• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.36-61
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• 2009

This study focused on finding the variation of medical service utilization, paths of medical service utilization and medical payments of the patients died by cerebrovascular diseases. For this study, data of the one-year episodes of the health insurance subscribers died in 2004 were selected. The frequency of medical visits, the lengths of stays, the days of outpatient visits, the total period of medical services and the total medical payments were compared by the characteristics of the suppliers and utilizers. This study is useful in reviewing the equity of medical service utilization because it analyzed variance in utilization by episodes. In oder to collect accurate data of the patients died by cerebrovascular diseases in 2004 the 2004 reimbursement data of all medical institutions were matched to the data of funeral fee payment by the National Health Insurance Corporation from January 2004 to May 2005. The major results of the study are as follows. The variation of medical service utilization of cerebrovascular diseases was influenced by supplier factors suppliers, such as types and locations of medical institutions and user factors such as sex and age. It was suspected that the reimbursement by fee-for-service contributed to the variation quite a lot, but we could not compare the variation between the different reimbursement systems in Korea. On the basis of analyzing results this study suggests that the factors of suppliers and utilizers should be reviewed to reduce the under use and over use expressed by variations of medical service. The processes of care, effective communication and management system should be investigated for the equity of medical service utilization and also. alternative medical services would be recommended to reduce the high medical payment. Additionally to find other causes of variation further in depth study controling the severity of diseases, socio-economic status of the users and the system factors is required.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.1-19
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• 2007

This study focused on finding the variation of medical service utilization and medical payments of the patients died by three, cancers, stomach, breast, and colon cancer. For this study, data of the one-year episodes of the health insurance subscribers died in 2004 were selected. The frequency of medical visits, the lengths of slays, the days of outpatient visits, the total period of medical services and the total medical payments were compared by the characteristics of the suppliers and utilizers. The data of the patients died by cerebrovascular diseases and cancer in 2004 were selected. To select the dead by cerebrovascular diseases and cancer in 2004, were matched the 2004 reimbursement data of all medical institutions to the data of funeral fee payment by the National Health Insurance Corporation from January 2004 to May 2005 for the death in 2004. The results of the analysis were as follow. The variation of medical service utilization of the dead by cancers were not small in Korea. The current study found that the variation of medical care utilization was influenced by the factors of suppliers, such as types and locations of medical institutions and the factors of users, such as sex and age. It was suspected that the reimbursement by fee-for-service contributed to the variation quite a lot, but we could not compare the variation between the different reimbursement systems in Korea. The results of the study suggested that tile factors of suppliers and utilizers should he reviewed to reduce the under use and over use expressed by variations of medical service utilization. The processes of care, effective communication and management system should be investigated for the equity of medical service utilization. Additionally, prospective payment could he recommended to reduce the high variation of medical service Use. To find the variation caused by under use and over use, further study need to control the severity of diseases, socio-economic status of the users and the system factors.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Health Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2013

