Most clinics have 60,000 calling in prescriptions

18 days after COVID-19 outbreak, the current billing status, total medical expenses amounted to ₩1.288 billion

COVID-19 outbreak showed that the government has temporarily allowed some phone consultations and prescriptions, and until recently, Clinics claimed about 60,000 cases, most actively making phone calls.

 

The total amount of medical treatment totaled ₩1.28 million, of which the total amount of clinics was ₩736.7 million.

 

The MFDS has compiled and released claims for a month and a half from February 24 to the 12th of this month when infectious diseases were most prevalent for phone consultations and prescriptions for medical institutions that are in limited use to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

 

This count is also interlocked with pharmacy drug proxy receipt, which was allowed at the same time as telephone consultations and prescriptions, so it is meaningful as an objective data for pharmacies to indirectly measure billing flow, location, and trends.

 

First, the number of medical institutions that conducted phone consultations and prescriptions in the past month and a half was 3072, and a total of 103,998 cases were charged as related examination fees.

 

In other words, 33.9 cases per agency that conducted telephone consultations and prescriptions during this period.

 

The total amount of medical bills they charged was ₩1,288,127,000, which is about ₩419,000 per institution, which is a bill for phone in counseling and prescriptions.

 

Looking at each type, both the number of claims and the size of medical expenses were by far the most overwhelmingly high in clinics.

 

It is analyzed that phone in counseling and prescriptions are mainly focused on the elderly and chronic patients.

 

During the month and a half, 2,231 clinics participated, claiming 59,944 cases, and the scale was about ₩736,792,000.

 

Subsequently, 109 general hospitals claimed 2,522 phone in consultations and prescriptions for reimbursed cost of ₩274,707,000.

 

It was found that 275 hospitals were implemented at a total of 1,493 cases and claimed at a scale of 1,673.4 million won.

 

Subsequently, 14 senior hospitals participated and claimed 2,858 cases.

 

The total amount was calculated as ₩43,551,000, which was similar to the nursing homes’ medical fee of ₩38,186,000.

 

On the other hand, this count reflects only the data requested by the medical institution, and may differ from the actual number of cases due to the different billing time and consultation time.

 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare explained that in the future, the number of medical institutions could change when they request additional examination fees.