[MDREX Newsletter]

Discussions on differential reimbursement for non face-to-face medical treatment have begun in the national assembly as well as the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Although the applicable laws previously banned non face-to-face medical treatment at medical institutions in Korea, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government relaxed the laws and regulations on December 15, 2020 to temporarily permit non face-to-face/virtual treatments at medical institutions in certain serious situations.

However, due to an increase of clinics that only provide non-contact/virtual treatments and a seven fold increase of clinics where over 50% of all patient treatment is provided by non face-to-face interactions, the national assembly of Korea have discussed options to regulate such practices. The Ministry of Health and Welfare have also started internal review on differential/graded reimbursement for non face-to-face treatment in the market to discourage such practices. We believe this can affect platform developers that aim at non-contact/face-to-face treatment and thus should continue to monitor developments at the national assembly and MOHW level in the future.

If you have any questions regarding the topic above or other questions pertaining to the medical device/health regulatory field in Korea, please contact us at MDREX (pro@mdrex.co.kr).  

※ Source: [데일리팜] 비대면진료율 제한·수가 규제, 즉각 시행은 어려워 (dailypharm.com)