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Corona 19 temporarily allowed doctors to consult and prescribe by phone. With the growing awareness that this telemedicine will now become a necessity, the government is also considering regulatory innovation.

A major change in medical services is expected in the future. First, reporter Nam Joo-Hyun covered the current address and potential.

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In February and March, when Corona 19 spread. The number of people visiting hospitals has been greatly reduced.

It was because of the anxiety of being exposed to Corona19 patients and becoming infected.

So it was 'telephone care' that was introduced temporarily.


[Cho Young-min / Seoul National University Hospital Internal Medicine Professor (Last March): The figures are similar to the last one. So the insulin dose is still the same. I will prescribe a month's worth of medicine.]

Hospital doctors who were only for re-medicated patients treated by phone and sent prescriptions directly to the pharmacy.

[Patients using remote care services: (until Seoul) I was worried about going to the road, and I was worried about it, but my heart was much better.] At the

Daegu · Gyeongbuk Regional Living Treatment Center, medical staff at a university hospital in Seoul remotely treated minor patients.

[Kim Min-sun / Professor, Seoul National University Hospital Public Health Service Group (Last March): Nurse calls twice a day to make a video call, and once a day the doctor makes a video call… .] The

discussion of allowing 'remote medical care', including non-face-to-face telemedicine, has been contraindicated in the midst of medical commercialization concerns.

This is due to the opposition that the primary and secondary health care systems will collapse and only the related industries will benefit because patients are concentrated only in large hospitals.

However, in this situation, it was evaluated that telemedicine had a significant effect as a countermeasure against the lack of medical staff and hospital infections.

The fact that local clinics accounted for 57% of the amount of telephone consultations also eased the fear of losing large hospitals.

In the future, the voice of the need to establish an infrastructure for telemedicine in preparation for infectious diseases, disasters, and an aging society is gaining strength.

(Video coverage: Dong Hyuk Lee, Sang-Bo Jung, video editing: Park Player)