South Korean Health System Overview
Health System Rankings
Health System Outcomes
Coverage and Costs for Consumers
South Korea’s National COVID-19 Policy
Hospital Beds Per 1,000 Population (2020): 12.65
Doctors Consultations (In All Settings), Number Per Capita (2020): 14.7
Hospital Average Length of Stay (All Causes) (2020): 19.1 Days
Computed Tomography Scanners Per Million Population (2020): 40.59
Magnetic Imaging Resonance Units Per Million Population (2020): 34.24
Mammographs Per Million Population (2020): 65.09
Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD.Stat. Last accessed Sept. 14, 2022.
“As of 2012, the Republic of Korea has 3298 hospitals and 514,687 hospital beds (Table 4.1). 86.9% of hospitals and 86.7% of beds are located in urban areas. General hospitals are defined as hospitals with more than 100 beds and at least seven specialty areas, while hospitals are defined as having more than 30 beds. The percentage of general hospitals, dental hospitals and traditional medicine hospitals located in urban areas exceeds the average across the type of hospitals, and so does the percentage of their beds in urban areas.”
Source: World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific. (2015). Republic of Korea health system review. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.
“It is not possible to mention investment funding without mentioning the NHI which, as the main source of health financing, has brought an enormous increase in demand for health services in the Republic of Korea. In contrast to the reliance on public financing through social insurance, the Government has relied heavily on private providers for the delivery of health services and supported the private sector’s capital investment with various financial arrangements.”
Source: World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific. (2015). Republic of Korea health system review. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.
“Since universal health insurance was in put in place in 1989, the number of hospital beds has been increasing. Acute hospital beds have increased at the fastest pace and it is now said that acute beds are oversupplied. Table 4.3 shows that the number of acute beds tripled over two decades and increased by 0.4 beds per 1000 people (by about 20,000 beds)in the year from 2010 to 2011.
“This contrasts with the trend in some developed countries such as Japan, the United Kingdom, and USA, where the number of acute beds per capita has decreased and their utilization has diminished or at least remained stable. However, the average length of stay in acute beds has been increasing in the Republic of Korea (Figure 4.1). This is partly because providers have incentives to increase the length of stay in a situation where the supply of acute beds has been rising (OECD, 2012).
“Due to population ageing, the number of long-term care hospitals has rapidly increased. The share of LTC hospital beds was over 30% of total hospital beds in 2012 (Figure 4.2).”
Source: World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific. (2015). Republic of Korea health system review. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.
“Nowadays, there seems to be no problem with the availability, quality or quantity of basic equipment in the Republic of Korea. Introduction of new medical equipment into the health-care market has been very fast, for health services using expensive new medical devices are easily reimbursed under the fee-for-service payment. Utilization of high-tech medical equipment such as MRI, CT, and PET scanners is very popular among health-care providers and patients.
“As of 2012, there were 23.5 MRI units per million people and utilization was 19.6 per 1000 people (Table 4.4). There are 37.1 CT scanners per million people and their utilization is 129.3 per 1000 people. The numbers of MRI and CT scanners were well above the average of OECD countries (13.3 MRI units and 23.2 CT scanners, respectively), though lower than those of Japan (46.9 MRI units and 101.3 CT scanners).”
Source: World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific. (2015). Republic of Korea health system review. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.
Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and sixteen other nations.
Page last updated Sept. 14, 2022 by Doug McVay, Editor.
