"Misleading Claims of Overtreatment Infringe on Traffic Accident Victims' Right to Medical Care"
# One day, after experiencing a minor traffic accident, Mr. A felt pain in his neck and lower back. After undergoing an X-ray at a Korean medicine hospital in Seoul, he received treatment focused on the strained muscles. While his neck pain improved after a week, the lower back pain persisted, and he began to experience numbness in his left leg. On the eighth day of treatment, he underwent an MRI at the same hospital and was diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation (herniated disc). Subsequently, acupuncture treatments focused on the herniated disc area significantly alleviated both his back pain and neurological symptoms in his lower limbs.
The insurance industry has been criticized for consistently dismissing the use of MRI and other imaging in Korean medicine as overtreatment, with some arguing that this reflects a lack of understanding and is tantamount to neglecting patients with mild symptoms who seek Korean medicine care.
Exterior view of Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine
According to the "2024 Survey on the Utilization of Korean Medicine" released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare last month, the satisfaction rate among the general public for Korean medicine services last year was 79.5%. The most common reason for choosing Korean medicine in 2024 was "because the treatment is effective" (42.5%), and it was found that one out of every two outpatients had experience using both Korean and Western medical institutions for the same symptoms.
Satisfaction with Korean medicine treatment was particularly high among traffic accident patients. In August 2021, a national survey on perceptions of Korean medicine treatment after traffic accidents, conducted by Realmeter, found that 91.5% of respondents were satisfied with Korean medicine services, and 43.4% believed that Korean medicine was more effective than Western medicine for such cases.
Recently, research has also shown that Korean medicine treatments can be more effective than conventional physical therapy. In cases of lower back pain, acupuncture treatment was found to improve symptoms six times faster than physical therapy. Additionally, a study published in the SCI(E)-level journal "Healthcare" analyzed the effects of herbal medicine on patients with traffic accident aftereffects, dividing them into a herbal medicine group and a control group. The results showed that the herbal medicine group experienced significantly greater improvement in both post-accident symptoms and stress levels compared to the control group.
Contrary to the misconception that Korean medicine hospitals routinely insist on MRI scans, representatives from the Korean medicine community assert that MRIs are only performed in cases where symptoms do not improve after a certain period of sprain treatment. According to the Korean medicine community, symptoms resulting from the impact of a traffic accident are generally considered "sprains," and treatment is initiated after confirming the absence of fractures through X-rays. However, while most sprains improve within a few days, if a patient does not recover after a week or ten days, it is often not a simple sprain. In such cases, MRI scans are used to provide an accurate diagnosis, which may reveal pre-existing or degenerative disc herniations. These findings suggest that the accident triggered symptoms in muscles, ligaments, and nerves that were already weakened, damaged, or under excessive tension.
The Korean medicine community also claims that insurance companies are attributing rising insurance premiums to Korean medicine treatments based on inaccurate statistics. For example, there have been comparisons between the number of simple MRI scans performed at Korean medicine hospitals and some advanced general hospitals. It was recently reported that, among one insurance company's claims for minor injury patients (injury grades 12 to 14) last year, the top 10 Korean medicine hospitals performed a total of 9,117 MRI scans, which is 27.6 times more than the 330 scans performed at 47 advanced general hospitals (Western medicine).
However, in cases of minor injuries from traffic accidents, patients rarely visit advanced general hospitals. In fact, as of 2023, the number of simple automobile accident patients at advanced general hospitals was only 47,007, which is far less than 10% of the 756,965 patients treated at Korean medicine hospitals. In contrast, when looking at the percentage of traffic accident patients who underwent special medical imaging such as MRI or CT in 2023, the figures were as follows: ▲Advanced general hospitals: 8.16% ▲General hospitals: 13.89% ▲Hospitals: 17.46% ▲Clinics: 10.55% ▲Korean medicine hospitals: 2.64%.
A representative from Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine stated, "Most Korean medicine hospitals equipped with MRI machines are designated as specialized Korean medicine spine hospitals by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. These specialized hospitals are recognized for their expertise and high quality of care in treating specific diseases, and are subject to strict evaluations." He continued, "It is widely acknowledged that MRI is the most accurate diagnostic tool for spinal disorders. For traffic accident patients, whose conditions are mostly spinal and joint-related, it is only natural to proceed with MRI diagnosis and treatment after a certain period of initial care."
He added, "Since automobile insurance provides equal coverage for both Korean and Western medical treatments, a large number of patients who are satisfied with Korean medicine are choosing Korean medicine institutions, which has led to an increase in related medical expenses. Portraying this as if Korean medicine hospitals are engaging in overtreatment only serves to restrict the freedom of traffic accident victims to receive the care they choose. For any reason, patients' rights to medical treatment should never be infringed upon."
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