Primary Care Home Visit vs Clinic Travel Cost Calculator Korea

Compare confirmed Korean primary-care home-visit patient charges with clinic medical bills, transport, parking, caregiver time, and work loss per visit, month, and planning period.

Confirm before comparing

This tool does not determine home-visit eligibility, urgency, or available care. In an emergency, contact 119 or an emergency department instead of using the calculator.

Step 1 · Confirmation status

Three comparison prerequisites

Open HIRA provider list ↗

Step 2 · 2026 official reference

Fee and patient-share category

This is a simple multiplication of the fee table. It excludes add-ons, separate items, and claim rounding, and is never inserted into actual costs.

Official base fee

KRW 131,720

Adjusted reference

KRW 131,720

Simple patient-share reference

KRW 39,516

Not an actual claim amount

Step 3 · Comparison schedule

Step 4A

🏠 Actual home-visit costs

Step 4B

🚕 Actual clinic-visit costs

Cost comparison result

Both routes cost the same

This compares only entered costs under a same-scope assumption and is not a medical decision.

Difference per visit

KRW 0

Monthly difference

KRW 0

3-month difference

KRW 0

Home visit and clinic visit cost comparison
RoutePer visitPer month3-month total
Home visitKRW 0KRW 0KRW 0
Clinic visitKRW 0KRW 0KRW 0

Home visit

Medical cost
KRW 0
Transport cost
KRW 0
Caregiver time value
KRW 0
Other work loss
KRW 0

Caregiver time 0 hours/visit

Clinic visit

Medical cost
KRW 0
Transport cost
KRW 0
Caregiver time value
KRW 0
Other work loss
KRW 0

Caregiver time 0 hours/visit

Caregiver hourly-value break-even

The entered fixed costs and hours do not produce a valid nonnegative break-even.

Items to verify

  • Confirm pilot participation in the HIRA list and directly with the provider.
  • A physician determines home-visit need and eligibility. Until confirmed, this is only a budget scenario.
  • Confirm that both routes can provide the same clinical scope before interpreting the cost difference.
  • The confirmed home-visit charge is zero. The simple reference above is not inserted into the comparison.
  • Outpatient medical cost is zero. Confirm patient charges for care, drugs, and tests.
  • Both routes total zero. Enter confirmed provider charges and an actual travel plan.

Checklist before booking

  1. Confirm current pilot participation in the HIRA list and by phone.
  2. Ask whether the physician confirmed need and whether a first visit is possible.
  3. Confirm service area, hours, weekly frequency, and booking steps.
  4. Request written confirmation of Fee I or II, add-ons, separate items, and expected patient charges.
  5. Confirm the clinic route can deliver the same needed tests and care.
  6. Ask whom to contact if the condition worsens and when home visits cannot replace emergency care.

Related calculators

Verified August 26, 2026 · South Korea Primary Care Home Visit Fee Pilot

The home-visit copay alone does not show the household decision cost

Taking a parent with limited mobility to a clinic can involve a taxi or car trip, parking, an accessible vehicle, preparation, travel, waiting, and caregiver work loss in addition to the medical bill. A physician home visit can involve a confirmed home-visit patient charge, separately billed care, tests or drugs, a pharmacy trip, and caregiver time at home. Comparing only one medical line can understate what the household will actually spend and give up.

This calculator uses the April 2026 Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, or HIRA, Primary Care Home Visit Fee Pilot Guide as a reference. It deliberately does not treat the official fee as the final claim. Confirm the participating provider and the physician’s determination first, then enter the provider’s actual patient-charge quote and the family’s travel and time plan. The result is a Korea-based cost worksheet, not a diagnosis, urgency assessment, eligibility decision, or provider recommendation.

Keep three different amounts separate

1 · Official base fee

The guide’s fee-table amount

This is the 2026 fee determined by provider category and Home Visit Fee I or II. The calculator displays it to explain the program structure.

2 · Simple patient-share reference

Fee × confirmed percentage

This is a simple multiplication using the selected adjustment and 30%, 15%, 5%, or 100% rate. It omits add-ons and claim-level rounding, so it is not an actual claim estimate.

3 · Confirmed actual charge

The amount used in comparison

This is the patient amount confirmed in a provider quote or itemized statement. Only the amount you enter in the actual-cost field enters the route total.

Official 2026 fees and patient-share references

The Korean won table in the April 2026 HIRA guide distinguishes clinics, hospitals or higher-level institutions allowed by the pilot, and public health medical centers. Fee I includes visit-related services, drugs, and treatment materials. Fee II can allow those items to be billed separately. Ask the provider which fee type it will use and request an itemized scope rather than selecting a type from price alone.

