• Women's Health Nursing
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.101-106
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• 2024

This paper discusses the implications of the birth notification system and the Protected Birth Act in Korea. Aiming to prevent infanticide and abandonment of infants, the law will enter into force on July 19, 2024 in South Korea. The birth notification system mandates that both parents and the head of the medical institution where the birth occurred must report the event. In parallel, the Protected Birth Act will be implemented, allowing pregnant women in crisis who wish to remain anonymous, the option to give birth outside of a hospital setting in a way that safeguards the life and health of the child. However, many issues are being raised in Korean society in advance of the implementation of the Protected Birth Act. There is widespread concern that the Protected Birth Act fails to protect either women or children, especially as it raises issues regarding the need for legislation to protect children with disabilities and to address gaps for migrant women and children. This paper examines the gender and healthcare issues relating to the Protected Birth Act, focusing on women's health and human rights. The Act continues to perpetuate discrimination against out-of-wedlock pregnancies and upholds the ideology of the traditional family model. Furthermore, the legislative process did not address protective measures for the various reasons behind child abandonment. Critical issues such as women's autonomy, safe pregnancy termination, and paternal responsibility in childbirth are also notably absent. However, with the Act set to take effect soon, it is crucial for healthcare providers to comprehend the rationale and procedures associated with birth notification and the Protected Birth Act, and to prepare for its nationwide implementation. The law defines the socially vulnerable as its main beneficiaries, and it is necessary to strengthen social safety nets to improve their access to healthcare, eliminate prejudice and discrimination against out-of-wedlock pregnancies, and embrace the diversity of our society. We eagerly anticipate future discussions on gender and healthcare issues, as well as amendments to the law that reflect real-world circumstances to provide genuine protection for pregnant women in crisis and their infants.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.311-321
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to provide basic data on the current status and ways to improve the dental hygiene society by investigating working conditions, working experience, dental institution types among some dental hygienists, and ways to improve the dental hygiene society. Methods: This study conducted an online survey to 450 graduates of the department of dental hygiene in colleges in Gyeonggi, Jeolla and Gangwon Provinces. This study got some help in securing the list of graduates from the heads of the departments. SPSS WIN 23.0 was used to analyze the data. Results: To questions on what is the most important thing in considering to apply for jobs, the highest proportion (39.1%) of respondents designated employee welfare, followed by improvement of clinical dental hygiene (34.0%), of welfare related contents (26.0%), and salary (19.5%). In the relationship between employee welfare and dental institution type and between employee welfare and work experience, employee welfare tend to rise with the increase of work years. In the relationship between the director and staff members, it was found that as work years accumulate, the relationship tends to decrease. The dental clinic with no more than five staff members showed the best relationship between the leader and co-workers, while employee welfare was the highest in the other types of clinics, and the differences were statistically significant. Conclusions: Dental hygienists need to make various efforts to improve their statuses as professionals. In order to secure a part of professionalism, it is necessary for them to make more efforts to realize the health-care professionals being promoted by the Dental Hygienists Association of Korea.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.21-30
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• 2020

