• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.101-123
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• 2011

In this study, we examined the effects of high-performance work system(HPWS) on healthcare staffs' patient orientation and perceived service quality. To investigate the causalities of the factors such as HPWS, patient orientation, and perceived service quality, we collected national wide samples of 721 healthcare staffs from 144 hospitals. We deployed reliability analysis(Cronbach ${\alpha}$) and confirmatory factor analysis(CFA) for the factors. With 4 proposed hypotheses, we fabricated a structural equation model with AMOS 7.0 and examined the validity of the hypotheses. Followed were findings of this study. First, the healthcare staffs' perceptions of HPWS in hospital settings were positively linked to the perceived service quality. Second, the intensity of HPWS also influenced the healthcare staffs' patient orientation. Third, the perceptions of patient orientation were positively linked to the perceptions of service quality. Fourth, HPWS were linked to healthcare staffs` perceptions of service quality both directly and indirectly through their perceptions of patient orientation. These findings implied that HPWS would be a way of survival in drastically changing hospital environments.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.395-402
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• 2023

Objectives: Microbial contamination of face masks used by healthcare professionals can vary depending on the degree of exposure to bioaerosols in various healthcare environments. However, research on this topic is limited. Therefore, we analyzed microbial contamination of N95 respirators used in hospital offices, wards, and outpatient settings. Methods: Samples isolated from N95 respirators worn for 2, 4, and 6 hours were incubated at a temperature of 35-37℃ or 25-28℃ for 24 hours or for 3-7 days, and colony-forming units were counted in chocolate agar, tryptic soy agar, and Sabouraud dextrose agar plates. Total indoor airborne bacteria were also measured in the healthcare environments. Finally, microbial species were identified using Gram staining with a microscopic speculum. Results: The three types of environments did not deviate from the maintenance of standard indoor air quality. There was no difference between the microbial species identified in the healthcare environment and mask contamination. However, the number of bacteria in the masks worn in each environment differed, and the degree of contamination increased with mask-wearing time (p<0.05). Conclusions: Therefore, care must be taken to avoid recontamination of masks due to improper use and exposure to biological hazards in healthcare environments. In conclusion, scientific evidence is necessary for safe mask-wearing times. Based on the results of this study, we hope to conduct further research to establish guidelines for the safe use of face masks during respiratory disease epidemics.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of provider and consumer characteristics, and patient trust on relational commitment among healthcare customers of an university hospital, and to suggest some implications for improving customer relation management of hospitals. Data were collected from 250 patients of an university hospital located in Ulsan using structured self-administered questionnaire. Major result of the analysis is as follows: First, study variables are significantly varied by age and income among socio-economic factors. Second, assurance, and empathy among provider characteristics and customer satisfaction and reputation among consumer characteristics are found to be significant affecting factors on patient trust. Third, trust affects significantly both on re-visit and recommendation among relationship commitment, while reputation affects on re-visit and customer satisfaction and reputation affect on recommendation. Above results imply that relationship management strategy for enhancing patient trust is crucial to improve competitiveness of hospitals in turbulent competition environment.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.54-64
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• 2001

Service industries are rapidly increased and the environment of service is also changing in healthcare settings. Those make them change their management strategies and carry out many researches. Till now, single-item behavioral intention scale or direct measuring has some limitations that we have to consider its efficiency and it is difficult to explain phenomena of broad part in the process of determining behavioral intentions. In this paper, we examine the dimensionality of healthcare service in Korea through the multi-item behavioral intention scale. In addition, we are going to investigate the nature of the relationship between service quality perceptions which have unique construct, and consumer satisfaction judgements in the formation of consumers' behavioral intentions. we are going to conclude that the linear combination model of service quality and customer satisfaction can describe the process of formation of customers' behavioral intentions best and provide some managerial implications to decision makers for redistribution of materials and human resources.