Purpose. This study is to find the degree of variations and trends of hospital services utilization for hypertensive disease, and have done the comparative analysis of the factors affecting occurring some variations. For this, this study uses the data for patients-survey and health-survey of a regional society by Korea Institute for Heath and Social Affairs in 2008; The regional units are classified into 160 of medium size medical service areas. Methods. I understand the level of variation by using index of Extremal Quotient(EQ) and Coefficient Variation(CV), and analyze critical factors influencing some differences in hospital services utilization by using multi-regression model. Results. The main results are followed:The first, in case of rate of hospital services utilization according to standarization of sex and age by small area, I find the variations of EQ 5.3 and CV 0.3; In Ho-nam, especially, the variation of high rank of 10 of age shows higher distribution. The second, the results analyzing the factors influencing on hospital services utilization by multi regression model are that a number of bed hospitals is significant positive relationship and EQ-5D of health behavior is significant negative one. Conclusions. To increase equity of hospital services utilization for hypertensive disease, this study requests the appropriate supply management of bed hospitals by region, efficient allocation of resources, and revitalization of the health promotion program.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.589-599
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relation amongst health status, health care costs. health service utilization among the low income elderly who were 60 years of age or older, earning a half of the average Korean family income. The cross-sectional descriptive survey research we conducted used families randomly sampled nationwide. The data were collected from July 12 to August 7, 1999 and the total sample was 1.259 household members (421 households). These were the major findings. 1. As for the health status. 72.4% of respondents fell ill in the last 1 month; 54% of respondents had chronic disease. 2. As for the health care cost. the cost of hospitalization and the medical treatment were 1.069,000 won and 226.000won. respectively. 59.3% of respondents experienced a burden from the monthly health care expenses. 3. As for the health service utilization for the last 3months. 28.5% of respondents didn't utilize the health service. In addition, 22.2% of respondents gave up a medical treatment because of economic situation (88.8%). 4. The statistically significant determinants of health service utilization are old age, female, living with a spouse, unemployed state, medicare, and more days sick. 5. It is shown conclusively that equity and efficacy of the health care policy are to be considered for lower income older adult.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.272-279
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• 2002

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze health service utilization, and its related factors in low income families who earned half of the average Korean household income. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive survey study in which a nationwide randomization sampling technique was used. The data were collected from July 12 to August 7, 1999, and the total sample size was 5,819 individuals, belonging to 1.753 households. Results: 1) In the utilization of health services for the last 3months, the pharmacy was the type of service that was the most utilized (32.0%), and the health center was the one that was the least utilized (10.3%). About 29% (29.2%) of the respondents could not utilize the health service at all. and 19.8% of the respondents terminated their medical treatments half way to completion because of financial difficulty (89.4%). 2) Analysis of the data using logistic regression showed that living with spouse, level of education, occupation, and income had statistically significant effects on health service utilization. Conclusion: The parameters of health care policies are equity and efficacy for health status, and the health service utilization by low income families. The conclusive resolution for these is the improvement of public health centers for an increased utilization rate of their services.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.1511-1519
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to analyze regional medical utilization variation of hospital inpatients and to suggest policy for the allocation of medical service in Korea. We analyzed the relationship among medical service, city size, income level and regional medical utilization variation of hospital inpatients. The patient survey report of 2005 year in Ministry of Health and Welfare was used for this study. To adjust on the factor age and sex, we used direct standardization method. Findings of the research were summarized as follows ; First, standardization discharge rate on patient was different in the district. city type, and number of beds. Second, standardization length of stay of patient was different in region, city type, and number of beds.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.110-143
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• 1996

The purpose of this study is to assess the extent of inequality in health outcomes and the distribution of health services according to health need under National Health Insurance System in Korea. For the empirical analysis, data were collected through an interview survey during one month of October, 1994. Interview were conducted with a total of 10, 875 of the employees and the self-employed selected through cluster, systematic sampling. The major findings of this research are as follows: 1. The analysis of the differentials in morbidity rates by socio-economic group showed that health inequality in the pro-higher groups existed in all self-reported morbidity indicators. 2. The findings of the conventional use measures showed that the lower socio-economic groups had more ambulatory and inpatient services than the higher groups. In contrast to the level of the medical care utilization, however, the higher socio-economic groups were more likely to use the high-quality source of care in terms of their treatment place compared to the lower groups. 3. By using the need-based use measures, the results were different from each use-disability ration indicator. Using the use-disability ration measured by physician visits per 100 restricted-activity days in the population, it was found that there was no evidence favoring the higher socio-economic groups. In contrast, the use-disability ration based on physician visits per a chronic patient in one year displayed that there was remarkable relative difference by income group as well as the evidence of the pro-higher income groups. 4. The results of logistic regression analysis and two-stage estimation method indicated that although the utilization is significantly affected by type and duration of insurance coverage, the use or nonuse of service and the volume of physician care consumed is determined by health need and demographic characteristics rater than economic status. In sum, these findings suggest that physician service is equitably distributed according to health need under national health insurance system in Korea. As there were some evidences of inequality including the differential in physician visits of chronic patients by income group, however, the government should strengthen the activities to guarantee the equity of health services utilization.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.435-445
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• 2017

