Unison Healthcare Group has been deeply involved in Taiwan for 65 years. The telemedicine system, Teladoc InTouch, it has brought in beyond Taiwan borders since 2015 has integrated medical institutions of various levels and locations through the Internet to provide 24-hour remote consultation services. Health Ministry organized a pilot telemedicine program in 2018, connecting the Ministry of Health and Welfare Taitung Hospital Chenggong Branch with Kaohsiung Chang Sung Memorial Hospital of the C.G.M.F. through a telemedicine system to provide residents in Chenggong Town with medical-center-grade ophthalmologist, otolaryngologist, and dermatologist consultations. Teledoc’s first telemedicine consultations was thus carried out in this country, said Chen-hung Chen, the assistant president of the Marketing Department.

Looking at the world’s data, the number of doctor’s appointments made by Teladoc globally exceeded 10 million last year. A number of solutions were presented for hospitals to provide telemedicine, including the cross-hospital telemedicine integration of critical care, outpatient department, inpatient department, and post-discharge services. The needs of clinical operations, such as the compatible connection of various specialized devices, the distortion-free online transmission, the accessibility even with low bandwidth, and the cross-departmental data integration, can all be met, said Chen-hung Chen.

Chen-hung Chen pointed out that the pandemic has fuelled demand and increased the urgency of the telemedicine market. Telemedicine should be regulated as soon as possible in this country. For example, medical treatments should be graded according to injuries and examinations to provide solutions so that doctors would not need to worry about breaking the law when they practice medicine. Standards should also be set for the equipment by referring to regulations in other countries so that manufacturers intending for development would know what standards are to be met. For personnel engaged in telemedicine, qualifications and codes of practice should be established. In terms of the government’s monitoring measures, it is suggested that the government should take the lead to foster the development of this industry in the future.