J Korean Med Assoc.  2015 Dec;58(12):1171-1178. 10.5124/jkma.2015.58.12.1171.

Estimating financial loss to medical clinics resulting from the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreak in Korea

• Seo KH
• Kim SY
• Choi JW
• Lee JC
• Kim KH

• KMID: 2195146
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2015.58.12.1171

Abstract

Korea experienced an unprecedented national level disaster caused by the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in the first half of 2015. Because of the secretiveness of the government and the insufficiency of the nation's quarantine system, Korea could not effectively respond to the MERS coronavirus (CoV) outbreak. Many people suffered huge losses across most sectors, and medical clinics were no exception. Now the Korean Government and many professionals are discussing the matter of compensation. This study aimed to provide evidence for the necessity of compensation support. We conducted a questionnaire survey of the level of economic damage over the course of a month. The financial loss rate of medical clinics that experienced MERS damage has decreased by more than half over the previous year. The total financial loss of 48 medical clinics was about 1.6 billion Korean won (KRW) based on insurance benefits and 3.4 billion KRW based on sales. Due to the spreading of the MERS-CoV outbreak after May 20, 2015 in Korea, the loss rate in June was much higher than that in May or July. In July, the financial position tended to be restored to more than half of that in June but had not fully recovered to the level prior to the MERS-CoV outbreak. As most of the population, including professionals, perceive that the government is liable for damages from the MERS-CoV outbreak, the authorities concerned should prepare a compensation and redress plan. Furthermore, we expect our study to be used as good evidence for a redress plan for medical clinics damaged by the MERS-CoV outbreak.

Keyword

Coronavirus infections; Clinics; Insurance benefits; Commerce; Compensation and redress

MeSH Terms

Commerce
Compensation and Redress
Coronavirus Infections
Coronavirus*
Disasters
Insurance Benefits
Korea*
Middle East*
Quarantine

Reference

1. Kim EG, Lee S, Byun YT, Lee HJ, Lee TJ. Implementation of integrated monitoring system for trace and path prediction of infectious disease. J Korean Soc Internet Inf. 2013; 14:69–76.

2. Marsh. The economic and social impact of emerging infectious disease: mitigation through detection, research, and response [Internet]. [place unknown]: Philips Healthcare;2008. cited 2015 Nov 18. Available from: http://www.healthcare.philips.com/main/shared/assets/documents/bioshield/ecoandsocialimpactofemerginginfectiousdisease_111208.pdf.

3. Gostin LO, Lucey D. Middle east respiratory syndrome: a global health challenge. JAMA. 2015; 314:771–772.

4. Chan M. WHO director-general praises the world health assembly for its work [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization;2013. cited 2015 Nov 10. Available from: http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/2013/world_health_assembly_20130527/en/.

5. Lee WC. Post-MERS: the strategies to minimize the risks from new epidemics. J Korean Med Assoc. 2015; 58:689–691.

6. Ryu KH. The impact of MERS-CoV outbreak on tourism and future task in Korea. Korea Tour Policy. 2015; 61:8–17.

7. Cho GL, Yoo JS. Estimating economic loss from MERS-CoV outbreak. KERI Insight. 2015; (20):1–14.

8. Small and Medium Business Administration. The results form monitoring of small and medium enterprises related MERS-CoV outbreak. Daejeon: Small and Medium Business Admi-nistration;2015.

9. Seo KH. A survey on population's perception of MERS-CoV outbreak in Korea. Healthc Policy Forum. 2015; 13:27–35.

10. Choi JW, Kim KH, Moon JM, Kim MS. Public health crisis response and establishment of a crisis communication system in South Korea: lessons learned from the MERS outbreak. J Korean Med Assoc. 2015; 58:624–634.

11. Frieden TR. Shattuck lecture: the future of public health. N Engl J Med. 2015; 373:1748–1754.

12. Chun BC. Definition and management of the close contacts with Middle East respiratory syndrome cases: reflection and lessons in 2015 Korean outbreak. J Korean Med Assoc. 2015; 58:692–699.