A screen showing “treatment-related statistics” accessed via Naver search. (Image provided by the National Health Insurance Service)
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans can now access detailed, government-verified statistics about specific diseases directly through Naver, the country’s dominant search engine, under a new public service launched Sunday.
The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) said it partnered with Naver to make health-care utilization data easily available to the public. When users search for one of 125 selected diseases—those most frequently queried and analyzable through NHIS’s vast claims database—Naver will display clinical information along with nationwide patient statistics.
For each condition, users can view the number of patients by age group and sex, based on last year’s figures drawn from actual treatment records after removing duplicates. The platform also provides total annual medical expenditures for the past five years, calculated using combined patient copayments and insurance reimbursements.
Because individual factors such as disease severity and comorbidities can skew costs, NHIS said it excluded the top and bottom 5 percent of spending cases when calculating average and range data. Users may estimate potential out-of-pocket costs by applying Korea’s standard copayment rates, including 30 percent for outpatient care and 20 percent for hospitalization.
Public Can Now Check National Patient Numbers Through Naver, Thanks to NHIS Tie-Up (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
NHIS President Jung Ki-seok called the initiative “a model example of public-private collaboration,” saying it expands access to reliable health information in everyday digital environments. The agency plans to broaden the service over time.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
