Clinics in Financial Shambles
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Polarization is taking place among local health-care facilities with small-size neighborhood clinics in financial shambles as patients ignore them and visit larger general hospitals.
The National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) reported Monday that about 10 percent of the clinics see fewer than 10 patients a day, and 10 percent of them go bankrupt each year.
The report showed that 2,061 small-size neighborhood clinics shut down last year, with 4,000 remaining heavily indebted.
In 2008, 2,258 clinics ― 8.4 percent of the total nationwide ― administered to 10 patients or less a day, making it hard for doctors to run a business.
According to the Korean Medical Association, the doctors' lobby group, a physician earns a little over 10,000 won per patient and one needs to have more than 100 patients per day to make ends meet.
The number of clinics or hospitals that applied for a loan to the Medical Loan Network, a loan system for doctors run by the NHIC and the Industrial Bank of Korea, reached 3,914 last year. Their combined debt totaled 1.4 trillion won in 2008, a more than 59 percent jump over three years.
Rep. Jeon Hyun-heui of the main opposition Democratic Party said that the "collapse" of clinics could become a "national disaster."
"Clinic doctors do more than treat ailments," the former dentist said. "They can prevent and detect diseases at an early stage. If this primary medical system breaks down, patients will eventually have to spend more money for treatment."
General hospitals, on the other hand, saw a rush of patients - more than they could handle. The report showed that medical fees a few large hospitals receive make up more than 66 percent of the medical bills. Currently, general hospitals are required to receive patients only after a referral from doctors at neighborhood clinics.
Under the current system, however, both general hospitals and clinics are under the same wing of the national insurance system, encouraging patients to visit larger hospitals.
"Many physicians at clinics are capable of handling most of the ailments they specialize in. However, patients seldom trust them and line up for weeks to be examined by famous professors," KMA spokesman Jwa Hun-jung told The Korea Times.