Patients who have had an in-person consultation for the same symptoms at the same medical institution within the previous six months will be able to receive telemedicine care, under rules proposed by South Korea's health authorities. First-time patients will also be eligible if the institution is in the same city or province where they live, though prescriptions in such cases will generally be limited to seven days.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it will give public notice of the proposed amendments to the Enforcement Rule of the Medical Service Act and the rules on administrative sanctions in the medical sector from the 19th through Nov. 9. The revised Medical Service Act takes effect Dec. 24.
Under the proposal, patients who received in-person care for the same symptoms at the same institution within six months qualify for telemedicine. First-time patients qualify if the institution is located in the same city or province as the address on their resident registration. Patients with rare diseases, Type 1 diabetes and registered persons with disabilities are exempt from the regional restriction.
Prescriptions issued through a first telemedicine consultation are capped at seven days in principle. If a prior record of treatment and prescription is confirmed, a single prescription of up to 30 days is allowed. Narcotics, psychotropic drugs and obesity treatments cannot be prescribed as a general rule.
Telemedicine may account for no more than 30% of a medical institution's total consultations in a half-year period. Caps also apply to individual practitioners' monthly average caseloads over a half-year: 500 consultations for doctors and 130 for dentists and traditional Korean medicine doctors. Night and holiday consultations are excluded from the calculation.
Telemedicine is to be provided primarily at clinic-level institutions. Video communication takes precedence as the method of consultation, with some voice-only calls permitted. Telemedicine platforms with 100,000 or more cumulative subscribers must apply for certification. The government also plans to set standards for drug delivery and to pursue legislation preventing pharmacies from operating exclusively to fill telemedicine prescriptions.