The government will begin full-fledged discussions to expand who is allowed to receive delivery of medications prescribed through telemedicine.
Ahead of the institutionalization of telemedicine in December, the government plans to improve the system for providing pharmacy-specific drug inventory information, alongside expanding medication delivery, to enhance patients' access to medicines.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said on the 20th that it will overhaul order in the pharmaceutical distribution market by consolidating related discussions, including restricting telemedicine intermediaries from concurrently operating as wholesalers, and will push for system improvements surrounding telemedicine and medication delivery.
Telemedicine is set to be institutionalized when the revised Medical Service Act takes effect on Dec. 24. In line with the rollout, the government is preparing subordinate regulations to allow medication delivery for certain groups only, such as residents of islands and remote areas, long-term care beneficiaries, people with disabilities, patients with infectious diseases, and people with rare diseases.
The government decided to go a step further and discuss expanding eligibility for medication delivery to all patients who use telemedicine. To that end, it will also consider amending relevant laws, including the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and the Medical Service Act.
However, it will also examine medication safety management issues that may arise from the expansion of delivery. The plan is to establish management measures for the entire process of delivering medicines to patients, including quality control of dispensed drugs, confirmation of actual receipt by patients, and medication counseling.
To this end, the government will operate a pan-government public-private council that includes relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Office for Government Policy Coordination, as well as pharmacist groups and telemedicine intermediaries.
Through the council, it plans to mediate conflicts among stakeholders that may occur during the process of expanding medication delivery and to discuss ways to ensure the stable adoption of telemedicine services.
The system for providing pharmacy drug inventory information to telemedicine intermediaries will also be improved.
Since May 6, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA) have been providing intermediaries with weekly information on whether each pharmacy purchases and dispenses drugs prescribed via telemedicine. Going forward, they will shorten the information provision cycle and include the quantities of purchases and dispensations by pharmacy.
The aim is to increase the accuracy and usability of information so patients can more quickly find pharmacies that actually have in stock the medications prescribed through telemedicine.
By expanding medication delivery and upgrading pharmacy inventory information, the government plans to make it more convenient for telemedicine users to receive medications, while establishing a safe non-face-to-face medication delivery system through discussions among stakeholders such as pharmacist groups and intermediaries.