Demand for remote medical treatment rises again in Korea

[Image source: Gettyimagesbank]

Remote medical platforms are regaining popularity amid the ongoing flu season as the government expands the pilot remote medical treatment project. But measures including the prohibition of drug delivery are still in place, causing confusion among users.

According to remote medical platform provider Doctor Now Inc. on Tuesday, the number of requests for remote medical treatment topped 4,000 cases over the past weekend, a significant increase compared to the week before when 1,330 requests were recorded between December 3 and 9.

Among the users, 89.9 percent sought remote medical treatment due to temporal and spatial difficulties in visiting hospitals during evenings and weekends, followed by medically vulnerable patients at 6.37 percent and returning patients at 1.83 percent.

However, a majority of remote medical service users, who use the services during evenings and weekends, complained about the unavailability of drug delivery. Currently, drug delivery remains restricted to patients on islands, remote areas, those with mobility issues, and confirmed cases of infectious diseases.

Another common complaint was that information about pharmacies operating on weekends, available online, often proved to be incorrect. “Some pharmacies refuse to fill prescriptions from remote medical practitioners due to conflicting interests,” an industry insider said, highlighting the need for clear legislative action to address issues such as delivery problems, discrepancies in operating hour information, and the refusal to fill remote medical treatment prescriptions.

“The most pressing concern for remote medical services is how to improve the method of receiving medications,” according to Sun Jae-won, founder of Merakiplace Inc. which provides remote medical treatment service My Doctor.