How we rank and where the data comes from

Which clinics are listed

A clinic is listed when Naver Place records its field as orthopedics, rehabilitation medicine, neurosurgery or anesthesiology and pain medicine. A clinic whose registered field is outside those four is left out even when its name contains one of those words.

General hospitals, tertiary hospitals, long-term care hospitals and psychiatric hospitals are excluded. They serve a different purpose from a clinic you walk to, and their departments are often registered as if they were separate clinics.

When one clinic is registered at several places, only the entry with the most visitor reviews is kept.

What the ranking counts

Five items are added into a total score: specialist headcount in the four target fields (orthopedics, rehabilitation medicine, neurosurgery, anesthesiology and pain medicine), years since opening, visitor review volume, opening hours and online listings.

The weight of each item and the formula are not published. What is published is the source behind each item, and the ranking table carries that raw data as it stands: specialists by field, years open, visitor review count, closing time for each day, and whether an MRI or CT scanner is registered.

Ties are broken by specialist headcount in the target fields, then orthopedic specialists, then visitor reviews, then the opening date.

There are no figures of our own

Not one number on this site was surveyed or measured by us. Every figure is either taken from the two public sources below or counted and divided from them. We have measured nothing about treatment outcomes, clinical results or patient satisfaction.

Opening date, institution type and physician headcount come directly from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service Hospital Information Service open API on the Korean public data portal.

The clinic list, opening hours, visitor review counts, photos, specialist counts and special equipment are what each clinic had registered on Naver Place. Specialist counts and equipment originate from the same public authority but are read from the listing, not from the API.

Kakao Map is used only to link out to a map. Nothing from it enters the score.

The collection date for each page is given in the "where the data comes from" section of that page.

What this site does not do

Star ratings are not aggregated. Sample sizes are small and easy to manipulate, so they are not used as evidence for a ranking.

There is no path for a clinic to pay its way up, and no manual input that raises or lowers a clinic.

The quality of care is not assessed. What is counted is scale and access as they appear in public records.

Review excerpts and translation

Visitor reviews are quoted in part, without the nickname of the writer, alongside a link to the original.

Reviews on pages that are not in Korean are translated from the Korean original. The Korean text is shown next to the translation, with a link to the source.

Corrections

Write to the contact address if something is wrong and the original source will be checked again. Requests to remove your own review excerpt go to the same address.