April 2026 Korean Home Visit Fee I and II table
Provider categoryHome Visit Fee IHome Visit Fee IIVerification note
ClinicKRW 131,720KRW 91,6302026 conversion factor reflected
Hospital or higherKRW 140,600KRW 97,080Confirm pilot exception and participation
Public health medical centerKRW 131,720No separate row in the guideUse Fee I reference only

Patient-share rates in the guide

  • 30% for a general National Health Insurance insured person or dependent
  • 15% for the guide’s confirmed category, including specified bedbound Long-Term Care grades 1 or 2 and covered home oxygen or ventilator users
  • 5% for confirmed reduced-copay assistance types 1 or 2 and Medical Aid types 1 or 2
  • 100% of the home-visit fee when a non-target patient requests a visit

Sequential-visit adjustments

  • 100% of the base fee for a standard visit
  • 75% from the second patient visited sequentially in the same building
  • 100% for the first patient in the same household
  • 50% from the second patient in the same household

Who may receive a primary-care home visit

The guide describes a patient who needs care because of disease, injury, or childbirth, cannot or has difficulty walking to a provider, and requests a home visit personally or through a caregiver. A physician makes the final determination of need. The ordinary pattern is at least one prior encounter with that physician, although a first-encounter home visit may be possible when the physician determines it is necessary. Ask the participating provider rather than assuming either outcome.

Residents of certain social welfare or Long-Term Care institutions who receive care through a contracted physician can be outside this pilot’s target. The calculator does not infer eligibility from an address, diagnosis, disability, or care grade. Providers define the service area and operating hours they can actually offer, so confirm participation, location coverage, and timing before booking.

Do not use this calculator for an emergency

A scheduled home visit is not an emergency dispatch service, and this calculator does not triage symptoms. If the situation appears urgent, contact South Korea’s 119 service or an emergency medical institution instead of comparing costs.

How to use the calculator

  1. Confirm the provider, physician determination, and comparable scope. Check the HIRA participating-provider list and call the institution. Ask whether the same required examination, tests, and prescribing can be delivered under each route.
  2. Select an official reference configuration. Choose provider category, Fee I or II, the confirmed patient-share category, and any sequential-visit adjustment. This explains the fee structure but does not create the actual cost input.
  3. Use the same frequency and period. Apply the same number of clinically planned visits to both routes. Include caregiver preparation, round-trip travel, waiting, the visit, and pharmacy time where relevant.
  4. Enter actual costs route by route. For the home route, enter the confirmed patient charge, verified separate items, and pharmacy travel. For the clinic route, enter medical charges, taxi or car cost, parking, and accessible transport.
  5. Read warnings and the breakdown. Do not stop at the headline difference. Identify whether medical charges, transport, caregiver time, or other work loss creates the difference, then revise the plan with the provider and family.

Formula and caregiver time value

Home-visit burden per event

Confirmed home-visit patient charge
+ additional treatment charge
+ drugs, tests, and materials
+ home-route transport
+ caregiver hours × hourly value
+ other nonduplicated work loss

Clinic-visit burden per event

Outpatient medical patient charge
+ drugs, tests, and materials
+ taxi, car, or transit round trip
+ parking and accessible transport
+ caregiver hours × hourly value
+ other nonduplicated work loss

What the hourly-value break-even means

Divide the difference in fixed route costs, excluding caregiver time, by the difference in caregiver hours. The result is the hourly value at which the two event totals are equal. For example, if a home visit has KRW 100,000 in fixed cost and takes 0.5 caregiver hours while a clinic visit has KRW 40,000 in fixed cost and takes 2.5 hours, both total KRW 115,000 at KRW 30,000 per hour. This is a sensitivity measure for how the household values time, not a comparison of clinical effectiveness or service quality.

Read a synthetic worked example

These values exist only to explain the formula. They are not national averages, market quotes, or recommended prices. Assume two visits per month for three months and a caregiver time value of KRW 20,000 per hour. The home route uses a confirmed charge of KRW 39,516, KRW 10,000 in additional care, KRW 5,000 in drugs or tests, KRW 3,000 in pharmacy travel, and one caregiver hour. The clinic route uses KRW 20,000 in medical cost, KRW 5,000 in drugs or tests, a KRW 30,000 taxi, KRW 5,000 parking, three caregiver hours, and KRW 10,000 in separate work loss.

Synthetic home-visit and clinic-visit cost results
RoutePer visitTwo per monthThree months
Home visit ★KRW 77,516KRW 155,032KRW 465,096
Clinic visitKRW 130,000KRW 260,000KRW 780,000
Cost differenceKRW 52,484KRW 104,968KRW 314,904

Under these entered assumptions, the home route is KRW 314,904 lower over three months. That does not justify switching routes if the home visit cannot provide the required examination, test, or treatment. The numbers are directly comparable only after the physician or provider confirms the same relevant scope.