This study explores institutions that provide comprehensive services to senior citizens, including welfare, healthcare, and housing support. These institutions can be defined as centers that offer continual care and carry out policies related to senior citizens. In such institutions, senior citizens have access to information about aging and senior services. First, this study reviewed prior research on senior comprehensive support institutions and their accessibility, and the data led to several findings about the needs of the senior citizens and the proper locations of senior comprehensive support institutions. And this study used surveys to gather information on senior citizens' perceptions of services at such institutions. The survey results indicated that the elderly agreed with the priorities of comprehensive support institutions, and that it would be more convenient to visit such institutions if there were more than one per Dong (administrative district of Seoul). In response to these results, the ideal radius of each administrative district in the metropolitan area of Korea was investigated. Finally, the study also discussed the adequacy of this distance in comparison to that of current institutions in Japan. Combining these results, the study concludes that comprehensive support institutions for the citizens should be created and suggests appropriate distances and locations of such institutions.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• 제10권2호
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• pp.99-103
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was designed to determine the frequency and echocardiographic findings of 22q11.2 deletions in fetuses with cardiac defects on fetal ultrasound or familial backgrounds of 22q11.2 deletions. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical and ultrasonographic records of 170 fetuses that underwent fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis for chromosome 22q11.2 deletions between February 2001 and April 2013. Results: Among 145 fetuses with cardiac defects, six (4.1%) had 22q11.2 deletions. Deletions of 22q11.2 were detected in 6 (5%) of the 120 fetuses with conotruncal defects: 5 (8.9%) of 56 with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and 1 (5.9%) of 17 with double outlet right ventricle (DORV). No deletions were found in cases of pulmonary atresia, truncus arteriosus, right aortic arch, or transposition of the great arteries. No 22q11.2 deletions were found in non-conotruncal cardiac malformations. Among 25 fetuses with familial backgrounds of 22q11.2 deletions, one (4%) had a maternally inherited 22q11.2 deletion with no cardiac findings. Conclusion: Knowledge of the frequency and echocardiographic findings of 22q11.2 deletions might be helpful for prenatal genetic counseling. It is advisable to perform FISH analysis for 22q11.2 deletions in pregnancies exhibiting conotruncal cardiac defects such as TOF or DORV.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• 제9권3호
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• pp.87-99
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• 2019

Healthcare and data science are often linked through finances as the industry attempts to reduce its expenses with the help of large amounts of data. Data science and medicine are rapidly developing, and it is important that they advance together. Data science is a driving force in transition of healthcare systems from treatment-oriented to preventive care in healthcare 3.0 era. It enables customized precision-based medicine that current healthcare systems cannot facilitate, and discovers more cost-effective treatment. Currently, healthcare big data is in the reality of medical institution, public health, medical academia, pharmaceutical sector as well as insurance agency. With this motivation, the medical college of Soonchunhyang university has performed a 'healthcare data science initiative(HDSI)' since 2014. Most of domestic HDSI programs focus on short-term contents such as mentoring and sharing cases for data science. Therefore, it is difficult to provide education tailored to the level of skills and job competency required at the practical site. Soonchunhyang HDSI implemented specialized strategies for improving resilience and response to changes in the IT education of current healthcare with the emphasis on the need for systematic activation of the practical HDSI. The HDSI has been performed as a part of on industry-academic link program in CK-1. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, this paper discussed the HDSI process, performance, achievement, and implications.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• 제10권9호
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• pp.91-98
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• 2019

The research focused on plastic surgery clinics in Seoul, which recently responded to foreign patients who wanted to get plastic surgery, to recognize the need for the use of mobile healthcare applications to promote medical tourism and to see the expected effects in the future. For the analysis of data, SPSS 21.0 was used. Based on personal characteristics and medical institution characteristics, the future expected effects of using mobile healthcare applications were analyzed to find ways to help vitalize medical tourism. The result showed that the more mobile applications they wants to use in the future and the higher the number of foreign patients of the medical institutions, the more positive the expectation on the use of mobile healthcare application in the future. Also, the higher evaluation on the need for mobile healthcare application, the more helpful in vitalizing the medical tourism in the future, and the higher the positive awareness. I hope that this research will provide an IT foundation for the and expansion of mobile service app on demand analysis and service utilization of medical workers in order to promote medical tourism.

• Health Policy and Management
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.94-106
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• 2022

