SEOUL — South Korea’s health authorities are cracking down on digital health intermediaries. Under a newly proposed regulatory framework by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), non-contact telemedicine and prescription platforms will be legally barred from penalizing pharmacies or demoting them in search rankings when pharmacists exercise their professional judgment regarding prescriptions.

The draft guidelines, officially titled the Enforcement Notice on the Implementation and Management of Non-Contact Medical Treatment, seek to root out platform "abuse of power" within the digital healthcare sector. Specifically, Articles 26 and 27 of the proposal target arbitrary platform retaliation and unfair ranking mechanisms.

Protecting Pharmacist Autonomy

Under the proposed Article 26, platform operators are strictly prohibited from restricting a pharmacy's service access or intentionally lowering its visibility in search results simply because a pharmacist raised compliance concerns, verified prescription details, or refused dispensing/delivery based on statutory regulations.

While digital platforms strive for transactional speed and convenience, health officials emphasized that a pharmacist's legal and professional obligation to review prescriptions must never be subordinated to corporate platform metrics. However, the rule clarifies that protection is afforded strictly when decisions are made in accordance with relevant laws and without unjustifiable platform retaliation.

Severing the Link Between Prescription Volume and Search Rank

Article 27 addresses another core industry concern: algorithmic favoritism driven by sales history. Platforms will no longer be permitted to use a pharmacy's cumulative prescription forwarding counts, prescription rates, or specific drug fulfillment records to determine search listings or recommendation rankings.

Historically, critics argued that high-volume pharmacies enjoyed preferential placement, creating an unfair competitive loop. Under the new rules, listing algorithms must rely strictly on objective, verifiable criteria such as geographical proximity, operating hours, and real-time treatment availability.

An exception, however, is carved out for medication availability. Platforms will still be allowed to help patients locate pharmacies that currently hold or can procure specific prescribed drugs, drawing a clear line between performance-based favoritism and genuine patient care facilitation.

Greater Transparency and Compliance

To enforce accountability, the regulatory framework introduces mandatory record-keeping under Article 29. Platforms must digitally archive any criteria changes affecting search and sorting algorithms—along with the exact dates of modification—for a minimum of three years, ensuring audit readiness against data tampering.

Furthermore, the notice prohibits features that allow users to search for doctors or book appointments based on targeted drug preferences, curbing promotional loops tied to specific pharmaceutical products.

The administrative notice is open for public comment through the 20th, after which the Ministry of Health and Welfare is expected to finalize and implement the regulations.

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