Gov't to promote "smart medical treatment" to improve medical accessibility
- 5 years ago
The Fourth Industrial Revolution might allow people to get medical treatment inside their homes.... rather than visiting doctors... as the government is looking to promote.... communications network-based diagnosis.
Hong Yoo has the details.
People living in remote areas such as mountains or islands where access to medical facilities is not easy, can connect to a doctor using their computers or smartphones.
They can tell the doctor about their symptoms and get a diagnosis for the appropriate treatment.
If the symptoms are serious, the doctor will suggest visiting a nearby hospital.
This is what the Ministry of Health and Welfare calls the "smart medical treatment".
"Through the "smart medical treatment", we hope to improve medical accessibility for those living on islands, or isolated places such as military bases."
"However, the pilot project will not be easy to implement as the medical world is generally against communications network-based diagnosis. Medical staff think the method can be dangerous for patients."
"We have to oppose to this form of medical treatment because we value people's life. This technology is not fully developed to be used now. There are still many aspects that need further testing, so we can't agree on offering something that is not 100 percent safe for the patients. It's just too early to be applied in real life at this point."
Ever since 2006 when the government started to invest in developing the technology to offer patients a means to get medical treatment remotely, medical staff have been opposing the idea saying that there are other methods that are safer such as dispatching special ambulances to get the patients directly.
Also, considering that access to medical clinics and hospitals in Korea, even for people living in remote areas, is far more developed and better in comparison to other countries bigger in size, the so-called "smart medical treatment" will have to come up with more feasible and outstanding advantages to be implemented.
Hong Yoo, Arirang News.
Hong Yoo has the details.
People living in remote areas such as mountains or islands where access to medical facilities is not easy, can connect to a doctor using their computers or smartphones.
They can tell the doctor about their symptoms and get a diagnosis for the appropriate treatment.
If the symptoms are serious, the doctor will suggest visiting a nearby hospital.
This is what the Ministry of Health and Welfare calls the "smart medical treatment".
"Through the "smart medical treatment", we hope to improve medical accessibility for those living on islands, or isolated places such as military bases."
"However, the pilot project will not be easy to implement as the medical world is generally against communications network-based diagnosis. Medical staff think the method can be dangerous for patients."
"We have to oppose to this form of medical treatment because we value people's life. This technology is not fully developed to be used now. There are still many aspects that need further testing, so we can't agree on offering something that is not 100 percent safe for the patients. It's just too early to be applied in real life at this point."
Ever since 2006 when the government started to invest in developing the technology to offer patients a means to get medical treatment remotely, medical staff have been opposing the idea saying that there are other methods that are safer such as dispatching special ambulances to get the patients directly.
Also, considering that access to medical clinics and hospitals in Korea, even for people living in remote areas, is far more developed and better in comparison to other countries bigger in size, the so-called "smart medical treatment" will have to come up with more feasible and outstanding advantages to be implemented.
Hong Yoo, Arirang News.