Healthc Inform Res.  2015 Oct;21(4):255-264. 10.4258/hir.2015.21.4.255.

Proposal on the Establishment of Telemedicine Guidelines for Korea

• Jung EY
• Kang HW
• Park IH
• Park DK

• KMID: 2166875
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4258/hir.2015.21.4.255

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
An official guideline must be prepared for legalizing the doctor-patient telemedicine system based on the evaluations of the ongoing telemedicine demonstration project performed by the Korean government. In this study, critical items of the Korean telemedicine guideline are suggested based on the guidelines of developed countries.
METHODS
To investigate the telemedicine guidelines of developed countries, a keyword of 'telemedicine guidelines' was used for Google search to find out US, Australian, and Japanese guidelines. The common items included in two or more of the followings were screened: US Core Operational Guidelines for Telehealth Services Involving Provider-Patient Interactions, the Australian New South Wales (NSW) Agency for Clinical Innovation Guidelines for the use of Telehealth for Clinical and Non Clinical Settings in NSW, and the Japanese Guidelines for the practice of home telemedicine.
RESULTS
A total of 22 common items of the following four domains, which could be used for the Korean guideline were screened: the common features in overall considerations (6 items), the common features in clinical considerations (6 items), the common features in technical considerations (5 items), and the common features in privacy considerations (5 items). These 22 items were suggested as the critical items of the Korean telemedicine guideline.
CONCLUSIONS
The screened 22 items of the telemedicine guideline must be further organized for details. Additional studies and professional opinions on the telemedicine cases and on the guidelines of developed countries are required to establish the Korean guideline in the near future.

Keyword

Telemedicine; Health Care Reform; Telecommunications; Remote Consultation; Guideline

MeSH Terms

Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Developed Countries
Health Care Reform
Humans
Korea*
New South Wales
Privacy
Remote Consultation
Telecommunications
Telemedicine*

Figure

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  Figure 1 Telemedicine pilot service model.

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