Korea Launches First Unified Disclosure System to Track Pharma and Device Payments
SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) on Monday launched a new centralized platform designed to bring unprecedented transparency to financial interactions between pharmaceutical and medical device companies and healthcare professionals.
The “Expense Report Management System,” formally opening Nov. 17, is the country’s first unified public database allowing citizens to review detailed records of legally permitted economic benefits provided by drug and device makers.
The platform replaces a temporary internal system and has been rebuilt on HIRA’s cloud infrastructure, offering automated data checks, mobile access through a responsive web design, and real-time notifications via KakaoTalk. Officials say system stability and processing speed have been significantly upgraded to handle surges in traffic.
The rollout marks a major step in tightening oversight of an industry long dogged by rebates and illicit kickbacks. HIRA plans to release the first set of public disclosures—covering 2024 spending—this December.
The launch comes amid renewed scrutiny over rebate-driven prescribing. Last week, Seoul police said they referred four doctors and three marketing agents to prosecutors after uncovering a kickback scheme involving diet-drug prescriptions at clinics in Gangnam, Guro and Jung districts.
It is the first case brought under tougher revisions to the Medical Service Act and Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, which now impose criminal penalties for exchanging money for prescriptions.
Police said the clinic operators routinely prescribed maximum doses of psychotropic appetite suppressants to attract patients, posted fabricated testimonials online and signed exclusive agreements with nearby pharmacies to split prescription profits 50-50. Investigators recovered 1.6 billion won (US$1.2 million) in illicit gains and found evidence of nondisclosure agreements used to silence former employees.
HIRA officials expressed hope that the new platform will strengthen transparency, reinforce ethical sales practices and ultimately improve the safety of patient care.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
