• Health Policy and Management
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.73-93
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• 2022

Background: Appropriate physician workforce projection through reasonable discussions and decisions with a broad view on supply and demand of the workforce, thus, is very important for high-quality healthcare services. The study expects to provide preliminary research data on the workforce diagnosis standard model for Korean physician workforce policy decision through more flexible and objective physician workforce projection in reflection of diverse changes in healthcare policy and sociodemographic environments. Methods: A low flow rate through the causal map was developed, and an objective workforce demand projection from 2019 to 2040 was conducted. In addition, projections by scenarios under various situations were conducted with the low flow rate developed in the study. Lastly, the demand projection of the physician workforce by region of 17 cities and provinces was conducted. Results: First, demand of physicians in 2019 was 110,665, 113,450 in 2020, 129,496 in 2025, 146,837 in 2030, 163,719 in 2035, and 179,288 in 2040. Second, the scenario for the retirement of baby boomers led to a decrease in the growth rate due to time delay. Third, Seoul and Gyeonggi-do account for a high percentage of demand, a very high upward trend was identified in Gyeonggi-do, and as a result, the projection showed that the demand of the physician workforce in Gyeonggi-do would worsen over time. Conclusion: This study is meaningful in that rational and collective physician workforce supply and demand and its imbalance in workforce distribution were verified through various projections by scenarios and regions of Korea with System Dynamics.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.421-435
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• 2017

Purpose: Public health centers (PHCs) provide a variety of healthcare services according to the Regional Public Health Act (RPHA). We aim to analyze the changes in public healthcare services according to the legislation and the number of public health nurse (PHN) involved in the service, and propose an alternative to effectively distribute the public health nursing workforce for protecting the health rights of people. Methods: This is a review study that deduced the results from literature review. Results: During the revision of the PHC law to the RPHA, several services were added. Health related laws have forced the PHCs to provide services for these legislations. Consequently, the workload on the PHNs has been increasing. However, the PHNs have been consistently lacking. In 2017, there are 16.2 full-time nurses per center. Furthermore, About 50% of the PHCs are not meeting the minimum requirements of licensed or qualified health professional workforce outlined in 1997. In addition, 43% of the nurses in the PHCs are part-time nurses. Conclusion: We suggest that the minimum requirements of health professional workforce should be modified to reflect the increase in the workload of PHNs, and a legislation to enforce PHCs to fulfill these requirements is needed.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.211-233
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• 2019

The 「Health Care Workforce Support Act」 was came into effect on 29 October 2019. Health care workforce is the most important national health resource, and the quantity and quality of them is also related to the level of national health care. This study examined the background and major contents of this Act and suggested future improvement by analyzing main issues. Th e Act was enacted to support the health care workforce for their recruitment and better working environment. By stipulating the establishment of the master plan, management of the supply and demand, improvement of working environment for health care workforce, the act contributed to raise the quality of health service and health promotion. Given that the act was developed in consideration to support of health care workers, it has many meanings. However, it is necessary to reexamine the above-mentioned five issues in order to develop the effective law while utilizing the significance of the law for health care workforce support and has to revise as soon as possible.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.115-117
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• 2023

The issue of increasing the number of physicians is emerging. Because the physician workforce is a critical component of the health care system, and substantial costs are involved in training personnel, a cautious approach is required. The demand to increase the number of physicians is based on the contention that there are difficulties in accessing essential health services and the need to prepare for future demands such as fostering physician-scientists. However, simply increasing the number of physicians is not an appropriate approach to address these demands, especially considering that the effects of such an increase will appear 10 years later. Moreover, it is concerned that the current argument for increasing the physician workforce is intertwined with political interests. When considering the impact on the health care system, decisions regarding the expansion of the physician workforce should be based on evidence. Additionally, rather than temporarily responding to social issues, it is expected that a governance system will be established to continuously discuss and decide on fostering medical personnel.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.143-149
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• 2016

Background: The industrial revolution that took place in the United Kingdom (UK) between 1760 and 1830 led to profound social change. Occupational medicine was concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of occupational diseases, that is, diseases directly caused by exposure to workplace hazards. A similar pattern of development has occurred globally. Methods: A review of relevant literature. Results: The international conceptualization and development of occupational health occurred during the 20th century. A new paradigm for occupational health has emerged that extends the classical focus on what might be termed "health risk management" that is, the focus on workplace hazards and risk to health to include the medical aspects of sickness absence and rehabilitation, the support and management of chronic noncommunicable diseases, and workplace health promotion. Conclusion: The future strategic direction for occupational health will be informed by a needs analysis and a consideration of where it should be positioned within future healthcare provision. What are the occupational health workforce implications of the vision for occupational health provision? New challenges and new ways of working will necessitate a review of the competence and capacity of the occupational health workforce, with implications for future workforce planning.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2002

