A CT scan image from a hospital [123RF]
A CT scan image from a hospital [123RF]

More than one in four patients who transfer to a new hospital undergo the same CT scan again within a month, according to newly released data — a pattern experts say is draining hundreds of billions of won from the national health insurance system each year and demanding urgent policy action.

Data submitted by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service to the office of Rep. Kim Seon-min of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee show that in 2025, of 944,172 patients who visited a different hospital within 30 days of an initial CT scan for the same condition, 253,438 — or 26.8 percent — had the scan repeated.

In other words, more than one in four transferred patients underwent an expensive imaging procedure again at a new facility even though results already existed. The repeat CT rate has climbed every year without exception: 25.8 percent in 2022, 26.2 percent in 2023, 26.5 percent in 2024, and 26.8 percent in 2025.

MRI scans tell a similar story. Of 224,894 patients who moved to a different hospital in 2025, 13.8 percent — or 30,944 people — had an MRI repeated within 30 days. Insurance claims billed to the National Health Insurance Service for unnecessary duplicate imaging last year reached 49.152 billion won ($31.9 million) for CT scans and 15.9 billion won for MRI scans, for a combined total of 65.052 billion won.

Experts agree that price controls alone — such as cutting reimbursement rates — cannot stop medical institutions from ordering more scans to offset lost revenue. They say the government must pair any fee reduction with strong incentives and regulations: enabling seamless sharing of existing imaging data across hospitals and imposing penalties for unnecessary repeat scans, if it genuinely wants to secure the long-term sustainability of national health insurance finances and drive reform centered on essential care.


husn7@heraldcorp.com