Three practical family use cases

Before calling a provider

Review the reference fees and checklist so you can ask about Fee I or II, separate items, service area, and operating hours. Record the date and source of any quoted amount.

Sharing care among siblings

Enter clinic escort time and home-visit attendance time separately. This gives the family a clearer basis for discussing who can cover each window. Apply one agreed hourly value to both routes.

Checking a booked budget

Once the provider quote and taxi or parking plan are known, update the worksheet to see monthly cash and the selected-period total. Replace the reference with the itemized patient charge after the first claim.

Frequency and billing details that are easy to miss

The ordinary patient limit is three per week

The guide ordinarily limits a patient to three pilot home visits per week, with an exception-reason process for situations such as intensive service for terminal cancer. A monthly count cannot reveal how visits fall within each week. The calculator therefore warns above 13 visits per month but does not block the calculation. The participating provider must confirm the actual schedule and any exception.

Provider transportation cannot be billed separately

Under the guide, the institution cannot separately claim an outpatient consultation fee or provider transportation fee merely because it made the home visit. The home-route transport field in this calculator means a household expense such as a patient or caregiver pharmacy trip, not a provider call-out charge. If a quote contains a travel or dispatch item, ask the institution to explain its basis.

Review extra entries under Fee I

Fee I can already include services, drugs, and treatment materials related to the visit, so entering the same line again can overstate the route. Fee II can allow separate billing, which means a lower table amount does not necessarily mean a lower final bill. Use an actual itemized quote and investigate every separate line.

Legal basis and verification date

The current provisions were checked through the Korean National Law Information Center OPEN API on August 26, 2026. Article 44 of the Framework Act on Health and Medical Services provides a basis for central and local governments to conduct and evaluate pilot programs for new health systems. The checked current version is law ID 002029, MST 279701, effective May 12, 2026. The Ministry of Health and Welfare also states that the related home-visit pilot period was extended through December 2028, but that operating period can change.

Articles 41 and 41-5 of the National Health Insurance Act cover health-care benefits and direct benefits outside an institution where a patient has difficulty moving, subject to the governing requirements. The checked current version is law ID 001971, MST 276651, effective January 2, 2026. Article 19 of its Enforcement Decree points to Annex 2 for patient cost sharing; the checked version is law ID 002813, MST 283469, effective February 19, 2026.

Articles 5, 8-3, and 9 of the Rules on the Standards for National Health Insurance Benefits were checked in law ID 006697, MST 285513, effective April 15, 2026. Article 8-3 addresses specified direct-visit grounds, including the severe-disability health primary physician program, terminal patients, certain children needing home medical care, and other mobility-related grounds designated by the Minister. This calculator does not decide whether an individual meets any of those legal or pilot criteria.

Official verification links

Frequently asked questions

Should I enter the simple KRW 39,516 reference directly

Multiplying the clinic Fee I amount of KRW 131,720 by the general 30% rate gives KRW 39,516. That is only simple arithmetic. Add-ons, separate services, and claim rounding can change the billed amount. Enter the amount confirmed by the provider instead.

Does every person with limited mobility pay 15%

No. The guide’s 15% rate is tied to a defined confirmed category, including specified bedbound Long-Term Care grade 1 or 2 patients and covered home oxygen or ventilator users. Confirm the individual category with the payer and participating provider.

Is Fee II always cheaper than Fee I

Not necessarily. Fee II has a lower table amount, but visit-related services, drugs, or materials can be billed separately. The final comparison depends on what was provided and itemized. The calculator does not recommend a fee type.

Is clinic taxi cost an NHI patient share

No. Taxi, parking, and accessible-vehicle entries here are household transport expenses, not National Health Insurance copays. They are added only to compare the household’s complete route burden.

Is physician home visiting the same as Long-Term Care visiting nursing

No. This calculator compares a physician service under South Korea’s National Health Insurance primary-care home-visit pilot with a clinic trip. Long-Term Care visiting nursing has separate eligibility, limits, and patient-share rules.

Should the family choose whichever route is cheaper

Not from this result alone. Use the worksheet only after a physician or provider confirms that both routes can deliver the needed scope. Clinical needs, available tests and treatment, urgency, and the household’s care capacity require separate discussion.

Build a family worksheet from confirmed numbers

Confirm the participating provider and physician determination, then prepare the provider quote, clinic itemization, actual travel plan, and caregiver hours. Print the result and use it with questions about service area, clinical scope, separate items, weekly scheduling, and escalation if the patient worsens.

Rules verified August 26, 2026. When the pilot changes, follow the latest HIRA guide and provider explanation.