• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.73-86
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• 2022

Objectives: In the health care industry, the influence of online reviews is growing. As medical services are provided mainly by providers, those services have been managed by hospitals and clinics. However, direct promotions of medical services by providers are legally forbidden. Due to this reason, consumers, like patients and clients, search a lot of reviews on the Internet to get any information about hospitals, treatments, prices, etc. It can be determined that online reviews indicate the quality of hospitals, and that analysis should be done for sustainable hospital marketing. Method: Using a Python-based crawler, we collected reviews, written by real patients, who had experienced Korean medicine, about more than 14,000 reviews. To extract the most representative words, reviews were divided by positive and negative; after that reviews were pre-processed to get only nouns and adjectives to get TF(Term Frequency), DF(Document Frequency), and TF-IDF(Term Frequency - Inverse Document Frequency). Finally, to get some topics about reviews, aggregations of extracted words were analyzed by using LDA(Latent Dirichlet Allocation) methods. To avoid overlap, the number of topics is set by Davis visualization. Results and Conclusions: 6 and 3 topics extracted in each positive/negative review, analyzed by LDA Topic Model. The main factors, consisting of topics were 1) Response to patients and customers. 2) Customized treatment (consultation) and management. 3) Hospital/Clinic's environments.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.199-207
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• 2010

For us, there is virtually no distinction between being a responsible citizen and a successful business... they are one and the same for Wal-Mart today." ~ Lee Scott, al-Mart CEO after the 2005 Katrina disaster; cited in Green to Gold (Esty and Winston 2006). Lee Scott's statement signaled a new era in sustainability as manufacturers and retailers around the globe watched the world's largest mass merchandiser confirm its intentions with respect to sustainability. For decades, the environmental movement has grown, slowly bleeding over into the corporate world. Companies have been born, products have been created, academic journals have been launched, and government initiatives have been undertaken - all in the pursuit of sustainability (Peattie and Crane 2005). While progress has been admittedly slower than some may desire, the emergence and entrance of environmentally concerned mass merchandisers has done much to help with sustainable efforts. To better understand this movement, we incorporate the perspectives of both executives and consumers involved in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. This research relies on three underlying themes: (1) Conceptual and anecdotal evidence suggests that companies undertake sustainability initiatives for a plethora of reasons, (2) The number of sustainability initiatives continues to increase in the consumer packaged goods industries, and (3) That it is, therefore, necessary to explore the role that sustainability plays in the minds of consumers. In light of these themes, surveys were administered to and completed by 143 college students and 101 business executives to assess a number of variables in regards to sustainability including willingness-to-pay, behavioral intentions, attitudes, willingness-to-pay, and preferences. Survey results indicate that the top three reasons why executives believe sustainability to be important include (1) the opportunity for profitability, (2) the fulfillment of an obligation to the environment, and (3) a responsibility to customers and shareholders. College students identified the top three reasons as (1) a responsibility to the environment, (2) an indebtedness to future generations, and (3) an effective management of resources. While the rationale for supporting sustainability efforts differed between college students and executives, the executives and consumers reported similar responses for the majority of the remaining sustainability issues. Furthermore, when we asked consumers to assess the importance of six key issues (healthcare, economy, education, crime, government spending, and environment) previously identified as important to consumers by Gallup Poll, protecting the environment only ranked fourth out of the six (Carlson 2005). While all six of these issues were identified as important, the top three that emerged as most important were (1) improvements in education, (2) the economy, and (3) health care. As the pursuit and incorporation of sustainability continues to evolve, so too will the expected outcomes. New definitions of performance that reflect the social/business benefits as well as the lengthened implementation period are relevant and warranted (Ehrenfeld 2005; Hitchcock and Willard 2006). We identified three primary categories of outcomes based on a literature review of both anecdotal and conceptual expectations of sustainability: (1) improvements in constituent satisfaction, (2) differentiation opportunities, and (3) financial rewards. Within each of these categories, several specific outcomes were identified resulting in eleven different outcomes arising from sustainability initiatives. Our survey results indicate that the top five most likely outcomes for companies that pursue sustainability are: (1) green consumers will be more satisfied, (2) company image will be better, (3) corporate responsibility will be enhanced, (4) energy costs will be reduced, and (5) products will be more innovative. Additionally, to better understand the interesting intersection between the environmental "identity" of a consumer and the willingness to manifest that identity with marketplace purchases, we extended prior research developed by Experian Research (2008). Accordingly, respondents were categorized as one of four types of green consumers (Behavioral Greens, Think Greens, Potential Greens, or True Browns) to garner a better understanding of the green consumer in addition to assisting with a more effective interpretation of results. We assessed these consumers' willingness to engage in eco-friendly behavior by evaluating three options: (1) shopping at retailers that support environmental initiatives, (2) paying more for products that protect the environment, and (3) paying higher taxes so the government can support environmental initiatives. Think Greens expressed the greatest willingness to change, followed by Behavioral Greens, Potential Greens, and True Browns. These differences were all significant at p<.01. Further Conclusions and Implications We have undertaken a descriptive study which seeks to enhance our understanding of the strategic domain of sustainability. Specifically, this research fills a gap in the literature by comparing and contrasting the sustainability views of business executives and consumers with specific regard to preferences, intentions, willingness-to-pay, behavior, and attitudes. For practitioners, much can be gained from a strategic standpoint. In addition to the many results already reported, respondents also reported than willing to pay more for products that protect the environment. Other specific results indicate that female respondents consistently communicate a stronger willingness than males to pay more for these products and to shop at eco-friendly retailers. Knowing this additional information, practitioners can now have a more specific market in which to target and communicate their sustainability efforts. While this research is only an initial step towards understanding similarities and differences among practitioners and consumers regarding sustainability, it presents original findings that contribute to both practice and research. Future research should be directed toward examining other variables affecting this relationship, as well as other specific industries.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.70-79
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• 1999

