Foreigners who visited Korean clinics expressed hesitation over revisiting them, mainly due to costs and service, although they were satisfied overall, a survey showed Sunday.

According to the state-run Korea Health Industry Development Institute’s report, foreigners’ satisfaction rate toward clinics was around 3.82 to 4.30 out of 5 points.

The survey was conducted online on some 1,200 patients from countries such as China, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates to analyze the recognition of Korean medical services overseas.

The Chinese had the highest satisfaction rate at 4.3 points, with more than 90 percent being at least somewhat satisfied with clinic services here.

The Vietnamese gave 3.96 points, followed by UAE nationals with 3.82 points.

The reasons for choosing Korean medical services were different across the countries.

About 27 percent of Chinese said Korean clinics were good at medical checkups and treatment while 25 percent of Vietnamese said they visited clinics here because of the credibility of foreign medical institutions. About 38 percent of the UAE respondents said they preferred Korean medical equipment.

Some respondents, however, said they would not visit Korean clinics again, citing as reasons cost, unfriendliness and inconvenience. The UAE visitors were the most reluctant to return, with about 35 percent of them indicating so, followed by the Vietnamese at 16.4 percent and the Chinese at 15.3 percent.

In response to complaints from foreign patients over the past years, the Korean government has been trying to improve the service at clinics and rooting out possible overpricing. The number of foreign patients here has surged with the accumulated number surpassing 1 million last year, the institute said.

To boost information transparency, the Welfare Ministry has provided information online about the average cost and time needed for plastic surgery as well as the necessary recovery period. This information has been available in five languages at www.medicalkorea.or.kr since last year.
The municipal government also took similar measures.

Last month, the Seoul Metropolitan Government released the medical costs of 50 clinics including large hospitals such as Seoul National University Hospital.

Late last month, the health authorities also opened a medical support center for foreign patients, offering services such as translation, legal consulting and visa counseling in four languages -- English, Chinese, Japanese and Russian.

Starting from next month, the ministry will also allow tax refunds for medical tourists who undergo plastic surgery or dermatological treatments The tax benefits will be offered temporarily only for a year, officials said. Foreign patients must first check whether the clinics carry out the tax refund policy, they added. 

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)