Abstract
With an increase in life expectancy, rising healthcare costs have burdened public finances. While some illnesses progress rapidly, others can be controlled by improving the quality of daily life. This chapter outlines an analysis of digital healthcare development in South Korea. Given the aging population, the healthcare industry has been expanding to support people in the pre-patient stage. Notable among them is the mHealth industry that involves the use of mobile devices. The present discussion of social issues, policies, regulations, and case studies facilitates an understanding of the industry’s formation and potential. A case study examines the utilization of the mobile healthcare services provided by public health centers in South Korea as the base model and the use of mHealth during COVID-19. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the potential of the government’s mHealth model.
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Notes
- 1.
Wireless health care: Healthcare devices and services to which wireless technology has been adapted. This is a different concept from mHealth because not all wireless services are used on mobile devices.
- 2.
mHealth(Mobile healthcare): A healthcare service that utilizes mobile devices. It is a different concept from wireless healthcare in that all mobile devices are not wirelessly connected.
- 3.
Telehealth(Telemedicine): To provide patients with medical and health-related services and information through the internet.
- 4.
EMR/EHR: A patient management system that records patient health data on a digital platform.
- 5.
Growth engine: Core technologies, products (materials, parts, equipment, facilities), and services that, if discovered and nurtured through government and national strategic choices and support over the medium to long term, are expected to create new markets, develop into new industries, and contribute significantly to value-added and job creation over the long term.
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Lim, Y.J., Kim, T.J. (2022). Digital Healthcare Development and mHealth in South Korea. In: Kodama, K., Sengoku, S. (eds) Mobile Health (mHealth). Future of Business and Finance. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4230-3_4
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