This study attempts to encourage the development of a rehabilitation delivery system as a substitute service for hospitalization such as a community based intermediate facility or home health care. We need substitute services for hospitalization to curtail the length of stay for inpatients due to car accidents. It focused on developing an estimation for early discharge based on a detailed statement of treatment from medical records of 109 inpatients who were hospitalized at General Hospital in 1997. This study has three specific purposes: First, to find the mean length of stay and mean medical expenditure. Second, to estimate the mean of early discharge from the mean length of stay. Third, to analyize the income effect per bed from early discharge. In order to analyze the length of stay and medical expenditure of inpatients the author conducted a micro and macro-analysis with medical expenditure records. To estimate the early discharge we examined with a group of 4 experts decreases in the amount of treatment after surgery, in treatments, in tests, in drug methods. We also looked their vital signs, the start of ROM exercise, the time removel, a patient's visitations, and possible stable conditions. In addition to identifing the income effect due to an early discharge, the data was analyzed by an SPSS-PC for windows and Excell program with a regression analysis model. The research findings are as follows: First, the mean length of stay was 47.56 days, but the mean length of stay due to early discharge was 32.26 days. The estimation of early discharge days was shown to depend on the length of stay. The longer the length of stay, the longer the length before discharge. For example, if the patient stayed under 14 days the mean length of stay was 7.09 while an early discharge was 6.39, whereas if the mean length of stay was 155.73, the early discharge time was 107.43. The mean medical expenditure per day of car accident patients was found to be 169,085 Won, whereas the mean medical expenditure per day was shown to be in a negative linear form according to the length of stay. That is the mean expenditure for under 14 days of stay was 303,015 Won and the period of the hospitalization of 15 days to 29 days was 170,338 Won and those of 30 days to 59 days was 113,333 Won. The estimation of the income effect due to being discharged 16 days was around 2,350,000 Won with a regression analysis model. However, this does not show the real benefits from an early discharge, but only the income increasing amount without considering prime medical cost at a general hospital. Therefore, we need further analysis on cost containments and benefits incending turn over rates and medical prime costs. From these research findings, the following suggestions have been drawn, we need to develop strategies on a rehabilitation delivery system focused on consumers for the 21st century. Varions intermediate facilities and home health care should be developed in the community as a substitute for shortening the length of stay in hospitals. In home health care cases, patients who want rehabilitation services as a substitute for hospitalization in cooperation with private health insurance companies might be available immediately.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea TC
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.29-35
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• 2011

