Myongji Hospital in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Emergency rooms at large hospitals in South Korea are bustling with an influx of patients exhibiting mild symptoms, data showed Monday.
Preliminary data received by Rep. Jung Choun-sook of the main opposition Democratic Party from the National Medical Center reveals that the number of individuals who visited emergency medical centers in 2022 was 7,694,473.
Of the total, only 43.6 percent were first- to third-grade patients, classified as emergency and critical cases. In contrast, more than half, accounting for 53.4 percent, were fourth- and fifth-grade patients, classified as non-emergency and mild cases.
Looking at the breakdown by year, the proportion of patients with mild symptoms was 54.9 percent in 2016, 55.1 percent in 2017, 55.4 percent in 2018, 54.3 percent in 2019, 52.1 percent in 2020, and 53 percent in 2021.
“There is a widespread belief among the public that they should seek diagnosis at large hospitals,” said Kim Sung-joon, the head of the National Emergency Medical Center under the National Medical Center.
“Moreover, the threshold for emergency room admission is low due to the minimal medical costs associated with indemnity medical insurance.”
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
