Non-face-to-face consultation period for returning patients to be decided by doctors

The South Korean government decided to ease the criteria of returning patients allowed for non-face-to-face consultations based on the judgment that patients who require regular treatments find it difficult to receive non-face-to-face consultations as the scope of non-face-to-face consultations allowed for returning patients is too narrow.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the medical sector on Wednesday, the government will extend the allowed period for non-face-to-face consultations for returning patients from 30 days to over two months, and it can be extended further beyond the two months at the doctor’s discretion. The decision was made for the convenience of patients who suffer diseases that require regular prescriptions, even though they are not 12 major chronic diseases, such as hyperlipidemia or reflux esophagitis. Only patients who received a consultation within the past 30 days are allowed to receive non-face-to-face consultations, except for those with 12 major chronic diseases, such as hypertension.

In addition, the government expanded non-face-to-face consultations for first-time patients beyond remote areas, such as mountainous regions or islands, to ‘hidden remote places’ in the metropolitan area, allowing them for nighttime and holidays when hospitals are closed. “First-time patients who seek prescriptions for non-urgent medicines, such as for hair loss treatment, will be allowed to receive non-face-to-face consultations at night or on holidays,” the chair of the Korea Alliance of Patients Organization pointed.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare will hold a public hearing under the presidency of its Second Vice Minister Park Min-soo on Thursday to collect opinions from the medical sector and patient groups on the revision plan for non-face-to-face consultations.


easy@donga.com