PHR(Personal Health Record) to support the lifelong healthcare of their medical information to consumers anytime, anywhere can view and manage health information to help direct input can be defined as a service. The PHR is to provide services efficiently and PHR systems and health-related information systems should be integrated and linked. However, the current healthcare information systems field in order to meet the growing demand for healthcare construction and operation of various systems, and accordingly continues to increase budget for information, but the current system, although the association between a variety of system integration and linkage is being made. This paper proposes a Integrated information system on Healthcare based on Web service to solve problems mentioned above. SOA(Service Oriented Architecture) is a major method of integrating services on the Web. It enables new requirements to be added to existing systems without modification of legacy services, so it makes rapid adaption to varying business environment. Therefore, In this paper, PHR services based on SOA as a platform for the health care sector to design and implement an integrated information system by web services based PHR services for the construction of a new integrated information system is proving to be a suitable model.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.435-452
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• 2023

This study was conducted for a systematic literature review according to the period, subject, and research method for 198 papers related to tattoo and semi-permanent makeup published from 1979 to 2022. By period, it was divided into the first period (1979-1994), the second period (1995-2005), the third period (2006-2012), and the fourth period (2013-2022). In the first period, research on health and medical aspects was the main focus, and in the second period, studies in various aspects such as art and culture began to appear. The 3rd period was characterized by increased research on semi-permanent makeup, and the 4th period was marked by a rapid increase in research on tattoos and semi-permanent makeup. By research topic, it was analyzed by dividing it into health and medical care, beauty, fashion and art, society and culture, law and system. As a result, cosmetic studies were most actively conducted to identify consumers' preferences and perceptions, and health and medical studies were the second most common. Recently, as the need for legalization has increased, studies related to laws and systems have increased rapidly, and studies on culture, history, and fashion have also been conducted. By research method, survey research were used the most, and various methods such as literature study and case studies were also used. This study is expected to further promote follow-up research in the future and contribute to the development of related industries.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.391-401
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• 2011

Purpose: In the present study, the actual management state of trial contact lenses and lens care products in local optical shops was surveyed and analyzed to reduce the risk of lens complication possibly induced by neglecting lens care. Methods: The feeling of contact lens wearers during the wear of trial contact lenses was surveyed. Futhermore, the actual management state of trial contact lenses such as cosmetic lens and RGP lens and lens care products was also investigated by surveying opticians who trade contact lenses in local optical shops. Results: It was found that consumers trusted the sanitary conditions of the lens since trial cosmetic contact lens and RGP lens were cleaned before and after trails by over 98% of opticians in local optical shops. For trial cosmetic lens, cleaning with normal saline, multipurpose solution for soft lens and combination of saline and multipurpose solution were 38.5%, 40.5% and 21%, respectively, before trials. After trials, cosmetic lenses were cleaned with normal saline, multipurpose solution for soft lens and a combination of saline and multipurpose solution were 13%, 75%, and 12%, respectively. On the other hand, cleaning with normal saline, multipurpose solution for RGP lens and combination of saline and multipurpose solution were 28.5%, 38.5% and 33%, respectively, before trying trial RGP lens. After trials, RGP lenses were cleaned with normal saline, multipurpose solution for RGP lens and a combination of saline and multipurpose solution were 2.5%, 70%, and 27.5%, respectively, indicating that relatively many opticians followed the lens cleaning regimen. In local optical shops, the cleaning trial cosmetic lens was mainly conducted at every 10 days or a month and the washing cycle of cosmetic lens case was in a month or 2~3 months. The cleaning interval of trial RGP lens was primarily in a month or 2~3 months. For those lens cases, more than 75% of opticians washed them with a surfactant and then rinsed with cold water. The storing periods of lens care products were primarily in a week for saline and in a month and 2~3 months indicating that storing period of lens care products was relatively well-kept in local optical shops. Conclusions: It is thought that the concern about any microbial infection is not that high since trial contact lenses and lens care products were generally well-managed by opticians in local optical shops from the results above. However, better public eye health and better public confidence in opticians may be possible if further strengthen in avoidance of lens cleaning with saline, keep of cleaning cycles within 2 weeks and rinsing of lens cases with hot water happens.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.71-96
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• 2011

