Korea’s telemedicine startups seek growth abroad

South Korea’s telemedicine startups are seeking growth opportunities abroad in the face of regulations such as drug delivery restrictions that hinder their operations at home.

SoftBank backed-Doctornow, South Korea’s No. 1 telemedicine platform, said on Tuesday it would establish a subsidiary in Japan and launch non-contact medical services there, including medicine delivery. Its founder Jang Jiho will oversee the Japanese unit.

Telemedicine platforms provide remote diagnostics in partnership with hospitals and pharmacies.

“Japan is an attractive market with well-established telemedicine infrastructure such as broad networks with medical institutions and pharmacy chains,” Jang said.

Big tech companies such as Line Healthcare and Amazon Health have already launched online medical services in Japan.

Medihere Co., a South Korean telemedicine platform operator, is preparing to relocate its headquarters to the US. It has already opened a primary care clinic DoctorHere in the US, which also offers contact-free medical services.

It got off to a smooth start in the US by offering an unlimited subscription service for $119 a month.

Korea-based online healthcare company Life Semantics Corp. is slated to sign a definitive agreement with Praram 9 Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand next month to open its telemedicine platform, Dr. Call Thai.

“Thailand’s non-face-to-face medical treatment market has grown steadily to reach 120 billion won ($90 million),” said Ahn Si-hoon, head of Life Semantics’ Solution Experience division.

Lulu Medic introduced a contact-free medical service platform for Korean residents in Vietnam in 2022 and has since expanded its presence through the acquisition of Assist Card Korea, which offers travel insurance products and ambulance transportation.

Vietnam allows almost all telemedicine services, including medicine delivery.

Telemedicine platforms were introduced in South Korea in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the end of the pandemic, however, they have been banned from providing online services for users' first-time examinations since June of last year.

The number of non-contact medical platform users in South Korea dropped to 153,339 cases in June and July last year, from 222,404 per month on average during the pandemic period.

“Even if you receive non-face-to-face treatment, you still have to go to the pharmacy to buy the medicine. It remains a barrier for us,” said Seon Jae-won, chief executive of Meraki Place and co-chairman of the Telemedicine Industry Association.

A partial relaxation in the regulations gave them some breathing room, but medicine delivery bans still hamstring their domestic operations.

As half of the 29 domestic telemedicine platforms shut down last year, Doctornow is receiving voluntary retirement applications to cut 50% of its workforce.

Write to Eun-Yi Ko at koko@hankyung.com
 


Yeonhee Kim edited this article.