jun, Director of Medical Security Innovation Division. From the Korean Medical Association, attendees included Lee Gwang-rae, President of the Incheon Medical Association, Lee Sang-woon, Vice President of the Korean Medical Association, Lee Jeong-geun, Vice President of the Korean Medical Association, Jwa Hoon-jeong, Vice President of the Korean Private Practitioners Association, and Woo Bong-sik, Director of the Medical Policy Research Institute of the Korean Medical Association.