By Lee Kyung-min
The government will improve safety for foreign medical tourists and help hospitals invite more patients from overseas after the National Assembly agreed to pass a related bill.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday that the rival parties decided to pass the Medical Services Law that has been pending for more than a year.
The bill is part of the Park Geun-hye administration's measures to boost the economy.
It comes amid growing demand for better regulations regarding medical tourists visiting Korea.
The number of such patients is increasing rapidly by 36.9 percent annually, with an accumulated 1 million coming to receive services between 2009 and 2014, according to the ministry.
The new law is aimed at strengthening legal protection for foreign patients.
It calls for the government to crack down on cosmetic surgery clinics hiring illegal brokers, and provide better mediation for patients suffering from side effects. Medical institutions will also be gradually obliged to have insurance.
In order to help guarantee transparency of medical costs and clinic operation, the ministry will make public the average fees of medical treatments, especially plastic surgery which attracts more than half of all medical tourists coming here.
It will also disclose the names of clinics receiving high evaluations, the training level of medical staff and their emergency response capability including equipment installed in operating rooms.
Doctors are required to fully explain the side effects of surgery prior to obtaining patients' consent, and to wear a name tag at all times to prevent sub-standard, or "shadow" doctors from performing surgery.
The names of hospitals meeting such criteria will be shared online and provided to local governments as well as other foreign countries including China. Chinese patients account for more than 40 percent of the total medical tourists.
The new rule will also assist medical institutions that plan to operate in other countries, including offering tax benefits. It will also lay the groundwork for cooperation between the government and private sector to form a control tower for comprehensive support in the future.
The government expects the new bill to create some 110,000 jobs in the next two years and have a 6 trillion won economic effect.
The government will improve safety for foreign medical tourists and help hospitals invite more patients from overseas after the National Assembly agreed to pass a related bill.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday that the rival parties decided to pass the Medical Services Law that has been pending for more than a year.
The bill is part of the Park Geun-hye administration's measures to boost the economy.
It comes amid growing demand for better regulations regarding medical tourists visiting Korea.
The number of such patients is increasing rapidly by 36.9 percent annually, with an accumulated 1 million coming to receive services between 2009 and 2014, according to the ministry.
The new law is aimed at strengthening legal protection for foreign patients.
It calls for the government to crack down on cosmetic surgery clinics hiring illegal brokers, and provide better mediation for patients suffering from side effects. Medical institutions will also be gradually obliged to have insurance.
In order to help guarantee transparency of medical costs and clinic operation, the ministry will make public the average fees of medical treatments, especially plastic surgery which attracts more than half of all medical tourists coming here.
It will also disclose the names of clinics receiving high evaluations, the training level of medical staff and their emergency response capability including equipment installed in operating rooms.
Doctors are required to fully explain the side effects of surgery prior to obtaining patients' consent, and to wear a name tag at all times to prevent sub-standard, or "shadow" doctors from performing surgery.
The names of hospitals meeting such criteria will be shared online and provided to local governments as well as other foreign countries including China. Chinese patients account for more than 40 percent of the total medical tourists.
The new rule will also assist medical institutions that plan to operate in other countries, including offering tax benefits. It will also lay the groundwork for cooperation between the government and private sector to form a control tower for comprehensive support in the future.
The government expects the new bill to create some 110,000 jobs in the next two years and have a 6 trillion won economic effect.
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