Background: The efforts to build more "people centered," "patient centered" health system has been emerging all over the world. Aligning with it, the Korean government is conducing the survey called "Medical Service Experience Survey (MSES)." There are critics, however, that MSES is not scrutinizing the medical experiences of patients in various healthcare settings. For this reason, this study aims to perform an empirical analysis of the differences in answers of patients responding to various healthcare settings. Methods: There are two steps in this study. First, explanatory analysis is conducted to compare the tendency of statistical concentration on questionnaires by divided healthcare settings. Second, confirmative analysis is carried out to evaluate the construct validity, reliability, and discriminant validity of the questionnaire in each healthcare setting. The raw data of MSES, which was conducted in 2020 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Korea and the Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs is used. Results: As a result of exploratory factor analysis for all outpatients, the items were classified into four factors statistically: "doctor experience," "nurse experience," "outpatient service experience," and "patient satisfaction." It was confirmed that the reliability of all factors extracted was secured. However, for patients who visited hospitals, questionnaires related to personal privacy, such as "experiences on medical staffs considering physical exposure" or "experiences related to personal information exposure," were answered in conjunction with items of "nurse experience." Besides, patients responded that administrative elements of medical services, such as "experiences of comfort in medical institutions" and "experiences of satisfactory administrative services," were related to the items of "nurse experience." The answers of patients who visited traditional medical hospitals and clinics about "doctor experience" and "nurse experience" were not discerned statistically, and the answers to "doctor experience," "nurse experience," and "medical institution experience" were entangled with the responses of patients who visited dental hospitals and clinics. On the other hand, as a result of the confirmatory factor analysis, it was found that the inquiries of MSES generally had intensive validity. Conclusion: The collection of objective and scientific data is the prominent component to enlighten the patient-centered healthcare system alongside with change of the worldwide paradigm of measuring the healthcare system performance as follows the transition of perspective of health care from provider-centered to patient-centered. This study empirically shows that the patient experience can vary as the healthcare settings. Furthermore, to make an advance in measuring the experience of patients with medical services, this article proposes the deliberate consideration of the different kinds of healthcare settings and articulate design of the survey.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• 제13권7호
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• pp.259-268
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• 2015

This research grasped the difference of between the daily medical expenses and the medical expenses reduction rate also the cause of change. In the centre, it was conducted in order to offer the necessary basic data to a recuperation pay management solution's establishment. This research surveyed across the country's urban region 50-general hospital's the infective enteritis disease for a year. Then it was conducted the average daily medical expenses and the average medical expenses reduction rate as a distinguishable survey that is a hospitalization and an outpatient the result is followed. The inpatient daily medical expenses correlated with the total number of medical institution personnel, and the outpatient daily medical expenses correlated with the number of beds.. Inpatient medical expense reduction rate was correlated with number of beds and the total number of medical institution personnel. The interaction between medical institution information and daily medical expenses was found to have a positive (+) effect on the total number of medical institution personnel, as well as the numbers of inpatients vs. outpatient. This research about the medical expense reduction rate and daily medical expense help medical institution's efficient, rational decision making and it will be an important basis of a priority recuperation pay's policy.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• 제23권3호
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• pp.267-280
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the status of infection control nurses (ICNs) and their activities, and to identify the factors affecting the level of infection control activities. Methods: Data were collected from 199 hospitals from June 24 to July 26, 2016. The structured questionnaires included status of infection control nurses, type and level of infection control activities. Results: Most participating hospital were advanced general hospital (20.1%) and general hospital (67.8%). Among the hospitals, 86.4% had an infection control department (ICD). The average hospital work experience of ICNs was 14.62 years, and their average infection control career was for 4.94 years. Among the ICNs, 85.6% worked in full time and the average number of beds per ICN was 311.21. There were significant differences in the existence of ICD, infection control activities including surveillance, outbreak investigation, negative pressure room, hand hygiene monitoring, disinfection, and sterilization according to hospital size. The level of infection control activities was higher with more number of ICNs, ICN employment as full time, and healthcare institution accreditation status. The explanatory power was 37.5%. Conclusion: These results of this study which reflect infection control status of healthcare facilities with more than 150 beds in 2016 will provide baseline data to establish infection control system in small to medium sized hospitals after the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2015.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.340-350
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• 2016

The Medical Service Act of Korea describes a clinic as providing services primarily to outpatients, while a large general hospital provides specialized medical services requiring a high level of expertise for treating serious diseases. The portion of medical revenue for clinics has been decreasing gradually compared with large hospitals. This article proposes two fundamental medical policies to fix the distorted medical delivery system of Korea. Firstly, uniform additional medical remuneration rates based on the type of medial institution should be divided into outpatient additional rates and inpatient additional rates. Secondly, to normalize the function of clinics and large general hospitals, an outpatient medical target budget system should be introduced. Finally, to properly implement the proposal, it is important to establish healthcare policy-making governance. The success of policy implementation strongly depends on the participation and incentives of the government, suppliers, and patients. Healthcare policy-making governance must be designed to encompass this fact and improve quality of care.