• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.31 no.3 s.62
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• pp.460-470
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• 1998

By expanding health insurance, customers will carry a smaller burden of medical costs. As a result, the number of visits to a physician increase and this result in the improvement of medical accessibility. But medical care utilization may be changed not only by insurance status but also by socio-demographic factor, economic status and other factors. The question thus remains, at which level of accessibility and what price of medical care service in health insurance will the customer and the medical care service be satisfied. The price of medical care service ls comprised of the customer's out-of-pocket money and the costs not covered by health insurance. If the price of medical care services in health insurance are appropriate, medical care utilization should not differ because of the difference in income status or the acuteness of illness. But If the price is not adequate, low income groups will receive relatively low medical care utilization, particularly in the case of chronic disease. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the differences in medical care utilization among the various income groups and those with varying acuteness of illness. The major hypotheses to test in this study are : (i) whether there are differences in medical care utilization among different income groups exist, (ii) whether differences in medical care utilization among different income groups exist with the hospital type. (iii) whether differences in medical care utilization among different income groups exist with the acuteness of illness and with age. The data was collected from the JongRo District Health Insurance Society in Seoul. A total of 118,336 persons were selected as the final sample for this study. The major findings of this study were as follows; 1. The volume of ambulatory utilization among users was statistically significant by income level. 2. Among different income groups, the volume of ambulatory utilization was statistically significant by the acuteness of illness. 3. Higher income groups with chronic diseases had a greater volume of ambulatory utilization than other groups.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.491-500
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to examine the health status of marriage immigrants and naturalized people, their health service utilization and barriers to that in an effort to seek ways of getting rid of their difficulties in health service utilization. The raw data of a 2012 Survey on the State of Multicultural Families were used, and a survey was conducted on 15,001 marriage immigrants and naturalized people from July 10 to July 31, 2012. As a result, the marriage immigrants and the naturalized people got a mean of 3.96 in subjective health status, which showed that they were in good health. The main medical institutions that they used in times of sickness were hospitals and clinics(82.7%). 39.1 percent of the respondents answered they had difficulties in using health service, and the most dominant difficulty they faced at that time was communication problems(52.0%), followed by high expense(28.9%). The respondents who answered they found it most difficult to use health service due to communication lagged behind the others in terms of Korean proficiency, and the respondents who cited expense as the biggest difficulty fell behind the others in terms of living standard. To make health service more accessible to marriage immigrants and naturalized people, the government should take measures to ensure their right of health. Specifically, how to relieve their financial burden should carefully be devised, and medical institutions should provide interpretation service to guarantee their easier health service utilization.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.51-64
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• 2017

Objectives : This study examined the effect of private health insurance on medical care utilization by subscription type. Methods : The data used were the six waves of the Korea Health Panel (2009-2014), and 16,187 persons were the subjects of the analysis. We performed a panel regression with a fixed effects model. Results : Indemnity private health insurance was positively related to the number of physician visits, number of admissions, and total length of stays. However, fixed-benefit private health insurance was not related to medical care utilization. Conclusions : The result of this study, which shows the difference by subscription type in the effect of private health insurance on medical care utilization, suggests that continuous monitoring of indemnity private health insurance is needed in the future.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.39-51
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• 2016

Objectives : This study investigated the health care utilization patterns of workers' compensation insurance(WCI) pneumoconiosis patients with excessively long hospital stays. Methods : The discharge summary data of 3,094 WCI pneumoconiosis patients were analyzed. The study sample was divided into 3 groups based on the length of stay(LOS). Health care utilization patterns were compared among the groups with logistic regression analysis, and the LOS determinants were identified with linear regression analysis. Results : The average LOS of the 222 long stay group patients was 1,448 days. Patients in this group tended to use private general hospitals, were admitted through the emergency room and discharged without the consent of a doctor. Conclusions : Many of the long LOS patients will maintain their inpatient status for the rest of their lives. For quality of life and efficient use of health care resources, policy makers need to establish a policy that enables patients to receive outpatient care in appropriate living conditions outside the hospital.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.120-127
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• 2014

Background: Since December 2010, online computerized prospective drug utilization review (pDUR) has been implemented in Korea. pDUR involves the review of each prescription before the medication is dispensed to the individual patient. The pDUR is performed electronically by Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA), which is a Korean governmental agency, and then HIRA provides medical institutions and pharmacies with information that can be helpful to them in preventing potential drug problems such as drug/drug interactions or ingredient duplication. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the Korean pDUR implementation on the proportion of drug-drug interactions (DDIs) using claims data from HIRA. Methods: A before-after comparison of the prevalence of DDIs between prescription was conducted, using HIRA administrative claims data of medical institution from January 2010 to December 2011. The analysis unit was the prescription issued and pairs before and after. The main outcome measures were the proportion of DDIs within- (control group) or between- physician encounters. To examine the difference, a paired t-test was applied. Results: We found that DDIs proportion between prescription decreased significantly (t=3.04, p=0.0026) after the implementation of pDUR, whereas there is no significant reduction within prescription (t=1.15, p=0.2518). With respect to the prevalence of DDIs between drug groups, the most dramatic reduction was occurred between 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors and anti-fungal agents. Conclusion: It seems effective that giving a direct feedback to prescribers by a prospective DUR. Further research is needed to assess the impact of DUR to final outcomes such as hospitalization.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.180-188
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• 2011

