About ClinicSum and the data
ClinicSum turns official Korean price data into plain English, so people from abroad can see what a treatment typically costs before they walk into a hospital.
Where the numbers come from
Korean hospitals must report the prices of non-covered treatments (비급여) to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA, 건강보험심사평가원). HIRA publishes them as open data through Korea’s Public Data Portal (data.go.kr) under the Korea Open Government License Type 1, which allows reuse with attribution. ClinicSum uses three parts of that service: the list of items, HIRA’s price statistics by kind of hospital and by region, and the list of hospitals reporting each item.
What each number means
- Median — HIRA’s middle price. The most useful single number, because a few very high or very low prices barely move it.
- Average — HIRA’s mean price; pulled up or down by unusual prices.
- Lowest / highest — the cheapest and most expensive price reported. These can be special cases or entry errors, so treat them with care.
- Hospitals — how many hospitals are listed for that item in the open data.
What is not included
- Small clinics (의원). The open data covers hospitals only. Clinics report to HIRA too; see how to check a clinic’s price.
- Cosmetic procedures such as botulinum toxin, fillers or eyelid surgery, which are not part of the reporting system.
- Hospital names. ClinicSum shows statistics only. It does not list, rank, recommend or refer patients to any hospital — HIRA itself warns that using its data to attract patients for profit can break the Medical Service Act.
Updates and currency
The data on this site was last updated on 23 October 2026. HIRA publishes a new round of hospital prices each year and hospitals can update their prices in between, so ClinicSum refreshes the numbers regularly. US$ amounts are rough conversions at ₩1,326 = US$1 (22 Oct 2026); use the button at the top of each page to switch the tables between won and dollars.
Not medical advice
ClinicSum describes treatments in general terms to explain prices. It cannot tell you whether a treatment is right for you — please talk to a doctor.
Who runs ClinicSum
ClinicSum is an independent site run by the team behind KoreaSum, a set of everyday calculators for foreigners living in Korea. It is supported by advertising and is not connected with HIRA, the Korean government or any hospital. Corrections and questions are welcome: contact us.