Within the traditional medical delivery system, patients residing in medically vulnerable areas, those with body movement difficulties, and nursing facility residents have had limited access to good healthcare services. However, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provides us with a convenient and useful means of overcoming distance and time constraints. ICT is integrated with biomedical science and technology in a way that offers a new high-quality medical service. As a result, rapid technological advancement is expected to play a pivotal role bringing about innovation in a wide range of medical service areas, such as medical management, testing, diagnosis, and treatment; offering new and improved healthcare services; and effecting dramatic changes in current medical services. The increase in aging population and chronic diseases has caused an increase in medical expenses. In response to the increasing demand for efficient healthcare services, a telehealth service based on ICT is being emphasized on a global level. Telehealth services have been implemented especially in pilot projects and system development and technological research. With the service about to be implemented in earnest, it is necessary to study its overall acceptance by consumers, which is expected to contribute to the development and activation of a variety of services. In this sense, the study aims at positively examining the structural relationship among the acceptance factors for telehealth services based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Data were collected by showing audiovisual material on telehealth services to online panels and requesting them to respond to a structured questionnaire sheet, which is known as the information acceleration method. Among the 1,165 adult respondents, 608 valid samples were finally chosen, while the remaining were excluded because of incomplete answers or allotted time overrun. In order to test the reliability and validity of the assessment scale items, we carried out reliability and factor analyses, and in order to explore the causal relation among potential variables, we conducted a structural equation modeling analysis using AMOS 7.0 and SPSS 17.0. The research outcomes are as follows. First, service quality, innovativeness of medical technology, and social influence were shown to affect perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of the telehealth service, which was statistically significant, and the two factors had a positive impact on willingness to accept the telehealth service. In addition, social influence had a direct, significant effect on intention to use, which is paralleled by the TAM used in previous research on technology acceptance. This shows that the research model proposed in the study effectively explains the acceptance of the telehealth service. Second, the research model reveals that information privacy concerns had a insignificant impact on perceived ease of use of the telehealth service. From this, it can be gathered that the concerns over information protection and security are reduced further due to advancements in information technology compared to the initial period in the information technology industry, and thus the improvement in quality of medical services appeared to ensure that information privacy concerns did not act as a prohibiting factor in the acceptance of the telehealth service. Thus, if other factors have an enormous impact on ease of use and usefulness, concerns over these results in the initial period of technology acceptance may become irrelevant. However, it is clear that users' information privacy concerns, as other studies have revealed, is a major factor affecting technology acceptance. Thus, caution must be exercised while interpreting the result, and further study is required on the issue. Numerous information technologies with outstanding performance and innovativeness often attract few consumers. A revised bill for those urgently in need of telehealth services is about to be approved in the national assembly. As telemedicine is implemented between doctors and patients, a wide range of systems that will improve the quality of healthcare services will be designed. In this sense, the study on the consumer acceptance of telehealth services is meaningful and offers strong academic evidence. Based on the implications, it can be expected to contribute to the activation of telehealth services. Further study is needed to assess the acceptance factors for telehealth services, such as motivation to remain healthy, health care involvement, knowledge on health, and control of health-related behavior, in order to develop unique services according to the categorization of customers based on health factors. In addition, further study may focus on various theoretical cognitive behavior models other than the TAM, such as the health belief model.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.301-310
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• 2002

