# Korean hospital accreditation

> Domestic accreditation assesses healthcare quality and patient-safety standards under the Medical Service Act.

Choose the credential and compare the source fields that identify the institution, scope and period.

Written by the Pyojiilgi Care Quality Study Group editorial team on October 29, 2026. Canonical address: https://accreditedhospitalguide.org/topics/korean-accreditation.

## What does Korean hospital accreditation assess?

The statutory criteria concern patient rights, safety, quality, service processes, management and satisfaction.

KOIHA describes an absolute assessment of standards. Its result retains that scope; no hospital rank or personal treatment prediction is added.

**Credential, authority and scope**

| Credential | Body | Scope |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Domestic accreditation | MOHW; delegated work by KOIHA | Quality and patient-safety standards |
| KAHF | MOHW / KHIDI / KOIHA | Foreign-patient service and patient-safety systems |
| Recruitment registration | Competent provincial or metropolitan governor | Registration requirements |
| JCI | Joint Commission International | Named program and listed facilities |

## Who performs Korean hospital accreditation?

MOHW has the statutory authority and KOIHA carries out delegated tasks.

The Enforcement Decree identifies assessment, notification, certificates, publication and follow-up among the delegated work. The official register is the route for the actual institutional record.

## Which grades does Korean hospital accreditation use?

Accredited, conditionally accredited and not accredited are separate results.

Keep the conditional wording with its one-year term and reassessment requirement. A grade should not be replaced with a more favourable or less favourable label.

## Is Korean hospital accreditation an opening licence?

Article 33 governs opening; Articles 58 onward govern accreditation.

A clinic’s opening notification and hospital-level permission must be checked through the relevant documents. Accreditation information answers its own standards-assessment question.

## Is Korean hospital accreditation mandatory for every clinic?

The Act has a general application route and a separate long-term-care-hospital rule with an exception.

Institution type matters to that legal rule. An absent match in an accreditation search should not be used to decide the opening legality of every institution.

## What dates matter for Korean hospital accreditation?

Use stated certificate dates and later decisions, not an upload date alone.

The four-year accredited and one-year conditional rules describe the award type. Follow-up or cancellation can affect a particular record within that original term.

## Where is Korean hospital accreditation checked?

Match KOIHA’s official record to the institution name, type, location, grade and period.

If identity or dates remain unresolved, refer the specific certificate details to the issuer. A missing field remains a question until the source resolves it.

**Fields to compare with an official record**

| Field | Question |
| --- | --- |
| Scheme and issuer | Which assessment or registration? |
| Name, type and location | Which institution or facility? |
| Grade or decision | What result is stated? |
| Stated period and checking date | Which period and observation? |

## What else do people ask about Korean hospital accreditation?

### What does Korean hospital accreditation assess?

The statutory criteria concern patient rights, safety, quality, service processes, management and satisfaction.

### Who performs Korean hospital accreditation?

MOHW has the statutory authority and KOIHA carries out delegated tasks.

### Which grades does Korean hospital accreditation use?

Accredited, conditionally accredited and not accredited are separate results.

### Is Korean hospital accreditation an opening licence?

Article 33 governs opening; Articles 58 onward govern accreditation.

### Is Korean hospital accreditation mandatory for every clinic?

The Act has a general application route and a separate long-term-care-hospital rule with an exception.

## Where do these numbers come from?

- [Medical Service Act](https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=290667) - National Law Information Center
- [Enforcement Decree of the Medical Service Act](https://www.law.go.kr/LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=283151) - National Law Information Center
- [What healthcare accreditation means](https://www.koiha.or.kr/web/kr/assessment/accditation.do) - Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation
- [Accreditation results and grades](https://www.koiha.or.kr/web/kr/assessment/accResult.do) - Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation
- [Official accreditation status search](https://www.koiha.or.kr/web/kr/assessment/accStatus.do) - Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation