• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.sup1
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• pp.28-36
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• 2016

Background: This study aimed to develop the models for regional cardiac surgery centers, which take regional characteristics into consideration, as a policy measure that could alleviate the concentration of cardiac surgery in the metropolitan area and enhance the accessibility for patients who reside in the regions. Methods: To develop the models and set standards for the necessary personnel and facilities for the initial management plan, we held workshops, debates, and conference meetings with various experts. Results: After partitioning the plan into two parts (the operational autonomy and the functional comprehensiveness), three models were developed: the 'independent regional cardiac surgery center' model, the 'satellite cardiac surgery center within hospitals' model, and the 'extended cardiac surgery department within hospitals' model. Proposals on personnel and facility management for each of the models were also presented. A regional cardiac surgery center model that could be applied to each treatment area was proposed, which was developed based on the anticipated demand for cardiac surgery. The independent model or the satellite model was proposed for Chungcheong, Jeolla, North Gyeongsang, and South Gyeongsang area, where more than 500 cardiac surgeries are performed annually. The extended model was proposed as most effective for the Gangwon and Jeju area, where more than 200 cardiac surgeries are performed annually. Conclusion: The operation of regional cardiac surgery centers with high caliber professionals and quality resources such as optimal equipment and facility size, should enhance regional healthcare accessibility and the quality of cardiac surgery in South Korea.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.19-36
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to assess adequately equipped with convenience facilities for the disabled in 160 healthcare institutions in Jongno district, Seoul. Healthcare institutions were equipped an average of 3.7 facilities out of 10. General hospitals had an average of 5.0 facilities, which was higher than an average of 3.6 facilities for private clinics (p<0.05). Of 160 healthcare institutions, only 13 (8.1%) offered easy access to the outpatient setting from the entrance for wheelchair users, highlighting difficult wheelchair access within hospitals. To provide easy access to medical service for the disabled, more accessible designs need to be adopted as part of the effort to improve public facilities for the disabled. Also, universal designs could be applied for newly constructed roads, structures and transportation vehicles to maximize accessibility for the disabled. Increased accessibility for the disabled in the community will eventually increase the use of healthcare institutions.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.601-611
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• 2019

As the economy of Korea has developed, dietary patterns have also changed in many ways. Rural areas, in particular, demonstrate relatively lower food accessibility than in urban areas. The aim of this study was to examine whether or not there were differences in food accessibility between urban and rural areas using data of the Census on Basic Characteristics of Establishments, Consumer Behavior Survey for Food, of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Also investigated was how such differences would affect the frequency of food purchase, dietary intake, and nutrition intake by district. The results showed that districts with the lowest 10% in food accessibility had lower frequency of food purchase than did the highest 10% districts. In terms of nutrition intake, the daily average nutrition intake was not significantly different among districts. Yet, analysis of the amount of weekly dietary intake indicated that food oasis districts had from 1.3 to 3 times greater dietary intake than did food desert districts. These findings mean that the difference in food accessibility causes unbalanced food intake. Thus, the government must take a comprehensive approach to ensure that rural residents get greater food accessibility.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.199-215
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• 1998

The health care environment exerts tremendous influence on community health practices. Here the author mention several major factors that will influence the future plan for health service and health education; that is, economic problem, the issues of decrement of infectious disease, increment of chronic degenerative disease due to natural increase of the elderly, increased frequency of traffic and industrial accidents and the issues of medical-technological advances etc. Therefore, special efforts by health personnel should be made to develop health education and health promotion strategies on a community-wide basis. Accordingly, the flexible accessibility, convenient availability, guaranteed medical service, sufficient supply of health information, and rapidly available medicaid service for special population such as the elderly, the handicapped, the disabled and the poor are considered. Also, the financial support from the central government and local self-government and active participation of health consumer to health service are needed in Korea, The role of the health personnel is to elicit, facilitate and maintain health promoting behavior with his and her assurance for health consumers being competent and supported in the voluntary choice of their health promoting activities. The health promoting activities such as the above mentioned will be produce escalation of their life Quality among Koreans.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.21-37
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• 2022

Due to the development of technology and medical care following the 4th industrial revolution, the medical paradigm is shifting towards patient-centered medical services. Based on the development of smart home technology, the residential environment is changing into a residential space that cares for and heals the lifestyles and the healthcare of families. As lifestyle changes, the concept of supporting smart home care based on the residential environment is making it possible to build a smart home IoT service design with enhanced accessibility and convenience for medical appointments and well-being lifestyle care. This paper is a study on user-centered health care smart home IoT service design suitable for family members based on the health care, beauty care, exercise care, and customized diet care beyond the conventional concept of health care monitoring. Based on the analysis, this paper proposes a personal care coordinate smart home service design in a human-centered wellness clinic care smart home service design environment. Human-centered wellness clinic smart home IoT service design is meaningful in presenting a vision for research on smart home service design that links hospital-linked and care-linked service industries, which should be considered from the smart home construction planning stage.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.11-24
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide comprehensive measures for the development of public health care through a survey on consumers' awareness of health care use from the point of view of local residents. Research design, data and methodology: For about one week from January 07 to January 14, 2021, questionnaires were distributed to 800 local residents and analyzed. For statistical analysis of collected data, frequency analysis and cross-analysis were performed. Results: Regarding public health service, 'providing medical services that can be used by all citizens and protect and promote health' had the highest response rate of 95.2% of total respondents. Regarding health care system satisfaction, 'Accessibility to general treatment' had the highest score with an average of 3.31 points. Regarding comprehensive measures for the development of public health care, 'Establishment of an infection and patient safety system' had the highest score with an average of 3.91 points. Conclusions: The direction of public health care and services should include management of infectious diseases during national disasters, reduction of gaps in medical use by region and class, improvement of access to emergency medical care, and quality improvement of specialized medical care.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.79-93
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• 2005

