• The Journal of the Society of Korean Medicine Diagnostics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.47-58
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• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of the present study is to grasp and provide basic data necessary for the establishment of korean healthcare policies in future. Methods : A questionnaire developed by the author was distributed to 299 students of D University located in Busan and collected thereafter from March 5 to June 1, 2012. Statistical processing of the data obtained was conducted using the SPSS WIN IBM 20.0 program to indicate outcomes in frequencies and percentages. Results : The results of the survey are as follows. 1. The number of students who were mainly using korean hospitals/clinics was 6(2.0%). The most important factor in selecting korean medical institutions was 'medical technology'. 2. The treatment that was received the most frequently and the most reliable at korean medical institutions was acupuncture. The most frequent reason for taking korean medicine was 'prescriptions tailored to constitutions' and the most frequent reason for avoiding korean medicine was 'high prices'. 3. There was few number of students who knew that car insurance coverage for traffic accidents include treatment at korean clinics. and who knew about 'permitted standard herbal medicine', 'the use of disposable needles', 'wild ginseng pharmacopuncture'. 4. Among items necessary for the development of korean medicine, 'treatment technology with fast and high effects' was the most frequently selected. Conclusions : University students' preference for and perception of korean medicine were shown to be very low. It is considered that public relations should be reinforced to implant correct perception of korean medicine in university students who will be major users of hospitals and clinics.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.110-127
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• 2008

Expenditures on pharmaceuticals of different concepts were estimated and their functional, financing and providers' breakdowns were examined in line with the OECD's System of Health Accounts (SHA) manual. This study also shows the way such estimates are made. The results are then analyzed particularly from the international perspective. Data from both Household Survey by the National Statistical Office and the National Health and Nutritional Survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea were used to estimate pharmaceutical expenditures that. are financed by out-of-pocket payments of the household, while national health insurance data etc. were used for estimation of pharmaceutical expenditures that are financed by public funding sources. The 'per capita expenditure on pharmaceutical/medical non-durables' in Korea stood at 380 US$ PPPs, less than the OECD average of 443 US$ PPPs in 2006, but its share of the per capita health expenditure of 25.9% noticeably outnumbered the OECD average of 17.1%, due partly to low per capita health expenditure as a denominator of the ratio. This indicates that Koreans tend to spend less on health care than an OECD average, while tending to spend more on pharmaceuticals than on other health care services, much like the pattern found in relatively low income countries. An international pharmaceuticals pricing mechanism is most likely responsible for such a tendency. In addition, it is to be noted that the percentage comes down to 21.0%, when expenditures on both medical non-durables and herbal medicine, which is locally quite popular among the elderly, have been excluded.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.17-45
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• 2017

Health Information Exchange (HIE) is expected to improve the quality and efficiency of care by allowing providers online access to healthcare information generated by other providers at the point of care. However, the adoption of the technology in Korea has been slow since its pilot program in 2007~2010 at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. The objective of this study was to survey stakeholders on the incentive program for the facilitation of HIE adoption. We surveyed 39 experts representing 6 categories of stakeholders-provider, insurer, government, information service firms, customers, and medical informatics experts for the interviews. Interview questions included program objectives, program participation requirements, incentive payment method, and administrative burden for program participation. Experts indicated that the quality of care was the most important value the program should aim to achieve through the HIE adoption. They suggested that the requirements and administrative burden for participation should be kept at minimum to recruit a large number of providers to the program, which is an indicator of program success. Experts were divided on the payment method whether the incentive should be paid as a part of the fee payment scheme operated by the National Health Insurance (NHI) or should be a payment made independent of the NHI. The source of the divide was conflict of interest among stakeholders as to who pays for the program, and the insurer and consumer groups were against the NHI taking the financial burden. It appeared to be the most significant factor for the successful program launching to resolve the gap in perceptions about benefits of the technology among stakeholders and to win the willingness to pay for the program.

• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.81-91
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed to suggest strategies for advancing local-government-based accreditation systems and surveyor training in long-term care facilities in Korea. Methods: A comprehensive review of the literature including research papers and official reports issued by governments from the United States, Australia, and Japan was conducted to explore domestic and international policies related to long-term care facility certification and accreditation systems. Results: The USA has two types of care quality assurance systems including mandatory certification (5-star rating system) by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and voluntary accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Australia operates a government-based mandatory accreditation system for all long-term care facilities through the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency. Japan, particularly the Tokyo district, operates a third-party evaluation system that involves the voluntary participation of long-term care facilities. Conclusion: This study provides several strategies to enhance accreditation processes and surveyors'expertise. For instance, motivating facilities to voluntarily participate in accreditation is necessary by 1) providing sufficient and continuous consultations and feedback about how to improve care quality, 2) differentiating accreditation domains and indicators from the national health insurance certification system, and 3) actively utilizing accreditation results and providing incentives.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.329-338
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• 2017

This study aims to identify factors to affect cancer screening utilization and differences in cancer screening by household income. This research selected 3,393 adults aged ${\geq}40years$ among surveyees from the 6th(2014) Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We analyzed state of cancer screening utilization according to general characteristics, life style, health status, income level using descriptive statistics. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the factors associated with cancer screening utilization. In result, cancer screening rate was significantly different according to household income. And the significant factors associated with cancer screening utilization were sex, age, marital status, education level, economic activity, private insurance, smoking, presence or absence of high physical activity, number of chronic diseases, and household income. This indicates that the effective cancer screening program on the low household income, chronic disease patients is needed, suitable for digital age. We believe that these results will be used positively for the equity of cancer screening utilization, providing the basic materials for the further research on the establishment of the health-related policy.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2009

