Operating or evaluated as a long-term care facility?

Operating a long-term care facility — home-visit care, day/night protection, or a developmental-disability day-activity center — means passing local-government designation (지정제, not a simple registration/신고제) before opening, then a periodic evaluation from the National Health Insurance Service every cycle that determines whether the designation continues, and a full re-designation review every 6 years. The evaluation manual is revised regularly, requiring facilities to prove operational substance through system records rather than case presentations alone.

What this covers

• Home-care facility installation report (재가복지시설 설치신고, under the Elderly Welfare Act) — the required first gate before designation itself, covering site, remodeling, and staffing plans
• Initial facility designation (지정) — a 4-area review (경영역량/사업계획 적정성/급여제공 투명성/시설·인력 확보), typically requiring around 80 points to pass, and usually at least 2 designated providers per district for user choice
• Periodic evaluation (정기평가) for existing facilities — evaluation targets rotate by the last digit of the facility's registration number (even/odd, alternating cycles), and the manual is revised regularly: recent cycles added a standalone employee-human-rights indicator, a quarterly employee-counseling requirement, verified 5-major-insurance payment via a completion certificate, and personnel-cost-ratio compliance checked through the 장기요양기관 포털 system rather than paper review
• 6-year re-designation (지정갱신) under the Long-Term Care Insurance Act, and the separate non-renewal/closure report required if a facility chooses not to renew — missing that report's deadline is itself a compliance failure, not just skipping renewal
• Transfer/succession (양도양수) risk — under Long-Term Care Insurance Act Article 37-4, a buyer inherits the seller's administrative sanction history, not just the facility and clientele
• Developmental-disability day-activity service (주간활동서비스) provider designation, a related voucher-funded program with its own scoring rubric, and developmental-rehabilitation service (발달재활서비스) provider designation, which requires at least 3.3㎡ of dedicated space per service function (assessment/service room, admin space, guardian waiting area)
• Home-visit care (방문요양) re-designation and rating-upgrade strategy when a facility's evaluation grade needs improving (e.g. from grade E, which triggers an immediate special evaluation and a renewal-scoring penalty)
• Foreign-worker pathway: D-2 (student) and D-10 (job-seeking) visa holders can qualify for the caregiver (요양보호사) certification and convert to an E-7-2 work visa upon hiring at an elderly welfare facility — see our E-series work visa filing service for the visa side

What we handle

• Home-care facility installation report and the initial designation application, confirming your facility meets the local government's site, staffing, and program criteria
• Periodic evaluation preparation against the current manual's indicators, including the system-portal filings (인건비 지출비율, 5대보험 완납증명 등) that now replace document-only proof
• Rating-upgrade strategy for a facility whose most recent evaluation grade fell short
• 6-year re-designation filings, and the non-renewal/closure report when a facility is winding down
• Transfer/succession due-diligence and contract review, checking the seller's administrative sanction history before a buyer takes over
• Day-activity and developmental-rehabilitation service provider designation applications and their specific scoring rubrics

How the process works

1. We confirm which stage applies to your facility — installation report, initial designation, periodic evaluation, or 6-year re-designation — and review the current scoring criteria and portal-filing requirements.
2. We prepare the application or evaluation submission, including any system-portal filings that now replace document-only proof.
3. We follow the designation or evaluation through to a decision, and advise on next steps if a re-submission, grade appeal, or non-renewal closure report is needed.

Who typically needs this

Operators applying for initial long-term care, home-visit care, or day/night protection facility designation; existing facilities preparing for their periodic NHIS evaluation or 6-year re-designation; buyers and sellers in a facility transfer; and organizations applying to run a developmental-disability day-activity or developmental-rehabilitation service.

Common mistakes

• Treating the periodic evaluation like a one-time document check, when several criteria are now verified through the 장기요양기관 포털 system instead
• Missing ongoing personnel-cost-ratio and 5-major-insurance payment management, which can flag a facility as non-compliant even if the paperwork looks complete
• Not distinguishing between the requirements for designation itself and the separate, ongoing evaluation that determines re-designation
• Skipping the non-renewal/closure report when choosing not to renew, treating "not applying" as sufficient on its own
• Buying a facility without checking the seller's administrative sanction history, which transfers to the buyer under Article 37-4

Timeline

Initial designation review timelines are set by the local government; periodic NHIS evaluation runs on a rotating even/odd cycle by registration number, full re-designation is required every 6 years, and preparation should start well before the evaluation window opens.

Setting up the operating entity for this facility? See our nonprofit & entity setup service.