Health minister nominee Chung endorses plan for telemedicine

Published : Aug 24, 2015 - 18:56 Updated : Aug 24, 2015 - 18:57

Health and Welfare Minister nominee Chung Chin-youb on Monday revealed his support for the government’s plan to allow doctors to remotely provide health care to patients, a policy that opposition lawmakers and a doctors’ representative body have strongly opposed.

Chung, an orthopedics doctor who had served as a head of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, testified before lawmakers at a National Assembly hearing that telemedicine would expand medical services to those living in remote areas and benefit the nation’s public health care system.

“Telemedicine is a useful tool for public health service and the medical industry’s globalization. Combined with information technology and medical experts, it would give those living in remote areas access to quality medical services,” said Chung. His appointment is not subject to lawmakers’ approval.

Chung Chin-Youb, the nominee for the minister of Health and Welfare. (Yonhap)

But the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy’s lawmakers and the Korean Medical Association have objected to the telemedicine plan, saying that the introduction of high-tech equipment such as IT devices that can provide clinical health care at a distance would increase health care costs.

The NPAD and doctors have also warned that telemedicine would undermine Korea’s nationwide public health service by pushing hospitals to engage in businesses that maximize profits. They labeled the introduction of telemedicine as a move to privatize the health care service.

Faced with these claims, Chung said he opposed health care privatization and that it did not fit with Korea’s public health care system, which he described as “a model system for the rest of the world.”

Chung would fill the post of Moon Hyung-pyo, who was heavily criticized for his handling of Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak last June. Chung vowed to overhaul the nation’s disease control system that faced public criticism in the wake of the MERS outbreak.

“Give the lack of coordinated system and medical experts to deal with infectious diseases. ... A swift response is the key to responding to disease outbreak. If confirmed, I will rebuild the disease control system in a way to address epidemic outbreaks more aggressively,” Chung said.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)