• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1-16
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• 2010

As a cross-sectional study, this study was aimed to investigate and compare the job efficiency and satisfaction of nurses according to the hospital grade. Survey was conducted by mail on June 2009, and the respondents were 1,016 nurses working in 15 hospitals which are 9 high-grade general hospitals and 6 general hospitals. The percent of nurses acknowledging their hospital grades is 34.5%, and that is 20.5% at high-grade general hospitals. As the result of review of studies, it is concluded that under the circumstance that differential rates are contracted to calculate fees for hospital services and copayment of patients are according to nursing grades and hospital grades, the degree of nurses' awareness of insurance fees impact on their performance like recording of care and prescription. In order to improve nurses' performance, they need to be educated about the national insurance fee system. In hospitals with higher nursing grade and more beds, the levels of nursing quality and faithfulnes and their job satisfaction were higher. Nurses' awareness of their hospital nursing grade was related to the quality of nursing but not the faithfulness. Nurses working in higher nursing-grade hospital are more self-respect and satisfied at their jobs, and their job efficiencies are not significantly different. The current nursing fees based on the proper number of nurses per beds of nursing units should be changed to be based on the amount of job per nurse by their nursing protocol, and the nurse staffing standard should be differentiated between nursing grades. As the aspect of nursing, 24-hours patient care, it is difficult to improve nurses' job satisfaction, and in the other hand, that tends to depend on their income level. In the current circumstance, comprehensive research is required to investigate the propriety of 25% of the inpatient fees as the nursing management charge.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.149-162
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to design strategic hospital service based on each hospital's features. For this study, an assessment was conducted by 398 in-patents of one university hospital located in Seoul. The self-questionnaires, which were investigated from Oct. 15th to 29th in 2008, compared central reception desk with ward reception desk in satisfaction and re-use rate of patients. The major results of this study are as follow. First, according to each reception desk user, they have different satisfaction of it. As for the staff kindness, admission procedure, discharge procedure and manner of staff, those made patients be gratified as well. Second, when it comes to the intention of re-use, there were no significant features between them. Only convenience in admission and discharge procedure, however, was an attractive factor for the recommendation. Third, this study found out the reasons for higher re-use rate of central reception desk users. Regarding service, they were contented with the time for test and treatment. As for the hospital service, they would like to re-use this hospital because of convenient steps of paying interim fee and getting certificates. Forth, this study found out the reasons for higher re-use rate of ward reception desk users. As a point of hospital service view, they responded that respected privacy, hospital facility and general service were good for staying. As for the manner of staff, they mentioned nurses and staff in charge and whole staff members were kind. When it comes to the procedures of patient management, steps of discharge and paying interim fee were convenience. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that providing a ward reception desk service can boost the satisfaction and re-use rate of in-patients. Furthermore, this strategic management method would be good for not only cutting the moving line but also efficient in-patient care system. These results can be used for the strategic hospital marketing field, as well. Even though this study has a limitation of the targeted populations which were only in a ward reception desk running hospital, it can say that having competitiveness in satisfaction of hospital service is good for promoting and differencing each hospital. Consequently, whole general management system would be adjusted first for differencing each hospital; however, this sort of additional factor should be concerned as well. I expect that this study would give meaningful data for designing strategic and differencing marketing method to lots of hospitals.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.152-158
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• 2012

Purpose: To understand the epidemiology of head trauma and the utilization of brain CT in Korea, we analyzed a national sampling data set, the National Patient Sample obtained from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Methods: We retrospectively collected and analyzed demographic and clinical data on enrolled patients from the National Patient Sample based on medical claims data for 2009. The data included patient's age, sex, treatment date, diagnosis codes, procedure codes related with CT, holiday or night consultation fee, and fee for emergency management services. Results: In 2009, the estimated population with head trauma was 819,059(1.8%), and the rate of brain CT utilization was 22.4%. Children ages 5 to 15 were the most commonly injured group(22.8%), but had the lowest brain CT utilization(16.5%). The mean age of the estimated population with head trauma was $34.9{\pm}0.5years$ old, and male patients accounted for 60.5% of that population. Intracranial injury was found in 8.6% of all head traumas, and the rate of intracranial injury in children was lower than it was in adults(4.1% vs. 10.9%, p<0.001). Twenty- three percent of patients with head trauma visited the emergency department (ED). More patients with head trauma visited medical facilities in the daytime on weekdays(66.5% vs. 33.5%, p<0.001), but head CT was performed more frequently at night or on weekends/holidays(16.1% vs. 34.7%, p<0.001) There is low incidence of head trauma in the winter in children (p<0.001). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, patients who were adults, female, or ED visitors were more likely to undergo brain CT (odds ratio (OR): 1.65, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.47-1.84; OR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.27-1.54; OR: 7.80, 95% CI: 6.91-8.80, respectively). Conclusion: In this study, we analyzed the national epidemiologic trend for head trauma, and the pattern of utilization of brain CT.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.47-69
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• 1990

