Initial Telemedicine Visits Limited to Local Clinics; Prescriptions Capped at 7 Days

Proposed Amendments to Medical Service Act Enforcement Rules and Other Regulations Open for Public Comment
Telemedicine Consultations Capped at 30% of Medical Institutions' Total Consultations
Medication Delivery Standards to Be Established... Measures to Prevent Telemedicine-Only Pharmacies
Stronger Platform Oversight... Certification Required for Platforms with 100,000 or More Users

Going forward, patients receiving telemedicine must use a clinic-level medical institution in the same metropolitan city or province as their registered address, and prescriptions issued during an initial telemedicine consultation will be limited to a maximum of seven days. Telemedicine consultations will be capped at 30% of a medical institution’s total consultations, and certification will be mandatory for telemedicine platforms that meet a certain size threshold.

On October 18, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it would give public notice of proposed partial amendments to the Enforcement Rules of the Medical Service Act and the Rules on Administrative Dispositions for Medical Services until November 9, 2026. The amended Medical Service Act is scheduled to take effect on December 24, 2026.

Under the proposed amendments, standard telemedicine consultations will be available to patients who have received an in-person consultation at the same medical institution for the same symptoms within the past six months. By contrast, the criteria for an initial telemedicine consultation will apply to patients consulting that medical institution for the first time, those whose in-person consultation for the same symptoms was more than six months ago, and those whose symptoms differ from those for which they recently received an in-person consultation.

Initial telemedicine consultations will be permitted only if the patient's registered address and the location of the medical institution are in the same metropolitan city or province. If the patient has registered their actual place of residence in the telemedicine support system, that address will be used instead. However, patients specified by law, including those with rare diseases or type 1 diabetes, people with registered disabilities, and long-term care beneficiaries, may receive an initial telemedicine consultation at a medical institution in a different metropolitan city or province.

As a rule, telemedicine consultations must be conducted at clinic-level medical institutions. However, in unavoidable cases, such as for patients with rare diseases or those who require follow-up care after surgery or a procedure, consultations will also be permitted at hospital-level medical institutions.

As a rule, prescriptions issued during an initial telemedicine consultation will be limited to seven days. However, if the patient's treatment and prescription history for the condition can be verified and a medical professional determines that continuing the existing treatment is necessary, a prescription for up to 30 days may be issued on one occasion only. During telemedicine consultations, prescriptions for narcotics, psychotropic drugs, medicines at risk of misuse or abuse, and obesity treatments will generally be prohibited. Prescriptions for narcotics and psychotropic drugs may be exceptionally permitted when they are necessary to treat patients with rare diseases or others who meet specified requirements.

Measures to Curb Telemedicine Abuse... Limits on Consultation Volume and Prescriptions

To prevent telemedicine from being used excessively as a substitute for in-person consultations, the number of telemedicine consultations at each medical institution will be limited to 30% of its total consultations in each half-year. The average monthly number of telemedicine consultations per medical professional in each half-year will be capped at 500 for physicians and 130 for dentists and Korean medicine doctors. Nighttime and holiday consultations will be excluded from the calculation. Before a consultation, medical professionals must verify the patient's identity and eligibility. Video calls will be the default, although voice calls will be permitted in specified cases.

Regarding the delivery of medicines, the amendments will establish the areas in which medicines may be handed over outside pharmacies and the basis for outsourcing related work. They will set out requirements for pharmacy operators, including providing medication guidance, and for delivery companies, including establishing delivery terms and conditions. Patient inducement practices, such as providing medicines free of charge, and the improper provision of money or other benefits by delivery companies will also be prohibited. The government plans to pursue amendments to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act to prevent pharmacies from specializing exclusively in telemedicine.

Oversight of telemedicine platforms will also be strengthened. Businesses seeking to provide or operate a platform must report its service name, operating methods, fees, and information-protection measures. Platforms with at least 100,000 cumulative registered users must apply for certification. The certification process will assess the appropriateness of brokerage functions, identity-verification procedures, information protection, and platform operations.

In addition, telemedicine standards may be temporarily relaxed when in-person consultations are significantly difficult due to the spread of an infectious disease, a large-scale disaster, or disruptions to medical supply. Medical institutions that violate the relevant standards may be ordered to take corrective measures. Administrative actions, including corrective orders, business suspensions, and cancellation of accepted reports, will apply to platforms that violate reporting or certification requirements or improperly handle personal information.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to gather opinions from the public and relevant organizations during the public notice period before finalizing the proposed amendments. A separate public notice period for proposed amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Medical Service Act is underway from September 23 through November 2, 2026.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.