The e-Health created new opportunities and challenges to the traditional health care in Korea by introducing information and communication technology. Many countries have been establishing e-Health vision and goals at the government level, however Korea has been establishing it with uncooperative vision and goals among numerous government offices since 2003. A single e-Health policy from these numerous government offices cannot cover all the aspects of the e-Health, which further hinders development of e-Health in Korea.
OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to review e-Health policies in various Government offices of Korea and to discuss the ways of policy integration among them and the role of each office.
METHODS: Recent polices of e-Health in the MOHW, MOCIE, MIC, and MOST were reviewed and compared.
RESULTS: The related departments in the MOHW, MOCIE, MIC, and MOST have been working on not only traditional health care systems but also e-Health including industrial and technological aspects. However, e-Health policies from these related departments has been only focusing on contents, infrastructure, method, and technology without any collaborative road map for the e-Health
CONCLUSION: There should be a balanced and collaborative strategy among government departments with a close relationship for the development of e-Health in Korea. |