The measures taken to reform the Dutch health insurance system hold valuable lessons for countries such as Korea, where there has been increased concern regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of the health services provided. The growing literature on comparative health insurance policies suggests that nations can learn from each other. In addition, Korean policymakers have shown great interest in the health insurance systems of foreign countries, particularly in Japan. The development of Korea's health insurance scheme during the past 12 years has made a significant contribution to the increased accessibility of health care services. Although the insurance coverage is universal, the health insurance system today in Korea is by no means a product of systematic and planned efforts. Moreover, it lacks due considerations of insured's needs as well as the long-term objectives of the social security health care system. There are growing gaps in premium burdens and benefits between the rural health insurance program and the employee's health insurance programs. Furthermore, the regional health insurance program is experiencing financial difficulties in spite of the fact that the amount of the government subsidy has been sharply increased in recent years. Under the present payment method solely based on the fee-for-service schedule, both consumers and providers are encouraged to utilize and prescribe more services. The combination of the utilization-inducing reimbursement system and continuous pushes for expanding health insurance has played a crucial role in raising the country's medical bills. Current trends in Korea's health care sector and those anticipated in the near future necessitate changes in the structure and funding of health care. As indicated in the above, there are various shortcomings in this context, the health policy authority in Korea can draw valuable lessons from the Dutch experiences in reforming their health insurance system. The main elements of the Dutch reform measures are a restructuring of the insurance system and a greater role for market forces in the health care system. On this basis a new system will be created which reflects the social nature of health care while at the same time containing sufficient mechanisms to allow the health care sector to operate in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.324-335
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• 1998

This study describes the extent of recognition of problems to the aged in a future society, the recognition and necessity of day care facilities, and the service contents and patterns preferred as a method of mediation for nursing the aged and increasing their quality of life. It also tries to certify the relations between those subjects. The result of the study is as follows: 1. Concerning problems of the aged of social significance the aged of the next generation consider the difficulties in nursing the aged to be the most important at 63.6%. 2. Concerning the nursing of parents, 49.4% of those answered 'children should take care of their parents and live together', while 46.7% answered that 'it is enough for children to provide an economic support, not necessarily living together. 3. Concerning information of day care facilities, 66.9% answered that they have no information. 4. Concerning the use of day care facilities, 54.6% answered that 'they would under certain circumstances', and 21.0% that 'they had better use them in the future'. 5. Concerning the feelings of the aged using day care facilities, 46.6% say 'they do not look poor', and 33.4% said that 'they look a little poor'. 6. Concerning the reasons for using day care facilities, 56.1% answered' because children do not proride care', and 48.5% answered 'because their economic ability is not sufficient'. 7. Concerning the programs potentially needed, food supply, medical services and physical therapy were ranked in that order. 8. Concerning social facilities necessary for the aged, centers that specialize in dementia, free day care facilities, home care services, and fee - based day care centers were ranked in that order. 9. Concerning institutions providing day care, welfare centers for the aged, those centers auxiliary to hospitals, asylums, and individuals were ranked in that order. 10. Concerning the responsibity running day care facilities, social workers, doctors/nursing assistants, nurses, and entrusted visitors were ranked in that order. Based on the results of this study, the study proposes that the study of applied cases of therapy in day care facilities for the aged continue.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.16-37
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• 1990

A cost analysis for hospitalized patients was carried out based upon Patient Classification System(PCS) in order to determine an appropriate nursing fee. The data were collected from 21 nursing units of three teaching hospitals from April 1 to June 30, 1989. first, all of the 22,056 inpatients were classified into mildly ill(Class Ⅰ), moderately ill(Class Ⅱ), acutely ill(Class Ⅲ), and critically ill(Class Ⅳ) by the PCS which had been carefully developed to be suitable for the Korean nursing units. Second. PCS cost accounting was applied to the above data. The distribution of inpatients, nursing costs, and nursing productivity were as follows : 1) Patient distribution ranged from 45% to class Ⅰ, 36% to class Ⅱ, 15% to class Ⅲ, and 4% to class Ⅳ, the proportion of class Ⅳ in ‘H’ Hospital was greater than that of the other two hospitals. 2) The proportion of Class Ⅲ and Ⅳ in the medical nursing units was greater than that of surgical nursing units. 3) The number of inpatients was greatest on Tuesdays, and least on Sundays. 4) The average nursing cost per hour was W 3,164 for ‘S’ hospital, W 3,511 for ‘H’ hospital and W 4,824 for ‘K’ hospital. The average nursing cost per patient per day was W 14,126 for ‘S’ Hospital, W 15,842 for ‘H’ hospital and W 21,525 for ‘K’ hospital. 5) The average nursing cost calculated by the PCS was W 13,232 for class Ⅰ, W 18,478 for class Ⅱ, W 23,000 for class Ⅲ, and W 25,469 for class Ⅳ. 6) The average nursing cost for the medical and surgical nursing units was W 13,180 and W 13,303 respetively for class Ⅰ, W 18,248 and W 18,707 for class Ⅱ, W 22,303 and W 23,696 for class Ⅲ, and W 24,331 and W 26,606 for class Ⅳ. 7) The nursing costs were composed of 85% for wages and fringe benefits, 3% for material supplies and 12% for overhead. The proportion of wages and fringe benefits among the three Hospitals ranged from 75%, 92% and 98% for the ‘S’, ‘H’, ‘K’ hospitals respectively These findings explain why the average nursing cost of ‘K’ hospital was higher than the others. 8) According to a multi- regression analysis, wages and fringe benefits, material supplies, and overhead had an equal influence on determining the nursing cost while the nursing hours had less influence. 9) The productivity of the medical nursing units were higher than the surgical nursing units, productivity of the D(TS) - nursing units was the lowest while the K(Med) - nursing unit was the highest in 'S' hospital. In ‘H’ hospital, productivity was related to the number of inpatients rather than to the characteristics of the nursing units. The ‘K’ hospital showed the same trend as ‘S’ hospital, that the productivity of the medical nursing unit was higher than the surgical nursing unit. The productivity of ‘S’ hospital was evaluated the highest followed by ‘H’ hospital and ‘K’ hospital. Future research on nursing costs should be extended to the other special nursing areas such as pediatric and psychiatric nursing units, and to ICU or operating rooms. Further, the PCS tool should be carefully evaluated for its appropriateness to all levels of institutions(primary, secondary, tertiary). This study took account only of the quantity of nursing services when developing the PCS tool for evaluating the productivity of nursing units. Future research should also consider the quality of nursing services including the appropriateness of nursing activities.

