원격의료에 있어서의 의사의 설명의무에 관한 연구 - 원격의료와 의사의 설명의무 근거규정 도입에 대하여 -

Telemedicine, which encompasses medical technologies and information & communication technologies, refers to the system where providers of medical care provide demanders thereof far away from them with non-confrontational medical treatment services using information & communication technologies. Benefits of telemedicine result from the absence of confrontation which enables safe medical treatment even in the midst of an epidemic, increases accessibility to health care in distant or remote areas and contributes to the efficient management of the chronically ill with no need for moving. Consequently, the telemedicine industry which features non-confrontational medical treatment without constraints of time and space is growing in the world. As telemedicine is getting attention with the spread of COVID-19, the medical treatment by telephone calls has been allowed temporarily since February 24, 2020 in Korea as well. However, despite such benefits, telemedicine also has drawbacks. Non-confrontational medical practice inevitably brings the dependence of medical treatments on information delivered via information technology equipment. Therefore, there is an increased chance of misdiagnoses due to difficulties of doctors in making an accurate diagnosis in the absence of physical examination, including palpation, percussion, etc. Patients also go through several difficulties, taking on a role in operating medical devices or performing medical activities including examination, diagnosis, injection, etc., which brings the possibility that the patients who are not skilled at handling medical devices and have insufficient medical knowledge deliver misinformation to doctors. Telemedicine is a new area of medicine which emerged with the development of information and communication technologies, and it is expected that there are increases in medical accidents and side effects in this area due to its nature of non-confrontation. In the era of telemedicine, there is an increasing need for patients to make their own decision on whether they will get treatments through telemedicine, non- confrontational medical services, and to prepare against potential dangers in the process of telemedicine. Therefore, a doctor’s duty of explanation which includes providing patients with a full explanation on medical activities and gaining their consent is of growing importance. In Korea, there have been continuous attempts for the revision of the medical law to expand the range of application of telemedicine. However, there has been no specific discussion on the duty of explanation. Since the nature of telemedicine which includes non-confrontation serves as the basis for a doctor’s duty of explanation with contents distinct from that for the area of general medicine, there is an urgent need for the introduction of applicable provisions on the duty of explanation in the area of telemedicine for the minimization of confusion arising from the introduction of telemedicine, protection of self-determination of a patient and improvement of national health.