The purpose of the study is to identify Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSC) and their potential health insurance applicability in Korea, using the correlation and regression analysis with the empirical data provided by Korean Health Insurance Review Agency(KHIRA). Here, ACSC would be thought of as conditions that when timely and effectively treated in the outpatient medical services can help reduce the risk of hospitalizations. As for ACSC, reducing accessibility for outpatient visit results in increasing hospitalization. In this respect, the ACSC concept is popularly adopted as one of the performance indicators of the national health system. As one of main results, fortifying the accessibility to necessary health care in a way of sharing appropriately the role with private health insurance can lead to the efficiency of national health care delivery systems in view of total health care expense, in particular in a case of ACSC children. Lastly, we would like to strongly suggest that the disease treatment data set reported to KHIRA needs to be opened to private insurance companies only for illness experience investigation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.sup1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2016

Background: This study uses the relevance index to understand the condition of regional medical service use for cardiovascular surgery and to identify the medical service use imbalance between regions. Methods: This study calculated the relevance index of 16 metropolitan cities and provinces using resident registration address data from the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs and the 2010-2014 health insurance, medical care assistance, and medical benefits claims data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. We identified developments over the 5-year time period and analyzed the level of regional imbalance regarding cardiovascular surgery through the relative comparison of relevance indexes between cardiovascular and other types of surgery. Results: The relevance index was high in large cities such as Seoul, Daegu, and Gwangju, but low in regions that were geographically far from the capital area, such as the Gangwon and Jeju areas. Relevance indexes also fell as the years passed. Cardiovascular surgery has a relatively low relevance index compared to key types of surgery of other fields, such as neurosurgery and colorectal surgery. Conclusion: This study identified medical service use imbalance between regions for cardiovascular surgery. Results of this study demonstrate the need for political intervention to enhance the accessibility of necessary special treatment, such as cardiovascular surgery.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.335-344
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• 2020

Background: The purpose of this study was to identify factors inhibiting access of people with disability to health check-ups as well as identify pertinent solutions for improvement. Methods: Twenty-three people with disability older than the age of 19 who took respective health check-ups within the last 3 years were selected as participants. For the data collection, the 1:1 intensive interview was used. The data were analyzed by the grounded theory by Corbin and Strauss. Results: The results comprised nine categories, 23 subcategories, and 179 concepts. The central phenomenon was 'failure to obtain check-ups.' Causal conditions were observed as a 'lack of communication method,' 'physical difficulties,' and 'staff unfamiliar with people with disability,' Interventional conditions comprised 'physical accessibility,' 'staffs' competency,' and 'assistant manpower.' The active strategy was included 'to investigate the professional medical institution,' 'to find the medical institution of convenient traffic accessibility,' 'to overcome communication difficulties through equipment,' and 'to overcome linguistic barriers through sufficient communication.' Whereas, 'utilization of ancillary equipment,' 'the education of staffs on people with disability,' 'universal design manual,' and 'customized check-ups' were included in the passive strategy. Such processes arose in the contextual conditions of 'lack of expectations for daily lives' and 'lack of government support.' As a consequence, the subjects participated experienced the 'disadvantages,' 'discrimination,' and 'reduced reliability of the health check-ups.' Conclusion: The subjects who participated in this study emphasized 'staffs familiar with people with disability' and 'systems customized for people with disability' are mandatory to secure complete health check-ups for people with disability.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.77-88
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• 2017

Objectives : To examine the factors associated with the use of the prenatal care services provided by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family by married migrant women in Korea. Methods : We employed data from the 2015 Nationwide Multiculturale Family Survey. We selected 19- to 39-year-old married immigrant women with children aged 5 years or less for the study (N=1,579). We included four predisposing factors, six enabling factors, and two need factors based on the Andersen's Health-care Utilization Model. Results : Only one third of married immigrant women(31.6%) used prenatal care service and 45.9% of them reported prenatal care service needs. Area of residence, country of birth, and Korean language proficiency were significantly associated with prenatal care service use. Further, age, country of birth, length of time in Korea, household income, and discrimination experience were significantly associated. Conclusions : Findings suggest the need to develop strategies to improve accessibility to prenatal care service use especially for married immigrant women from developing countries, low-income families, having poor Korean language proficiency or having discrimination experience.