In order to investigate the use and recognition of nutrition labelings of processed foods which adolescents frequently purchase, 277(boys 125, girls 152) middle school students and their parents were conveniently selected from the west Chonan City, and were surveyed by self-recording questionnaire on June, 2000. Nutrition labels were indicated only in 14.9% of 222 processed snack foods. At purchasing foods the students considered taste most importantly and in turn price, quantity, and nutrition. Of the subjects 79.4% of students and 89.2% of parents had experiences of reading nutrition labels, and the reasons were mainly to just know contained nutrients(76.8%, 72.1%, respectively) and for their health care(35.9%, 47.8%, respectively). The main reason not to confirm nutrition labels was that they were not interested in nutrition labels. But too small size and rudeness or hardness of understanding was also pointed out as a reason of not reading nutrition labels. The students ranked mineral, protein, and carbohydrate as the most important three nutrients at labelings, while the parents ranked protein, mineral, and calorie. Cholesterol, dietary fibers, and sodium were shown the lowest rank in both students and parents. Significant nutrients for specific processed foods did not well recognised in the students. Conclusively, nutrition labelings should be applied to all processed foods which students frequently buy, particularly in clear and large size. Also it is necessary to prepare education programs for both students and parents about accurate recognition of nutrition knowledge about processed foods and how to use nutrition labels.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2022.05a
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• pp.406-409
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• 2022

In recent years, the developments in technologies, such as AI systems, Blockchain, VR/AR, 3D printing, robotics, and nanotechnology, are reshaping the future of healthcare right before our eyes. And also, healthcare has seen a paradigm shift towards prevention-oriented medicine, with a focus on consumers requirements. The spread of infectious diseases such as Covid-19 have altered the definition of healthcare and treatment facilities, necessitating immediate action to redesign hospitals' physical environments, adapt communication models to address social distancing requirements, implement virtual health solutions, and establish new clinical protocols. Hospitals, which have traditionally served as the hub of healthcare systems, are pursuing or being forced to reestablish themselves against this landscape. Rather than only treating ailments, future healthcare is predicted to focus on wellness and prevention. In personalized care, long-term prevention strategies, remote monitoring, early diagnosis, and detection are critical. Given the growing interest in smart healthcare defined by these modern technologies, this study looked into the definitions and service kinds of smart healthcare. The background and technical aspects of smart hospitals were also explored through a literature review.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.379-394
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• 1994

The purpose of this study was to identify the correlation between the factors influencing on housewives' decision-making processes of organic foods and the relating variables, and the 5 stages of decision-making processes of the EBK model is utilized in this study. The sample was selected from 411 housewives living in Seoul from 1st of September through 20th of September, 1993. Frequency, Percentage, Mean, Factor analysis, One-way ANOVA, Duncan's multiple range test, t-Test, Correlation, Multiple regression analysis and Path analysis were measured. Major results are as follows: 1. Purchasing motivation of the organic foods were in order of the health care, nutritive value and taste care. 2. The major informations source for the knowledge of organic foods were in order of TV/radio, newspaper/magazine, recommendations informations and advice through a family/friends/acquaintances. 3. Evalution criteria in shopping of organic foods, the total degree of consideration over the purchasing factors of organic foods was fairly high level: consumers thought much of the sanitation/freshness, nutritive value and the food safety. In this regard opinion leaders was dominantly mass media. Consumers have a tendency to purchase organic foods in consideration of their children and husband. 4. Major place to purchase organic foods are super markets and department stores. And When shopping organic foods, housewives by all means confirm the check points in their own mind, which were expiry date, manufactured date and packing condition, but unexpectedly manufactured company was out of concern. 5. Housewives usually satisfy with decision after purchasing organic foods, while they were fairly unsatisfied with the price, quality, incomplete description for ingredients and manufactured date. 6. The variables influencing to the sincerity when selecting the most desired organic foods is how be cares about the natural freshness of the foods and the types of residents in order. Another interesting tendency is the richer they are very considerate to decide. It is to say the people who cares more about the natural freshness is the sincerer when making decision and also the class who lives in the apartment house enjoying high income do not easily accept the product quality.