This study was conducted to overcome the limitations of prior research on the equity of medical care performed by identifying simple differences in the use of medical care or using limited medical needs and medical utilization indicators. Specifically, we used activity limits, chronic diseases, and subjective health status as medical needs, and used outpatient, inpatient, and emergency services as medical uses. In addition, we used concentration index, concentration curve, and Le Grand factor to analyze the equity of medical use considering medical needs. The main results are as follows. First, the amount of medical care for the low-income class is higher than that of the high-income class when considering the concentration of medical use. In particular, the number of hospitalization days for low-income households and hospitalization fees were higher than the fees of outpatient medical consultation and emergency room usage. Second, medical needs were concentrated in the low income class. In other words, low-income group is not as healthy as the high-income group. Third, the Le Grand factor was calculated in order to confirm the fairness of the medical uses considering the medical needs. Even if medical needs are taken into consideration, the high-income earners will have a large amount of medical care. In addition, when considering the limitation of activity and the number of chronic diseases, the medical use of the high income class was more frequent. However, when the subjective health condition and the chronic illness were considered, medical use of the low income class was more frequent. This may be due to the underestimation of the medical needs of the low-income earners by neglecting their own health status and perception of chronic diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.13-25
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• 2014

This research was performed to investigate the characteristics and determination factors on tertiary hospital inpatients. The used data was the four waves of Korea Health Panel(2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), and the number of subjects was 4,430 cases of tertiary and general hospital admission. The statistical methodology used in the study is the logistic regression model. The significant affecting factors in utilizing tertiary hospital admission were gender, marital status, education, household income, residence region and ICD-10 classification. Man, graduating college/university, married, high-income were socio-economic affecting factors in tertiary hospital admission. Medical need factor of ICD-10 classification and residence region of inpatients was also significant affecting factors in tertiary hospital admission. The 81.4% of inpatients at tertiary hospital had chronic disease and the 12.9% of inpatients readmitted, the 68.2% had a selecting doctor and the only 26.7% of inpatients reinforced by private medical insurance. This study recommended the Korean government to provide proper rule for tertiary hospital admission in order to improve the equity and efficiency of health care system.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2002

The proportion and role of public sector in health care industry is very small in Korea. Asymmetric distribution of health care resources is one of the major health care concerns. This issue is so important that it raises a question of accessibility, availability, continuity of care and equity of rural area people's health care utilization. To solve these problems and to satisfy the basic demand of oriental medical service in rural areas, the oriental public health doctors were placed in rural health centers since 1998. The main objectives of this study are twofold: to measure the cognition and attitude of health center directors on the strategies for utilizing oriental public health doctors and to provide basic data for improving the health manpower management program. Data have been collected by way of the self-administrative questionnaires. Developing the questionnaire, the literature review on the previous studies and delphi method were carried out. The response rate was 38.7%. The results of this study are summarized as follows; 1. community people respond positively on the oriental medical service activity in health center. 2. In regard to workloads of oriental public health doctor, 'appropriate' was 81.1% and 'burdensome' was 18.2%, respectively. 3. The 94.0% of respondents thought that the oriental medical service will be continued. 4. To activate oriental medical service in health center, the sufficient budget and provision of aid workers is a necessity. 5. The 75.5% of health center directors respond positively on the allocation of oriental public health doctor to health sub-centers. 6. Health center directors agreed that oriental public health doctor should perform the clinical service as well as prevention and health promotion activity. These results recommend that oriental medical service in health center should be continued gradually, and oriental public health doctors working at health center perform their work efficiently. Undoubtedly, their activity should be more focused on health promotion and disease prevention than daily patient care. For achieving this objective, more support of governmental policy is essential for utilizing oriental public health doctor and better health of the rural area community people.