As South Korea’s population ages and the incidence of longer-term, costly-to-treat diseases like cancer and diabetes continues to rise, the use of healthcare IT (particularly systems that enable the sharing of electronic health records between medical providers, and remote monitoring and diagnosis) will become increasingly important. But slow regulatory reform, divisions within the medical establishment and a lack of patient awareness of the benefits are holding back the broader roll-out of such technology, according to a new report released today by the Economist Intelligence Unit - Connect to care: The future of healthcare IT in South Korea.
Although South Korea’s healthcare system is relatively cheap to run (healthcare spending is around 7% of GDP), and gives patients access to a broad range of specialist advice and state-of-the-art treatments, its sustainability is far from assured. South Korea’s government has long acknowledged the cost, quality and access benefits of healthcare IT, but several pilot schemes for next-generation solutions have failed to get broader medical or private-sector buy-in, and South Korea lags many nations in adopting such technology.
Experts from across the country’s healthcare industry, interviewed for the report, say a dedicated government organisation to oversee healthcare IT, broader trials and greater efforts to involve patients would be the most effective ways to overcome the barriers to the broader rollout of healthcare IT.
These barriers include:
· Slow regulatory reform. Many practitioners and experts recognise that delays in regulatory reform are retarding the broader adoption of some healthcare IT. For instance, the national Medical Law recognises only face-to-face consultations between doctors and patients and restricts the storage of medical information to providers’ physical premises. Legislation to address these issues is pending, but many doubt that it will be passed quickly given controversy over the matter.
· Divisions within the medical establishment. Large private hospitals, comparatively rich and popular, are broadly supportive of introducing more technological innovation in healthcare and have already taken steps in that direction themselves. But many smaller clinics and neighbourhood doctors are less certain of its benefits and costs—and some are suspicious of technology that may reduce the need for their services among the outpatients on which their livelihood depends.
· Lack of incentives for practitioners and private-sector investors. Many think that the initial investment required for health informatics and telemedicine is too high and the short-term gains are too low to justify it—with the added concern that only large, already overburdened hospitals will be able to afford such technology, much of which is not covered by the national healthcare insurance scheme. Smaller-scale medical organisations complain that the government is not subsidising investments sufficiently. Regulatory concerns and the lack of widespread adoption have made the private sector reluctant to invest.
· Lack of widespread patient demand. Despite the quality-of-life benefits that much innovative healthcare IT can offer, particularly for sufferers of chronic disease, the vast majority of patients in South Korea have yet to witness them. But without widespread demand there is little public support for action to resolve legal and other barriers to the broader adoption of healthcare IT, and little incentive for private-sector investment.
Stakeholders in South Korea suggest a number of solutions to overcome the challenges outlined above. These include:
· Establish dedicated government organisations to oversee healthcare IT. Many interviewees say that the creation of a dedicated government organisation focusing exclusively on healthcare information technology—with sufficient clout—is necessary to drive progress, citing similar bodies in the US, Australia, Canada and elsewhere. Such bodies may help reduce conflicts arising from differing priorities at various government agencies.
· Establish clinical buy-in through demonstrations and incentives. Many practitioners have yet to experience the benefits of connected healthcare informatics or telemedicine first-hand. Advocates suggest the government needs to secure buy-in through more numerous targeted trials and demonstrations, involving smaller clinics and hospitals.
· Get patients involved. Top-down attestations of efficacy are rarely as successful in promoting a technology as personal experience. Promotions should therefore emphasise the communication and quality-of-life benefits of such technology more widely, practitioners say. Increased demand would help promote the viability of the business to private-sector investors and generate support for legislative change to enable its broader adoption.
Connect to care: The future of healthcare IT in South Korea
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