News Letter

COVID-19 Changes in the Supply of Untact Environmental Health Services 

While COVID-19 is acting as an important momentum for changes in the Korean health care system, various tasks necessary in the era of "with COVID-19" have been presented.

In the first half of 2020, health insurance medical expenses increased only 0.3% year-on-year. Considering that the average growth rate over the three years before the COVID-19 epidemic was 9.5%, it fell by 9.2 percentage points.

The number of people who received medical treatment and the number of days of hospitalization also decreased by 3.5% and 12.0%, respectively, compared to the previous year. The decrease due to the impact of COVID-19 is common in all types of medical institutions, but the width varies depending on the size of the medical institution. The decline in hospitals, clinic-level medical institutions, and health institutions (health centers), which are defined as "30 beds or less," was relatively large.

In order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and secure continuity in providing medical services, the government temporarily allowed non-face-to-face treatment of telephone counseling and proxy prescriptions in the COVID-19 epidemic.

After liberation, Korea has achieved tangible results in fighting acute infectious diseases due to economic development, improvement of living standards, and effective public health policies. In addition, as the population ages, the core tasks of disease policy began to be replaced by "response to chronic diseases from acute infectious diseases," and the central axis of health care policy shifted to the efficiency of the supply system, cost-effectiveness, and performance.

The designation of hospitals specializing in infectious diseases outside the Honam region has also been delayed, but two new designations (central and Yeongnam regions) have been confirmed in the wake of COVID-19 and have been included in the supplementary budget.