- The Standard Package: Medical records translated into English (some hospitals accept Korean; very few accept Arabic or French without certified translation):
- Stage 1: Coordinator Acknowledgment (1–3 Business Days): A patient coordinator — typically a bilingual Korean staff member, not a physician — confirms receipt and tells you which specialist will review your case
- Stage 2: Physician Pre-Assessment Note (3–10 Business Days): The relevant department head or senior specialist reviews your documents and produces a written pre-assessment
- Stage 3: Video or Audio Consultation (If Needed): For straightforward procedures — LASIK, dental implants, hair transplant, many cosmetic surgeries — hospitals typically don’t schedule a video call before your arrival
You’ve shortlisted a Korean hospital for your treatment. Now you need to get on a call with their international patient coordinator — ideally before you book flights.
This guide covers what Korean hospitals actually do in a remote consultation, what to prepare, what to send in advance, and how to read the outcome so you arrive ready rather than anxious.
Why Remote Consultations With Korean Hospitals Work Differently
Korean hospitals’ international patient departments — called 국제진료센터 (international healthcare centers) at larger institutions — run their remote intake differently from how Western clinics handle video calls. Most do not use Zoom for initial medical assessment. Instead, you’ll typically go through three distinct stages before any video with a doctor is scheduled:
- Document review by a coordinator (not a doctor)
- Physician pre-assessment note (written, based on your records)
- Video or audio consultation (optional, and often only for complex cases)
Knowing this prevents the most common patient frustration: sending an email and waiting for a call that isn’t coming until your records are reviewed.
What to Prepare Before You Make First Contact
Korean hospitals registered with the Medical Korea program (KHIDI, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute) expect a specific document package before a remote consult makes sense. Arriving with this ready shortens your waiting time from weeks to days.
The Standard Package
Medical records translated into English (some hospitals accept Korean; very few accept Arabic or French without certified translation):
- Most recent diagnostic imaging: MRI, CT, PET-CT, X-ray — send the actual DICOM files, not just the radiologist’s written report. KOIHA-accredited hospitals (Korean International Healthcare Accreditation) use in-house radiologists who re-read original images.
- A summary of your treatment history, ideally from your current treating physician, covering diagnosis date, interventions tried, and current medications.
- For surgical cases: operative reports from prior procedures, if any.
- For oncology: pathology reports, including tumor grade, stage, and receptor status. Korean oncology centers will not proceed to a treatment discussion without these.
What to send in the first email (before any call):
Subject your message clearly: “[Your Name] — [Condition/Procedure] — Inquiry for International Patient Center.” Include your nationality, your current country of residence, your approximate available travel window (month and year), and your budget bracket.
KHIDI’s hospital network sees roughly 600,000 foreign patient visits per year; coordinators triage by completeness of the first message.
Keep the attachments under 20 MB per email. Hospitals using Naver or Kakao enterprise mail systems have size limits. Compress DICOM stacks before attaching; use Google Drive or Dropbox links for anything larger.
The Remote Consultation Sequence — Stage by Stage
Stage 1: Coordinator Acknowledgment (1–3 Business Days)
A patient coordinator — typically a bilingual Korean staff member, not a physician — confirms receipt and tells you which specialist will review your case. They’ll ask clarifying questions in writing. Answer these precisely; vague responses add another round-trip to the queue.
If a hospital doesn’t acknowledge within 5 business days, send a follow-up to the same thread.
Contacting the hospital’s international patient center directly, with a complete first message, is the most reliable way to keep Stage 1 short.
Stage 2: Physician Pre-Assessment Note (3–10 Business Days)
The relevant department head or senior specialist reviews your documents and produces a written pre-assessment. This note typically includes:
- Whether the hospital can treat your condition
- Proposed treatment plan and approximate duration of stay
- A cost estimate (Korean hospitals are required by the Medical Disputes Mediation Act to provide written cost estimates for foreign patients — this is a legal requirement, not a courtesy)
- Any additional tests required on arrival before treatment can begin
The cost estimate will be a range, not a fixed price.
Korean medical costs vary by admission category (general ward vs. VIP), room type, and whether you hold Korean national health insurance (you won’t as a foreign patient, so you’ll be on the international uninsured rate). Ask explicitly for the international self-pay rate.
One thing most patients miss: ask the coordinator whether the quoted rate includes the translator fee. KOIHA mandates that accredited hospitals provide medical interpretation services, but some bill it separately at KRW 30,000–80,000 per session (~$22–$60 USD).
