90% of foreign patients satisfied with Korea's medical services: survey

Korea's medical services have gained much recognition from foreign patients, with more than 90 percent expressing willingness to receive treatment again. / Gettyimagebank

By Kim Jae-heun

Korea's medical services have gained much recognition from foreign patients, with more than 90 percent expressing willingness to receive treatment again and recommend the services to acquaintances back home, a government survey showed, Wednesday.

In the survey conducted by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute on 1,200 foreign inpatients and outpatients who visited Korea last year from various regions ― including Russia, China, the United States, Japan and the Middle East ― respondents gave an average 90.5 points out of 100 for their satisfaction with the treatments.

Since the assessment began in 2012, patient satisfaction has been on the increase with grades improving from 88 points in 2012 to 90.5 last year.

The foreign patients were especially highly satisfied with medical and non-medical services, as well as convenience in registration, payment system and medical coordination.

They pointed out the need for improvement in terms of hospitals' lack of detailed explanation of medical bills and doctors' insufficient explanation about their medical problems before and after treatment.

Also, 93.3 percent of surveyed patients said they would be willing to return to Korea for medical services, and 94.8 percent said they will recommend their friends or family to receive treatment here.

“About 320,000 foreigners visited Korea for medical services in 2017. We will continue to work to improve services through consultations with hospital staff,” a ministry official said.