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to suggest the projected workforce of home health care specialists in Korea. Method: Need model. ratio methods and expert opinion were used for projecting the number of home health care specialists. Result: 1) In 2002. there are 13 programs which offer one year home health specialist training. From those programs. they produced 3860 registered home health care specialists. 2) In 2002. there are 89 hospitalbased home health service units and 220 active home health care specialists. 3) In case of hospital- based home health service. average of 4 services per month for average of 3 months was assumed as workforce standard. 4) In case of community-based home health service. average of 4 services per month for 12 months was assumed as workforce standard. 5) The number of home health care specialists required to meet the demands for home health care population in 2000 and 2005 was estimated at minimum of 20.361 to maximum of 31.360 and 21.989 to 34.080. respectively. Conclusion: Community home health care agencies are needed to meet the demands of home health care.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.298-304
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• 2012

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has experienced tremendous economic and industrial growth in the petroleum, airline, maritime and construction sectors, especially since the discovery of oil reserves. Mass recruitment of low skilled or unskilled laborers from less-developed countries has been utilized to satisfy the manpower demands of these fast paced industrial developments. Such workforce recruitment has created an unusual populace demographic, with the total UAE population estimated at 8.3 million, composed of 950,000 Emiratis, with the remainder being multinational expatriate workers, with varying educational qualifications, work experience, religious beliefs, cultural practices, and native languages. These unique characteristics pose a challenge for health and safety professionals tasked with ensuring the UAE workforce adheres to specific occupational health and safety procedures. The paper discusses two case studies that employ a novel multimedia approach to raising health and safety awareness among a multinational workforce.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1159-1166
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• 2012

Research on radiation oncologists has indicated that there is a shortage in supply of specialist workers in this field internationally, and also within Australia. However, there are no current estimates as to what the future Australian radiotherapy workforce will look like. This paper aims to review the current status and capacity of the three main disciplines that make up the radiation oncology workforce in Australia and project the workforce supply and demand for 2014 and 2019. Using data on the workforce from a survey of all radiotherapy facilities operating in Australia in 2008 a workforce model was constructed. This study found that there will be a future shortfall of radiation oncologists, radiation therapists and radiation oncology medical physicists working in radiation oncology treatment. By 2014 there will be 109 fewer radiation oncologists than what will be demanded, and by 2019 this figure will increase to a shortfall of 155 radiation oncologists. There was a projected shortfall of 612 radiation therapists by 2014, with this figure slightly decreasing to a shortfall of 593 radiation therapists in 2019. In 2014, there was projected to be a deficit of 104 radiation oncology medical physicists with a persisting shortfall of 78 in 2019. This future projected shortage highlights the need for radiation oncology workforce planning.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.18-29
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• 2017

Background: In Korea, the problem of physician workforce imbalances has been a debated issue for a long time. This study aimed to draw key lessons and policy implications to Korea by analyzing projection models of physician demand/supply among five countries. Methods: We adopted theoretical framework and analyzed detail indicators used in projection models of demand/supply comparatively among countries. A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar with key search terms and it was complimented with hand searching of grey literature in Korean or English. Results: As a results, Korea has been used a supply-based traditional approach without taking various variables or environmental factors influencing on demand/supply into consideration. The projection models of USA and Netherlands which considered the diversity of variables and political issues is the most closest integrated approach. Based on the consensus of stakeholder, the evolved integrated forecasting approach which best suits our nation is needed to minimize a wasteful debate related to physician demand/supply. Also it is necessary to establish the national level statistics indices and database about physician workforce. In addition, physician workforce planning will be discussed periodically. Conclusion: We expect that this study will pave the way to seek reasonable and developmental strategies of physician workforce planning.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.381-389
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• 2019

The physiological function test is the only patient contact area in the field of clinical laboratory. We need to recruit and encourage the experts due to requiring the expertise and long time for examination. However, there is currently no rule for estimating optimal workforce in the field of physiological function tests. The purpose of this study is to establish the basis of the studies for mid- to long-long term job creation in the field of ultrasound by evaluating the number of appropriate tests and appropriate workforce. We calculated the quantitative and qualitative workload for the number of appropriate tests and appropriate workforce using online questionnaire. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). A total of 216 respondents were 48 (22.2%) male and 168 (77.8%) female. A total of 157 laboratories were 62 (39.5%) for echocardiography, 91 (58.0%) for the transcranial Doppler (TCD) and 4 (5.7%) for the carotid ultrasound. The mean number of appropriate tests was 10 ± 2 in the echocardiography, 9 ± 2 in TCD and 11 ± 2 in the carotid ultrasound. In addition, the number of laboratories required to recruit employees for appropriate workforce was 19 in echocardiography, 18 in TCD, and 0 in carotid ultrasound. The number of hospital required to recruit workforce were 7 primary hospitals, 22 secondary hospitals, 7 third hospitals. This study can be used as an important data as the first study at present time when the data on the workforce status and work environment of the ultrasonic laboratories is insufficient. Based on the quantitative and qualitative workloads, the number of appropriate tests and appropriate workforce can support mid- to long-long term job creation in the field of ultrasound.