Non-face-to-face Medical Care Rising in National Audit... Will Legalization Break Ground?

6 Witnesses and References Summoned for Welfare Ministry Audit on 12th
6 Related Bills Pending in National Assembly

Starting from the 11th of this month, this year's National Assembly audit is expected to see non-face-to-face medical consultations become a 'hot potato.' After the temporary allowance of non-face-to-face consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic ended, the Ministry of Health and Welfare supported it in the form of a 'pilot project,' but related industries are arguing for legalization. Since a large number of witnesses related to non-face-to-face consultations have been called unusually for this year's audit, attention is focused on whether progressive discussions will take place.

According to the National Assembly on the 3rd, the number of witnesses related to non-face-to-face consultations increased from just one last year at the Health and Welfare Committee audit to six this year. At the Ministry of Health and Welfare audit on the 12th, Go Seung-yoon, CEO of Vibros (Ddokdak), and Kim Seong-hyun, CEO of Olacare, will appear as witnesses. On the same day, Jang Ji-ho, CEO of Dr. Now, Lee Jeong-geun, Vice President of the Korean Medical Association, Kwon Young-hee, President of the Seoul Pharmaceutical Association, and Kim Dae-won, Vice President of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association, will appear as reference witnesses.

At the audit, lawmakers plan to hear opinions from CEOs as representatives of non-face-to-face medical consultation platform companies and evaluations of the pilot project from medical professionals. Most of the witnesses and reference witnesses were requested by lawmakers from the Democratic Party of Korea, while CEO Jang was included in the list at the request of lawmakers from the People Power Party.

Earlier, the government downgraded the COVID-19 crisis level in June, which also removed the legal basis for temporarily allowed non-face-to-face consultations. The Ministry of Health and Welfare conducted a 'non-face-to-face consultation pilot project' timed with the end of the temporary consultations, but unlike the temporary project, it imposed restrictions such as focusing on follow-up visits and excluding medicine delivery, leading to continuous criticism from the industry. The ministry also stated that the absence of legislation makes regulation of platform companies difficult. After the transition to the pilot project, platforms consecutively announced service terminations, and Ddokdak, which provided hospital reception reservations and non-face-to-face consultation services, switched to paid subscriber use from the 5th of last month.

The National Assembly has discussed non-face-to-face consultations several times but has not reached an agreement. Currently, six medical law amendment bills dealing with non-face-to-face consultations are pending in the National Assembly. However, there are disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties regarding the scope of patients (initial vs. follow-up visits) and platform operation methods (license system vs. notification system). On August 24th, at the Health and Welfare Committee's bill subcommittee, Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Hye-sook criticized, "The government should clearly limit initial patients and specific diseases for follow-up patients. Allowing follow-up for all diseases nationwide raises suspicions of collusion with platform operators, which is a very impure intention."

In response, People Power Party lawmaker Kang Ki-yoon (secretary) said, "There are certainly concerns about initial and follow-up visits," but added, "More importantly, if this is not legalized, how will those people be protected? Should we continue with pilot projects while leaving existing derivative problems as they are? I don't think so."

However, there is also an opinion that passing the bill will be difficult given the characteristics of the Health and Welfare Committee, where lawmakers with medical backgrounds are concentrated while platform companies lead the discussions. A Health and Welfare Committee official hinted, "Many lawmakers in the first subcommittee, where the non-face-to-face consultation-related bill is pending, are doctors or pharmacists. Passing the bill subcommittee will be challenging." Among the Democratic Party, lawmakers Seo Young-seok and Jeon Hye-sook are pharmacists, and Shin Hyun-young is a doctor. In the People Power Party, pharmacist Seo Jeong-sook and nurse Choi Yeon-sook belong to the first subcommittee.