Physicians warn that telemedicine for children will result in medical accidents and lawsuits

The medical community is strongly opposed to the policy of expanding the scope of non-face-to-face initial consultations to include pediatric patients.

Physicians warn that if the “fundamental principle” that non-face-to-face treatment should remain a supplementary measure of the face-to-face treatment is broken, patient safety will be compromised, and medical lawsuits will plague non-face-to-face consultation sites.

The Medical Policy Research Institute under the Korean Medical Association (KMA) published an issue briefing on Monday titled “Prerequisites for the Institutionalization of Telemedicine to Ensure Patient Safety and Medical Expertise: The Path to Preserving the Essence of Medicine.” The briefing focused on the risks of telemedicine, including cases of medical accidents and lawsuits, drawing on experiences from the medical field.

In the briefing, the medical community identified the most significant safety issue in telemedicine as “the impossibility of accurate diagnosis and prescription.”

It described the government's claim that safety issues did not arise during the pilot program as “one-sided.” The research institute pointed out that “to conclude that telemedicine is safe, it is necessary to track the health status of each patient who used telemedicine to verify that no other symptoms, conditions, or diseases arose during that period.”

The institute noted that telemedicine for pediatric patients (initial consultations) should be approached with greater caution. In a 2023 KMA survey, 69 percent of pediatricians responded that telemedicine for pediatric patients is inappropriate. Only 17 percent responded positively. Among pediatricians, only 4 percent agreed to allow initial telemedicine consultations for pediatric patients on holidays or at night, provided they were limited to medical consultations. Pediatricians viewed initial telemedicine consultations for pediatric patients as “unsafe and practically impossible to provide medical care (65 percent).”

“The risks of telemedicine for children are something pediatricians are experiencing firsthand. Children often struggle to express their symptoms, and even with parental statements, an accurate diagnosis can be challenging. Auscultation is essential but cannot be performed via telemedicine,” it said. “Telemedicine for children is a direct cause of misdiagnosis and delayed treatment.”

The institute also noted that such misdiagnoses and delays in treatment could lead to medical malpractice lawsuits, citing actual cases from countries that have already established telemedicine institutions. It reported that 66 percent of telemedicine-related medical malpractice lawsuits were due to misdiagnoses, with most involving first-time patients, expressing concern that the average compensation amount in telemedicine-related lawsuits is reported to be $520,000 (about 720 million won).”

“We must deeply consider whether the benefits gained from allowing initial telemedicine consultations outweigh the risks,” the research institute said. “The smooth implementation of telemedicine systems is only possible after agreeing on the prerequisites for ensuring the safety of in-person medical care. There is no value more important than safety in medicine.”