• The Journal of Korean Institute for Practical Engineering Education
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.120-125
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• 2010

The priority job training program is one of key training programs in Korea. This training program has some fundamental problems. The process of selecting the detailed training jobs does not reveal the true training demand of industry sectors. The contracting-out process and control mechanism of the priority job training program show several weaknesses from the points of success conditions of contracting-out public services. In this paper, I proposed development strategies of the priority job training program. The contract period should be longer than one year so that the training institutions may invest for improving quality of training in the longer perspective and reduce transaction costs. The training fee pay mechanism should be more performance-based.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.63-72
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• 2004

Recently the range of mobile phone's usage has become more widely since phone has the function of data communication and voice communication. In addition, the request of users who wish to represent their identity on their mobile phones by storing some kinds of multimedia data such as images and melody has increased. There are two different methods for downloading the multimedia data; one method accesses a wireless internet server to download the data and another method downloads the data from PC directly. While the first one requires extra fee for downloading the data, the second method has weakness to modify the original data and it cannot be used in GSM phone yet since it is developed for CDMA phone. In this paper, we introduce a PC-based download application system that enables the users to download multimedia data from PC to GSM phone very easily.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.39-48
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• 2020

Recently, the study and development of environment-friendly energy technique have increased in worldwide due to environmental pollution and energy resources problems. In vehicle industry, the development of electric vehicle(EV) is now on progress, and also, many other governments support the study and development and make an effort for EV to become widely available. In addition, though they strive to construct the EV infra such as a charge station for EV, the techniques related to managing charge demand and peak power are not enough. The standard of EV communication has been already established as ISO/IEC 15118, however, most of implemented EVs and EV charge stations do not support any communication between each of them. In this paper, an improved slow charge scheme for non-communication EVs is proposed and designed by using predicting charge demand. The proposed scheme consists of distributed charge model and charge demand prediction. The distributed charge model is designed to manage to distribute charge power depending on available charge power and charge demand. The charge demand prediction is designed to be used in the distributed charge model. The proposed scheme is based on the collected data which were from EV slow charge station in business building during the past 1 year. The system-level simulation results show that the waiting time of EV and the charge fee of the proposed scheme are better than those of the conventional scheme.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.46 no.10
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• pp.133-146
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• 2008

This study investgates the factors influencing the levels of consumer satisfaction and life satisfaction of resident foreigners in Korea. The data were collected through a structured self-administered survey and 545 foreigners who lived in Korea for more than 3 months, with age over 20 participated as respondents. A research framework was formulated based on the resource constraint hypothesis and the study investigated the impact of information resource(human, media and internet information source) and consumer resource(monthly income, language ability and consumer proficiency) on the levels of consumer satisfaction and life satisfaction. The results from data analysis can be summarized as follows; First, analysis of consumer problems of resident foreigners in Korea indicated that resident foreigners recognize a burden for residence cost, food expense and education fee. Most of resident foreigners in Korea are found to use small local shops most often indicating they may experience adverse market environment due to resource constraint such as language or psychological barrier, and most of the respondents answered that the most often used payment method was cash. Furthermore, resident foreigners in Korea responded that lack of language service, lack of information provision, inability to use certain goods and services are the common cause of consumer dissatisfaction, as well as price and quality problems. Second, the level of consumer satisfaction (2.96 in 4.0) is higher than the level of life satisfaction (2.63 in 4.0). Third, the level of life satisfaction is significantly influenced by Korean language ability and the level of consumer satisfaction. The level of consumer satisfaction is by the media information source usage and consumer claim experience. Fourth, the level of consumer satisfaction is found to be the variable with the strongest causal relationship with the level of life satisfaction.