How Himedi Vets Medical Partners in Korea

People often ask us a simple question:

How does Himedi decide which clinics to work with - and which ones to reject?

The answer is not a single checklist. Over time, we’ve built a framework based on two pillars: customer experience and medical quality & safety.

Customer experience standards apply across every medical category we work with. Medical quality & safety, however, is different - each specialty requires its own criteria. In future articles, we’ll walk through how these standards change depending on the category.

 

 

1. Customer Experience: The Non-Negotiables

We won’t move forward unless the patient experience meets our baseline.

Price Transparency

Patients should never feel uncertain about pricing. Clinics must be comfortable publishing clear prices online, and the price offered through Himedi must be equal to - or better than - booking directly with the clinic.

Direct English Communication

Patients should hear medical explanations directly from the doctor - not filtered through layers of translation. That’s why we prefer doctors who can communicate in English themselves. However, when medical quality is the highest in Korea and the doctor cannot fully explain in English, working with experienced professional medical interpreters is also acceptable.

Privacy by Design

Many international patients travel long distances for care. The clinic’s physical environment - its layout, waiting areas, and patient flow - should allow patients to feel comfortable and secure throughout their visit.

Clear Ownership of International Patients

Every clinic needs one person who truly owns the foreign patient experience. Without this ownership, even great medical teams struggle to deliver consistent service.

Before signing any partnership, the Himedi team visits the clinic in person and meets face-to-face with the person responsible for international patients. We pay close attention to their mindset. When this person shows strong ownership, patient feedback turns into real improvements over time. When they are physically present on-site, service quality tends to remain high. And when unexpected questions or complaints arise, they can step in immediately - which makes a meaningful difference for our patients. Because of this, Himedi often gravitates toward boutique clinics led by English-speaking owner-doctors who personally care about the patient journey.

 

Boutique vs. Large Centers - Why Both Exist

That said, not every medical category works the same way.

Some specialties depend heavily on high-cost equipment and advanced infrastructure. In these cases, the highest level of safety and outcomes in Korea often comes from larger institutions - not smaller boutiques. What matters most is how many real cases the medical team has handled successfully using that technology.

Examples include:

• Health Checkup Centers and MRI
• Vision Correction Centers and laser surgery platforms
• Cosmetic dentistry supported by in-house dental labs

For these categories, we look for clinics that clearly lead the market - not just in reputation, but in volume, experience, and consistency. The top-tier institutions are often the most deliberate in designing and managing the international patient experience, which is why Himedi prioritizes partnering with category leaders.

Inside the Minish building, there is a state-of-the-art in-house dental lab equipped with advanced technology.

 

2. Medical Quality & Safety: Category by Category

Medical quality isn’t something we summarize in a single paragraph. Each specialty requires a different lens. In upcoming articles, we’ll share deeper examples of how we evaluated partners across different categories, including:

Checkup - Hanshin Medipia

Stem Cell

Skin 

Hair

Dental

Body

Vision

Built Between New York and Seoul

Himedi operates across New York and Seoul. Our team observes real customer behavior in the U.S., identifies what patients truly need, and then conducts hands-on vetting in Korea - visiting clinics, asking difficult questions, and learning directly from the people behind the systems. That process - observing, questioning, and refining - is how our partner network continues to evolve.

If you’re considering medical care in Korea and want a partner clinic that has been carefully vetted for both patient experience and medical quality, please contact Himedi.