Telemedicine is a system in which a doctor diagnoses a patient on a screen. The government tries to introduce this system nationally, but some doctors oppose the system. Therefore, there is a debate between the government and doctors.


pro


Last March, the Ministry of Health and Welfare discussed permitting telemedicine with the Korean Medical Association. Telemedicine means that patients can be diagnosed by doctors through smart devices such as smart phones or computers without going to a hospital. On June 29, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced a revision of the Medical Act to permit telemedicine, and the system will be implemented from 2015. If a telemedicine system is implemented, there will be many benefits.

First, patients like the elderly, the disabled, and patients with chronic diseases can more easily receive medical services. Through telemedicine, the elderly who live in mountainous areas or on islands and the disabled can be diagnosed by a doctor. Moreover, patients with chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension can be easily examined and prescribed drugs in their home without going to hospital. The Ministry of Health and Welfare implemented a pilot study of telemedicine in Yeongyang-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and the number of medical treatments increased from 1770 in 2009 to 4853 in 2012. More than 84% of the residents in Yeongyang-gun answered that they will continue using telemedicine.

Second, a small number of doctors can diagnose many elderly people. Our society has become an elderly society, but the number of doctors is insufficient. Through telemedicine, doctors can quickly examine patients by smart devices such as smart phones. For example, Japan became an elderly society more quickly than Korea, so the number of doctors was insufficient during the 1990s. The Japanese government implemented telemedicine for the efficiency of medical services. Since 2001, many hospitals have treated the elderly through video calls and computers. After telemedicine was used for the elderly, telemedicine was also used for pregnant women and diabetic patients. As a result, patients could be conveniently examined in their homes, and medical services improved.

If a telemedicine system is implemented in Korea, many patients can conveniently receive medical services, and the problem of the number of doctors being insufficient can be solved. Therefore, a telemedicine system should be introduced in Korea.



con


Nowadays, telemedicine is becoming a hot issue. Telemedicine is defined as transmitting medical information and services using interactive information technology. Five medical examinations such as asking a patient about his condition and a visual inspection are included. Moreover, patients can get diagnoses, prescriptions, and electrocardiogram test. However, many people strongly oppose telemedicine because of the price of the examination machine and the liability for medical accidents.

First of all, telemedicine requires a special machines to submit tests and receive the results. The machine is expected to cost around one million won. Currently, Samsung has plans to make a telemedicine machine. However, the machines are not commercially available yet. The people who will use telemedicine are aged people who live in isolated areas. However, the price is too expensive for these people, and there is no support for them to buy the machines.

Second, the responsibility for medical accidents is unclear. When a hospital conducts telemedicine, doctors and patients depend on machines. The doctor does a visual inspection by examining patients on the screen and listens to the patient’s explanation of his symptoms. However, after the medical examination, if there is any problem with the patient, who is responsible? Doctors are worried because there are often cases of misdiagnosis in normal situations, but these might worsen if the government starts telemedicine. The debate is what the responsibility has with the doctor or with the examination machine and the company which makes the machine. Patients are the people who will be damaged by misdiagnosis.

People oppose telemedicine due to its expense and misdiagnosis. The government needs to lower the price of telemedicine machines and allow telemedicine only in isolated regions and for a simple range of examinations. Moreover, the government needs to make clear criteria about the responsibility for misdiagnosis. Telemedicine needs to be discontinued if these problems are not solved.