▲ Kim Jung Ik (tommy1256@korea.ac.kr) Senior Reporter, The Granite Tower (GT)

I Robot, Terminator, and Gravity are all Science-fiction movies which vividly depict a futuristic world. Thanks to technology much of what was once the future is happening now. One such development, telemedicine, is currently being debated in Korea. In my opinion, the benefits of this technique outweigh any negatives and it should be implemented. So why not use it?

Telemedicine is the use of electronic signals to transfer medical data from one site to another via the Internet, satellite or videoconferencing telephone equipment in order to improve access to health care. The practice of telemedicine began in the early 1960s when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) first put men in space. The results were positive, allowing doctors to periodically check on the conditions of the astronauts. Thus, the United States (U.S.) government decided to implement this technology into rural and remote areas as a means to promote health care.

Some of the advantages of telemedicine include less patient time in waiting rooms, cost efficiency, and expedited transmission of medical information such as MRIs and X-Rays. On the other hand, some people worry about private information security since telemedicine sites might be hacked and that the absence of physical contact between doctors and patients might result in misdiagnosis. Both opinions seem reasonable and comprehensible. Nevertheless, it is foolish of us to slip away the great opportunity to take a leap into new era of medicine just because of few drawbacks.

Critics of telemedicine say that among its drawbacks, the largest is the huge initial expense of purchasing and installing the necessary equipment and training doctors in its use. When the Korea Medical Association (KMA) first suggested implementing telemedicine in 2004, the government rejected its proposal due to a lack of funds. However, these days business has decided to step in to help telemedicine in Korea. Samsung and LG have announced they plan to spend more than 250 million dollars in assisting the KMA.

According to the official website of Samsung, it has decided to promote this system by launching a telemedicine center Smartphone application so that people can have easy access to the results via smart-phone. Through the help of these organizations, Korea can further ensure the security of private information by hiring technicians to devise de-hacking system and train the local doctors to appropriately diagnose the diseases.

Removing the primary constraint can guarantee the biggest advantage of telemedicine - taking the doctor to remote places and limiting the possibility of misdiagnosis, information leaks and lack of communication between patients and doctors. U.S. and India are two countries that have experienced large success with telemedicine as the countries’ general death rate decreased more than 15 percent and people’s satisfaction rates were as high as 80 percent. Apart from these two benefits, there are many other advantages such as providing faster access to a patient’s medical history and reducing the risk of negative drug interactions.

Korea superficially seems extremely modernized as it has experienced great economic success in the past 20 years. However, when taking a deeper look, Korea is far from being urban and advanced since many people in rural areas are not receiving periodic health care. It is nearly impossible to construct hospitals everywhere they are needed in; thus, telemedicine could be a wise choice to ensure one of the basic human rights—the right to health.

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