Foreign patients visiting South Korea will soon be able to receive remote medical services from Korean healthcare providers ranging from pre-arrival consultations to post-treatment follow-up care after returning home.
The Health Ministry said May 26 that revisions to the Act on Support for Overseas Expansion of Healthcare Systems and Attraction of International Patients have been promulgated.
The revised law will take effect one year after promulgation.
Foreign patients have long faced a need for pre-arrival consultations and post-treatment monitoring because of their relatively short stays in South Korea.
In particular, separate regulations for foreign patients had been called for as telemedicine services for South Korean residents remain limited mainly to returning patients and clinic-level medical institutions.
Under the revised law, physicians, dentists and practitioners of traditional Korean medicine affiliated with medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients will be allowed to provide telemedicine services to foreign patients, including first-time patients, at both clinics and hospitals.
The services will include pre-arrival consultations and follow-up care, as well as ongoing monitoring using information and communications technology, counseling, education, diagnosis and prescriptions.
The government also plans to establish a dedicated system to support telemedicine services for foreign patients.
The planned “Foreign Patient Telemedicine Support System” will support remote treatment and prescription services and may also be operated through outsourced specialized institutions.
At the same time, the government said it will introduce management rules to prevent misuse of the system.
The government said it plans to ensure safety and reliability by allowing administrative measures, including revocation of registration for institutions attracting foreign patients, if telemedicine procedures or methods are violated.
Reporting requirements for overseas medical expansion broadened to include MSOs
The scope of entities required to report overseas healthcare expansion activities will also be expanded.
Previously, only operators of medical institutions were required to file reports, but the revised law will also include nonprofit corporations and companies established under commercial law.
The measure reflects growing participation by management service organizations, or MSOs, in overseas healthcare businesses and the need for more accurate oversight and systematic management, the government said.
MSOs are companies that provide hospitals with management support services such as procurement, staffing, medical billing and marketing.
The government said expanding reporting requirements is expected to improve its ability to accurately assess overseas expansion activities and establish tailored support policies.
The revised law also establishes legal grounds for conducting surveys on overseas healthcare expansion and foreign patient attraction projects.
According to the Health Ministry, the number of foreign patients visiting South Korea reached 2.01 million last year, surpassing 2 million for the first time.
Chinese patients accounted for the largest share at 30.8%, followed by Japanese patients at 29.8%, Taiwanese patients at 9.2% and U.S. patients at 8.6%.
In particular, the number of U.S. patients rose 70.4% from a year earlier to a record 173,000.
South Korea’s overseas healthcare expansion has also steadily increased since the law was enacted in 2016.
The government said the legal foundation for annual surveys will allow it to more systematically analyze the performance and operational status of foreign patient attraction and overseas expansion projects.
Survey findings will be used as baseline data for future comprehensive and implementation plans.
Health Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong said, “Expanding the scope of overseas expansion reporting requirements and conducting accurate surveys will help improve quality management for foreign patient attraction projects and strengthen the substance of overseas expansion businesses.”
