[Column] Legalizing Telemedicine, Listening to the Voices of the People

One of the biggest beneficiaries of non-face-to-face medical consultations conducted over the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic was dual-income couples raising children. When it was difficult to visit hospitals or clinics at night or early morning and a child suddenly developed a fever, they could receive a prescription for antipyretics through non-face-to-face consultations and have the medicine delivered. The proportion of pediatric consultations on non-face-to-face medical platforms once reached as high as 20%, playing the role of a 'pediatric crisis solver.' However, since it changed to a pilot project, the current consultation rate is less than 5%. This is because pediatric patients at night and on holidays are only allowed consultations, while diagnosis and prescriptions are prohibited. With the pediatric crisis already severe, the reduction of non-face-to-face consultations, which had helped alleviate the crisis, has increased the worries of couples raising children. As non-face-to-face consultations have effectively been blocked, criticism has arisen that "the government is ignoring the suffering."

Non-face-to-face consultations were a satisfactory solution not only for dual-income couples but also for the general public, given the reality that visiting hospitals is difficult. Over the past three years, 13.79 million people used non-face-to-face consultations, and including repeated consultations, 36.61 million consultations were conducted. According to a survey by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute last year of 1,707 people who experienced non-face-to-face consultations, 62.3% were satisfied, and 87.9% expressed willingness to use them in the future. The willingness to use was higher the farther the distance from medical institutions (clinic level), the more frequent the visits to medical institutions, and in rural areas compared to cities. Although many citizens experienced and recognized the utility of non-face-to-face consultations during the pandemic, this is essentially a return to the past in line with the endemic (periodic outbreak of infectious diseases).

The non-face-to-face consultation pilot project, now in its second month, will be legalized after a one-month grace period. Unless there are variables, it is expected to maintain the current pilot project form, which restricts first-time visits and prohibits medicine delivery. In just two months, the number of consultations on non-face-to-face medical platforms has plummeted by up to 90%. With no business viability, seven platforms have decided to terminate their services. With legalization imminent, the medical community and platforms are only running on parallel lines, and the government remains passive. The voices of medical consumers, the public, have been virtually excluded. Numerous meetings and forums related to non-face-to-face consultations so far have highlighted only the voices of each industry and authorities, without providing opportunities to represent the perspectives of medical consumers. Non-face-to-face consultations must focus on ensuring safe medical care while centering on the public’s medical accessibility and convenience. The prerequisite for legalization is the collection of opinions from stakeholders. Both the government pushing for legalization and the National Assembly deliberating and deciding on the bill must start listening to the public from now on.

[Image source=Yonhap News]