Myongji Hospital's telemedicine service for overseas Koreans passes regulatory sandbox
안청장2022. 1. 7. 09:41
Myongji Hospital's telemedicine service for overseas Koreans passes regulatory sandbox
Myongji Hospital’s said Monday that its virtual care service, which aims to provide remote treatment for overseas citizens living abroad, has received approval from the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE)’s special review committee.
A physician of Myongji Hospital conducts an online check-up at the hospital's MJ Virtual Care Center in Goyang, north of Seoul.
Myongji Hospital's non-face-to-face medical treatment service for overseas Koreans provides medical consultation and treatment through telephone and video using an online platform. Upon request from patients, medical professionals also write up a prescription if deemed necessary, the hospital said.
The current medical law allows telemedicine only between doctors and medical personnel while prohibiting medical activities, such as diagnosis and prescription, between doctors and patients in principle.
However, the government has allowed limited telemedicine, both here and abroad, since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
The government had also provided non-face-to-face treatment and consultation service to overseas Koreans living in 85 countries as of September last year.
The special committee explained that it granted additional approval to Myongji Hospital because the previously approved non-face-to-face medical service for overseas Koreans helped solve the medical blind spots for Koreans living abroad.
To prevent diplomatic and trade problems, the committee stressed that it approved Myongji Hospital's service under the same conditions as the previously approved agendas, such as providing services and cautioning against medical interventions within the scope that does not conflict with local laws.
"Koreans living abroad have shown high satisfaction with the current non-face-to-face medical service," a MOTIE official said. "They will be able to use various non-face-to-face medical services at more Korean medical institutions, amid increased medical options."
Myongji Hospital emphasized that its virtual care service provides prompt medical services to improve the health of Koreans abroad who have difficulties receiving timely and appropriate treatment due to language, system, and economic reasons.
Notably, the hospital stressed that its virtual care service has gone beyond the level of telemedicine that provides non-face-to-face treatment connected by a network as the service provides an integrated and around-the-clock medical management.
In addition to simply consulting and treating diseases, the service will also cover a wide variety of healthcare, including disease prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation, daily life care for chronically ill patients, psycho-psychological counseling, cerebral hemorrhage, stroke, cardiac arrest, and other emergencies, and emergency response through constant monitoring care for high-risk patients, it added.
The hospital has also already signed various healthcare service agreements with overseas Korean communities, such as the Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta, United Korean Associates of Hawaii, the Korean Association Guatemala, United Korean Association in Africa and the Middle East, and Korean Association Indonesia.
"Myongji Hospital is providing pre-treatment services through its virtual care center for overseas Korean Covid-19 patients who are struggling to receive prompt treatment abroad due to the pandemic," Myongji Hospital President Kim Jin-goo said. "Our virtual care makes it possible to urgently transport overseas Koreans using an air ambulance or treat them."