Purpose: This study aimed to clarify the needs for hospital-based home care nursing medical services in elder care institutions by analyzing the details and frequency of medical services provided by, and the needs for, hospital based home care nursing in select institutions in Korea. Methods: Seventy-seven staffs at elderly care institutions located throughout the country completed self-report questionnaires between February 1 and May 31, 2009. SPSS ver. 14.0 was used for data analysis regarding frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviation. Results: Forty-eight hospital-based home care nursing medical services in eight domains were identified as being needed in elderly care institutions. The most commonly used medical services were providing instruction in oral drug administration, checking drug beneficial/adverse effects, and administering blood glucose test, while the most needed medical services requiring hospital based home care nursing were complex pressure ulcer care, followed by diabetic foot ulcer management and nutrient injection. Conclusion: The present results should provide fundamental data for better healthcare services with hospital based home care nursing at elderly care institutions as part of a 'win-win' strategy through which medical expenses are reduced, insurance costs are kept stable, and safe and high-quality medical services are provided for residents of elder care institutions. Political decisions intended to promote visits by hospital based home care nurses to elder care institutions would be a prudent course.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.1113-1121
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• 2011

Recently, a variety of data mining techniques has been applied in various fields like healthcare, insurance, and internet shopping mall. Association rule mining is a popular and well researched method for discovering interesting relations among large set of data items. Association rule mining is the method to quantify the relationship between each set of items in very huge database based on the association thresholds. There are three primary quality measures for association rules; support and confidence and lift. In this paper we consider some similarity measures with negative co-occurrence frequencies which is widely used in cluster analysis or multi-dimensional analysis as association thresholds. The comparative studies with support, confidence and some similarity measures are shown by numerical example.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.373-382
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to compare levels of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between fallers and non-fallers among community-dwelling elderly people. Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted with the secondary analysis of 2,067 elderly people registered in S-Gu Visiting Health Care Program in Seoul, South Korea. Participants were 206 fallers and 206 non-fallers who were age- and sex-matched with fallers. HRQOL was measured by SF-8 including physical component summary (physical HRQOL) and mental component summary (mental HRQOL). Results: There were more people in the faller group having more than or equal to three chronic diseases (p<.001), living in multiplex houses (p=.004), and being dependent by the activities of daily living (ADL) (p=.001) and instrumental ADL (IADL) levels (p<.001) than those in the non-faller group. Fallers had higher levels of depression than non-fallers (p<.001). Moreover, fallers had significantly lower levels of both physical HRQOL (p<.001) and mental HRQOL (p=.001), after adjusting for number of chronic diseases, ADL, IADL, depression, healthcare insurance, and living environment. Conclusion: Among the community-dwelling elderly people, falllers had lower levels of HRQOL than non-fallers, and such a difference remained even after the adjustment for covariates. Factors that underlie the different susceptibility to HRQOL need to be explored.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.156-172
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• 2021

Objectives: To investigate the trends of industrial injuries among long-term health care workers in Korea Methods: T7866 injuries were selected from the total industrial injuries approved by the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act(Occupational Safety and Health Act) among long-term health care workers between 2007 and 2016 in Korea. We analyzied the trends of industrial injuries according to work process, occurrence type, and causes. Results: The industrial injuries among long-term health care workers increased since 2012. The mostly occurred area for industrial injuries were low back areas, which is related that the most serious industrial injuries occurred when the one long-term healthcare worker lift manually the recipient, from bed(ondol, Korean floor heating system) to a wheelchair, bed to bath bed, and wheelchair to bath chair. In addition to this, lack of workforce, increased work intensity due to overwork contributed the increasing of occupational injury. Conclusions: This study suggests that the main causes of industrial injuries were Lack of facilities and equipment for small private long-term care institutions, The physical load that goes into lifting the recipient directly, work intensity such as excessive workload and increased work speed. We suggest that the social publicization of long-term care service for the elderly, avoiding ways to lift recipients directly, introducing lifting machines as well as improving working methods, and reducing the workload of caregivers are required.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.65-73
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• 2021

Background: With the recent aging of the population, the transition to a disease structure centered on chronic diseases is accelerating. Moreover, the socio-economic gap and the polarization of the health gap between regions further increase the burden of disease on the country. Accordingly, this study calculated the disease cost of hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia, which are the three major chronic diseases, to establish an effective health promotion policy strategy for each region, and analyzed the gap in disease cost within the region to determine health determinants at the individual as well as the regional level. Methods: This study utilized data from the 2015 sample cohort of the National Health Insurance Service and calculated the disease cost of patients (diabetes: I10-I15, hypertension: E10-E14, hyperlipidemia: E78) based on the main diagnosis. Results: Based on our analysis, the case of medical use in cities and provinces was higher than in metropolitan cities, with relatively small medical use in Seoul and Gangwon-do. In terms of the disease cost, the cost of chronic diseases in Seoul and Jeju was the highest, but the difference in disease cost between patients in each region was the largest in Seoul and Gangwon-do. Conclusion: The results of this study provide meaningful data for implementing efficient health promotion policies by analyzing the differences in disease cost and identifying health determinants in different regions. Furthermore, in Korea, where socioeconomic differences are clearly revealed, it can be used as a basis for preparing a strategic plan, from a long-term perspective, to improve the health of patients with chronic diseases in the future.