Stage 3: Video or Audio Consultation (If Needed)
For straightforward procedures — LASIK, dental implants, hair transplant, many cosmetic surgeries — hospitals typically don’t schedule a video call before your arrival. The physician pre-assessment note IS the remote consultation.
For complex or high-stakes cases (cancer treatment, organ health, major orthopedic surgery, fertility IVF), a video call with the physician is common and worth insisting on.
Schedule it through the hospital’s international patient center and ask for it to be with the treating physician, not a general intake doctor. Bring written questions — Korean physicians appreciate structured appointments. Record the call for reference (ask permission first).
Time zones: Seoul is KST (UTC+9). Most hospital international departments offer call windows between 09:00–12:00 and 14:00–17:00 KST, Monday to Friday.
For patients in West Africa (WAT, UTC+1), that’s 01:00–04:00 and 06:00–08:00 local time — early morning calls are unavoidable. For Gulf patients (GST, UTC+4), it’s 04:00–07:00 and 09:00–12:00 — more manageable.
Reading the Pre-Assessment Outcome
Green light (proceed to booking): The hospital confirms it can treat you with their proposed plan, the cost estimate fits your budget, and the required arrival tests are minor.
Start your visa application immediately — the appointment confirmation from the hospital is a required document for the C-3-3 medical tourism visa or G-1-10 long-stay permit. Processing time varies: 2–5 business days at some Korean consulates, 4–6 weeks at others.
Yellow light (conditional): The hospital needs additional imaging or a biopsy result before committing. Don’t book flights. Run the required tests locally, then restart Stage 2.
Red light (not suitable): The hospital declines — typically because your case falls outside their specialist’s scope, your tumor stage is beyond what they treat, or they cannot achieve a better outcome than what’s available in your home country.
This is rare but happens; Korean hospitals registered with KHIDI are not permitted to accept patients whose condition they cannot properly address. Ask for a written explanation and, if possible, a referral suggestion.
Working Directly With the Hospital’s International Patient Center
Dealing with the hospital’s international patient center directly has three practical effects:
Pre-submission screening: Review your documents yourself before sending them to the hospital so that incomplete or unclear records are fixed first, not discovered two weeks into a hospital queue.
Priority queue access: A complete first message to the hospital’s international patient center helps your pre-assessment come back faster.
Document preparation support: If you need help compiling your records or understanding what format Korean hospitals require, ask the hospital’s international patient center which format it needs. Getting the document package right on the first submission is the single biggest time-saver in the remote consultation process.
KmedTour does not conduct medical consultations and does not provide medical opinions. Everything medical comes from the hospital’s physicians.
Frequently Overlooked Details
Your diagnosis in Korean (if possible): When your local doctor’s referral letter or discharge summary names your condition, having its Korean medical term alongside the English one speeds things up. Common ones: 갑상선암 (thyroid cancer), 척추협착증 (spinal stenosis), 불임 (infertility), 백내장 (cataract). The hospital’s international patient center can help.
Childhood medical history for complex adult cases: Korean physicians — particularly at Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center, and Seoul National University Hospital — commonly ask for childhood vaccination records and earlier diagnostic imaging when treating autoimmune or oncology cases. Have them scanned and available.
Prescription medication status: Korean customs has strict rules on bringing certain drugs into the country (particularly opioids, some psychiatric medications, and some controlled substances). Declare what you’re bringing.
MFDS (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) rules, not your origin country’s rules, govern what you can import for personal use during a medical stay. Ask the hospital’s international patient center in advance; in some cases the hospital can arrange a Korean equivalent prescription to avoid customs issues.
Checklist Before Your First Outreach
- [ ] Medical records compiled (imaging files, physician summary, operative reports if any)
- [ ] Records compressed / organized to under 20 MB or hosted with a shareable link
- [ ] Target treatment and rough travel window identified
- [ ] Budget bracket determined (including flights, accommodation, and accompaniment for a companion)
- [ ] Passport validity confirmed (must be valid for at least 6 months beyond planned travel date)
- [ ] Hospital international desk contacted directly
A well-prepared first message typically returns a physician pre-assessment within 5–7 business days at most major Korean medical centers. Ill-prepared messages — missing imaging, vague on condition, unclear on treatment sought — add weeks.
Check each hospital’s KOIHA accreditation and KHIDI registration yourself, or ask its international patient center. Nothing in this guide constitutes medical advice. All treatment decisions are made by licensed Korean physicians.