의료광고 법제 변화와 개선 방향

The legislative changes in medical advertising regulation on the Medical Services Act can be largely divided into three eras. The first is the era (1951-1973) of complete prohibition of medical advertising, in which comprehensively prohibited all kinds of medical advertising for commercial purposes because the physician-patient relationship was regarded as paternalism rather than contractualism.  The second period (1973-2003) is the era of limited permission of medical advertising As the equal contractual relationship became more generally acknowledged, the scope of medical advertising was expanded. However, the principle of medical advertising regulation had been unchanged : prohibition with strict exemption. The last (2003-present) is the era of extended permission of medical advertising, which was the turning point of medical advertising regulation from prohibition to permission in principle.  Although the current Medical Services Act was reformed to reflect the current medical market, several matters still remain to be solved. Theses matters include medical advertising related to medical institute assessment system, medical advertising pre-review system, journal-type advertising. In addition, it is necessary to make regulations more concise and understandable in order to give consumers more correct medical information. The key element to consider for the reform of medical advertising regulation is the consumer's ignorance of information which causes the market failure in healthcare sector. Therefore, the provision of objective information to consumers may revitalize the healthcare market function and to promote its efficiency.