Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
'Pandemic spurs full-scale launch of remote healthcare services'
Lee Wang-jun, chairman of Myongji Medical Foundation, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the newspaper's office in Seoul, Nov. 30. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Lee Hyo-jin
Myongji Hospital has independent unit committed to virtual care system
By Lee Hyo-jin
The coronavirus pandemic has greatly influenced the medical industry, boosting its digital transformation and introducing new healthcare models for contactless services.
Lee Wang-jun, chairman of Myongji Medical Foundation, who began preparing for the digital transformation long before the COVID-19 outbreak, said the pandemic has accelerated the launch of remote healthcare services
Myongji Hospital in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, established MJ Virtual Care Center in August, the first of its kind to be introduced by a medical institution.
“We are the first in the country as a medical institution to launch a full-scale virtual care system, which goes far beyond what we know as telemedicine,” Lee said during an interview with The Korea Times at the newspaper's office in Seoul, Nov. 30.
MJ Virtual Care Center operates as a completely independent organization at the hospital, with its own professional medical personnel and online platform equipped with AI and big data technology.
“Virtual care is not limited to remote consultation between a patient and doctor. It is an integrated healthcare platform which connects offline and online services, enabling prevention, diagnosis of diseases and daily life care for chronically ill patients through constant monitoring,” Lee explained.
As the demo version of the system has proven to be successful throughout the last few months, the center will soon introduce an app through which patients can get medical services on a 24/7 basis.
He noted that the system will be mainly operated by membership contracts. It has already met high demand from Koreans living abroad, who experience hardships due to low accessibility to medical services. The hospital recently made agreements with Korean diaspora associations in Atlanta, Hawaii and Guatemala.
Local companies that provide their employees with medical welfare such as regular health checkups are also willing to use the virtual care program so their employees can get virtual consultations from Myongji.
Medical staff at MJ Virtual Care Center established by Myongji Hospital engage in remote consultations with Koreans living abroad. / Courtesy of Myongji Hospital
Public healthcare at private hospital
Another strategy at Myongji Hospital which makes it stand out among other private medical organizations is its emphasis on the public healthcare sector.
“As a late-starter, we targeted on what the frontrunners were missing,” Lee said. He found a niche in Korea's weak public healthcare sector, as other big hospitals were less willing to participate in state-led programs in times of public health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, due to relatively low profitability.
In 2012, the Public Health and Medical Services Act was revised to allow private hospitals to provide public medical services by being entrusted and funded by the government, so they can get the necessary facilities such as negative pressure rooms. And Myongji Hospital was the first to establish its own public health medical service team.
“It may be hard to make direct profits out of public health services from the beginning, but it can be developed as our strong point, eventually leading to leadership and competitiveness in the local community,” Lee said.
He suggested that an easier way to enhance public healthcare in Korea is to attract more private hospitals to the public service sector to invest in essential healthcare such as ER and ICU capacity by giving them suitable rewards and merits.
He is attempting to break new ground by doing what others don't or won't do. “When I first acquired the hospital 10 years ago, I vowed to concentrate on enhancing our ER capacity, which was perceived as an odd strategy in this field because it's hard to make money from it.”
But by building its emergency response system and essential care units, Myongji Hospital was able to attract more local patients living nearby.
The hospital has implemented a dual-track system in order to cope with the prolonged pandemic.
“We have completely divided our medical resources, so that 20 percent are mobilized for coronavirus patients in isolation wards, and another 80 percent can treat general patients,” Lee said, referring to it as “chasing two hares with two hounds.”
Thanks to the dual-track system, the hospital can keep receiving foreign patients despite the pandemic. As foreign patients with serious illnesses are exempt from the two-week self-quarantine rule upon arrival, they can get coronavirus tests in isolation wards, and then directly proceed with treatment for their illnesses in ordinary wards after testing negative.
Through comprehensive care from pre-arrangements to aftercare using a virtual care system, the international healthcare center (IHC) in Myongji Hospital has attracted around 700 foreign patients from abroad such as Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia, and over 2,300 foreign nationals living in Korea
“We are putting all efforts into receive more foreign patients, including those who find it difficult to go to major hospitals that are reluctant to receive foreign patients amid the pandemic,” Lee said.
3rd wave of COVD-19 tougher than previous ones
Regarding the current pandemic situation in Korea, Lee predicted that the third wave will be tougher than the previous ones with continuous sporadic infections, met with dry winter weather.
“But the country won't be able to change its fundamental antivirus model, the track-and-trace scheme. This may lead to exhaustion in the future,” Lee said, adding that the health authorities should keep a balance between regulation and mitigation.
He predicted that the situation will likely stabilize within next year, now that vaccines are being introduced, although full eradication may not be possible. “Then countries won't have full-scale lockdowns or prevention of exchanges. The era of a new normal will come,” he said.