Purpose: This study was done to evaluate the operating status of community-based home health center for revitalization of the centers. Method: In this study performance data including organization plan and service utilization plan were evaluated according process theory. Target of evaluation was the community-based home health care center. Results: The vulnerable part of the organization was the information system and financial resources. The home health center introduced PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) in 2005, however home health care nurses did not make full use of it. This service received full support from Seoul city and local government and there were no other sources of income. The vulnerable part of service utilization was service expansion and standardization due to vulnerability of organizational aspects. Conclusions: The home health care center provides high quality services to underprivileged people. In the future, these services should be provided with equity for continuous health care for this population.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.170-179
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• 2010

Purpose: It was to identify the relationship with the health beliefs, self-efficacy and medical care utilization in nurses in order to provide basic data for program development to actively help nurses' health practice. Methods: The subjects were 360 hospital nurses in P city, K Province. Instruments were health belief developed by Walker, Sechrist & Pender (1987), self-efficacy by Sherer, Maddux & Mercandante(1982), and medical care utilization by Korean National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey(2006). The data were analyzed as descriptive statistics, Chi-square, t-test, and ANOVA using SPSS 11.5. Results: There were significant differences in medical care utilization depending on age(p=.008), marital status(p=.019), education level(p=.005), types of work(p=.017), nursing units(p=.018), and period of work(p=.001). Use of outpatient clinic was significantly different depending on perceived susceptibility(F=2.463, p=.045). Nurses who consulted to doctor in other hospital had higher perceived severity(F=2.759, p=.028). Nurses who used complementary medicine had higher perceived barrier(F=2.278, p=.047). The score of self-efficacy was significantly different in medical care service frequency (F=3.030, p=.018) and to whom their health problems consulted(F=3.092, p=.010). Conclusion: Medical service utilization was different depending on the demographic characteristics, perceived susceptibility, severity, and barrier, and self efficacy. It is needed to give health promotion program considering these factors for nurses.

• 한국노년학
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.171-188
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors associated with the probability and levels of the health service utilization among the disabled elderly in Korea. The sample includes 2,111 people older than 65 who are extracted from the 2008 National Survey on People with Disabilities. More than half (54.3%) of the sample experienced at least 1 outpatient physician visit within two weeks and 26.7% were hospitalized within a year. The key factors associated with the outpatient visits were health insurance status, the existence of chronic disease, self-rated health, the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), as well as renal impairment. Similarly, the utilization of inpatient care was related to health insurance status along with the existence of the internal organ disabilities such as cardiac or respiratory disorders. The study implies the need for the health care policies regarding the prevention of chronic diseases, dependency for daily activities of the elderly, and a management system that specifically targets those with internal organ disabilities. Moreover, the study suggests that financial supports for the low-income group would be helpful to increase their access to health service utilization.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.97-108
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• 2011

Objective: This study aimed to analyze the utilization of Oriental medical services and its determinants among the elderly. Method: Data from a Korean longitudinal study of aging was used. Regression analysis was used to find the determinants of the utilization of medical care. Results: People with low education and low income were more likely to use Oriental medical services. Determinants of using Oriental health service were sex, marriage, income, subjective health condition, activity restriction due to pain, and chronic disease. Among them, only subjective health condition and activity restriction due to pain were significant determinants of frequency of and expenditure on Oriental medical services. Especially, activity restriction due to pain was a significant factor in the use of Oriental medical services, but not in the use of Western medical services. Conclusion: Treatment related to pain was closely associated with Oriental medical services. These treatments need to be developed with scientific and clinical evidence.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.83-98
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• 2012

The objective of this study is to analyze the utilization patterns of national health insurance and medical aid inpatients in tertiary hospitals. For the analysis, the study utilize the nationwide data on '2010 Survey of Patients' of Ministry of Health & Welfare. The statistical methodology used in the study is the logistic regression model. This study has three major findings. First, utilization rate of national health insurance inpatients was higher than medical aid inpatients in tertiary hospitals. Second, the significant affecting demographic factors in utilizing tertiary hospitals were sex, age, surgery case, treatment result, inpatients residence region and short length of stay. Third, compared to other disease groups, the inpatients on 'congenital malformation, deformity and chromosomal abnormalities', 'factors influencing health status and contact with health services' and 'neoplasm' groups are more likely to utilize tertiary hospitals. Finally, according to residence region, Seoul residence inpatients in both of national health insurance and medical aid more likely to utilize tertiary hospitals than other region inpatients.