Various medical institutions in Korea including private hospitals, general hospitals, oriental hospitals and public health centers provide high quality medical services through medical specialists and cutting-edge medical equipment. Highly advanced medical fields in Korea include ophthalmology, spine surgery, dentistry, plastic surgery, heart surgery and infertility treatment. With the rapidly increasing number of foreigners visiting or residing in Korea, more medical facilities have opened international clinics and have endeavored to provide medical services that best meet foreigners` medical needs and global standards. Korean medical facilities are categorized into three types by the number of medical departments and the size of the medical facilities. To use thirdtier hospitals, a patient needs a referral letter from a first or second-tier medical facility. If the patient goes directly to a third-tier hospital without a referral letter, he/she cannot receive medical insurance coverage and will have to pay the high medical costs. Foreigners can use medical services from international clinics in third-tier hospitals directly, however, it ismore costly.
First-tier medical facilities
These types of facilities include private hospitals and public health centers. First-tier medical facilities have a limited number of medical departments and provide a comprehensivemedical service for treating and preventing early symptoms of diseases.
Second-tier medical facilities
Second-tier medical facilities have medical specialists and more than 4 medical departments and provide medical services for both inpatients and outpatients. In general, these types of facilities have 30 to 500 beds. Emergency treatment is available.
Third-tier medical facilities General hospitals or hospitals belonging to medical schools are categorized as third-tier medical facilities. These types of facilities have medical specialists in all different medical departments, more than 500 hospital beds and offer specialized medical services for emergencies.
How to make medical appointments
To receive fast and convenient treatment it is recommended that you make medical appointments in advance. You can make appointments by visiting or calling the hospital. Also, appointments are available through faxor the hospitalwebsite.Whenyou visit a hospital tomake an appointment, bring your insurance card with you. Fill out an appointment application form and submit it at the Patient AffairsDepartment window.
Paying for medical treatment
For payment of medical costs, you need to go to the Administration office of the hospital. Most hospitals take credit cards for payment. At some hospitals with international clinics, you can pay the medical fees through the international clinics. Or international clinics can assist you in preparing documents needed for the payment. In general, many hospitals can provide English receipts for medical treatment performed. The medical expenses vary depending on whether you have insurance or not. Some hospitals accept overseas health insurance from the insurance companies the hospital is affiliated with. For overseas health insurance coverage, the foreigner needs to pay first and submit a claim to his/her insurance company.