Coined in the 1970s and literally meaning “healing at a distance”, the term “telemedicine” represents an idea that first evolved in the early 20th century when Willem Einthoven, a Dutch Nobel laureate in medicine, measured the heart activity of a patient staying in a hospital a mile away from him. Since then, the practice of providing medical assistance from a distance has been rising steadily, hand in hand with technological progress. Telemedicine was partially adopted in Korea to tackle the COVID-19 crisis. Though it was initially met with skepticism, telemedicine is gaining more credibility these days, especially after the announcement in the beginning of May that Korea will launch a telemedicine program starting from June.
This program was triggered by the campaign started by The Korea Startup Forum to preserve the telemedicine practices associated with COVID-19. Gaining massive support from the public and a number of big business players, such as The Woowa Brothers and Viva Republica (Toss), the campaign has drawn considerable attention to the benefits of telemedicine, which include but are not limited to assisting the elderly, patients with minor symptoms, and mothers of sick children. However, there are still a number of bills under review which prohibit the use of telemedicine to cater for first-time patients, which is a backward step relative to the state of medicine in the rest of the developed world. South Korea is the only country among the 38 members of OECD that has not yet taken full advantage of telemedicine.
The pilot program announced recently will primarily focus on second-visit patients, patients with physical disabilities, and patients living in hard-to-reach areas such as residents of islands and fishermen. The program will certainly attain a massive reach, making it easier for regular patients to use certain medical services, such as consultations and getting prescriptions, from the comfort of their homes. On the other hand, first-time patients will still need to be physically present at hospitals. A representative of one of the emerging Korean telemedicine startups has drawn attention to the fact that many first-time patients have already had experience with telemedicine during the COVID pandemic, proving the services provided at a distance to be as effective as those given face-to-face. Therefore, the propositions to allow the use of telemedicine for all patients, regardless of their attendance, stand on solid ground.
The reasons why telemedicine has not been allowed to be used by first-time patients may be justified. It is tightly connected to the correctness of initial diagnoses — in-person medical services ensure that the patient’s condition is being assessed correctly, leaving little room for error coming from either miscommunication or not close enough visual examination. The patient’s presence in the hospital during the first visit will ensure that all symptoms are evaluated as closely to the patient’s diagnosis as they appear in real life, making subsequent visits to the hospital less demanding in terms of confirming a diagnosis. Nevertheless, there are a number of reasons why embracing telemedicine on a larger scale after the initial diagnosis would benefit the Korean medical industry. First, telemedicine will eliminate the need for physical presence for routine procedures, such as medical consultations for patients with mild symptoms of non-life-threatening diseases. Second, telemedicine will reduce the risks of doctors and physicians contracting infectious diseases from patients receiving face-to-face medical assistance. Third, the use of virtual space, be it through video or audio calls, will lead to less crowded hospitals and more available physical space, which might be of vital importance for patients in a critical condition. As a result, the use of telemedicine will work towards not only patients’ individual wellbeing, but also for the common good.
The full benefits of telemedicine are yet to be discovered, but the studies that will be done on the outcomes of the pilot telemedicine program will surely go a long way. Given the wide range of reasons to assume that the program will prove effective, the current amount of apprehension surrounding telemedicine will most likely shift to continuous efforts in maximizing its advantages. With most developed countries having embraced telemedicine over the years, Korea will most certainly make a progressive step in ensuring reliable and convenient medical services for the population. From that point on, regulations must be put in place to ensure the extent to which telemedicine is used, taking into account the relative uncertainty of non-physical human contact.