• Journal of Communications and Networks
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.160-166
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• 2011

In u-healthcare services based on wireless body sensor networks, reliable connection is very important as many types of information, including vital signals, are transmitted through the networks. The transmit power requirements are very stringent in the case of in-body networks for implant communication. Furthermore, the wireless link in an in-body environment has a high degree of path loss (e.g., the path loss exponent is around 6.2 for deep tissue). Because of such inherently bad settings of the communication nodes, a multi-hop network topology is preferred in order to meet the transmit power requirements and to increase the battery lifetime of sensor nodes. This will ensure that the live body of a patient receiving the healthcare service has a reduced level of specific absorption ratio (SAR) when exposed to long-lasting radiation. We propose an efficientmethod for delivering delay-intolerant data packets over multiple hops. We consider forward error correction (FEC) in an erasure correction mode and develop a mathematical formulation for packet-level scheduling of delay-intolerant FEC packets over multiple hops. The proposed method can be used as a simple guideline for applications to setting up a topology for a medical body sensor network of each individual patient, which is connected to a remote server for u-healthcare service applications.

• The Journal of Health Technology Assessment
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.88-94
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• 2018

This review aims to provide implications for relevant domestic policies and researches from Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), a reinforcement model for primary care and its evaluations in the United States. As chronic diseases became dominant, changes in the health care delivery system in which primary care is central was required. The United States initiated primary care-reinforcing policies based on the PCMH following the increased demand for evidence-based health care policies. The current activities of the United States such as sharing research tools used to evaluate primary care interventions and circulating evaluation findings provide examples to Korea. Systematic evaluations for primary care interventions are required and appropriate methods using various types of data to reflect the real-world settings should be prepared. It is necessary to conduct policy assessment studies of public interests considering regional context. Support for the researches to make and advance from the existing environment must be examined.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.353-361
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• 2021

As demands for health and wellbeing in the ageing society have grown, complex problems involving diverse stakeholders arise in the healthcare environment. The objective of this study is to identify roles and abilities of designers in a healthcare setting where professionals from different disciplines collaborate to achieve a common goal. Case studies on healthcare design projects adapting interdisciplinary approach were explored to find which methods and processes were implemented effectively. Results are based on three research questions that lead to analyzing multifaceted roles of designers regarding process facilitation, manage relations, visualization, and imagination.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.269-275
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• 2022

Public healthcare has recently become an issue of great importance due to the exponential growth in the human population, the increase in medical expenses, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Speed is one of the crucial factors in saving life, particularly in case of heart attack. Therefore, a healthcare device is needed to continuously monitor and follow up heart health conditions remotely without the need for the patient to attend a medical center. Therefore, this paper proposes a portable electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring system to improve healthcare for heart attack patients in both home and ambulance settings. The proposed system receives the ECG signals of the patient and sends the ECG values to a MySQL database on the IoT-cloud via Wi-Fi. The signals are displayed as an ECG data chart on a webpage that can be accessed by the patient's doctor based on the HTTP protocol that is employed in the IoT-cloud. The proposed system detects the ECG data of the patient to calculate the total number of heartbeats, number of normal heartbeats, and the number of abnormal heartbeats, which can help the doctor to evaluate the health status of the patient and decide on a suitable medical intervention. This system therefore has the potential to save time and life, but also cost. This paper highlights the five main advantages of the proposed ECG monitoring system and makes some recommendations to develop the system further.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.135-140
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• 2023

Introduction: With recent higher awareness of the necessity of improving healthcare workers' wellbeing, we aimed to overview systematic reviews dealing with interventions on well-being, occupational health, and aging of healthcare workers. Methods: From three databases (PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science), a scoping review of systematic reviews was carried out to determine current knowledge on interventions focused on the well-being or aging of healthcare workers. Only systematic reviews were considered, with appropriate extraction and quality evaluation. Results: Of the total of 445 references identified, 10 systematic reviews were included, mostly published since 2019. Nurses were the most frequent targets of interventions, and mental health was the main outcome described. The overall level of quality was also heterogenous, with high to low-quality reviews. Conclusions: Workers' mental health well-being was the major outcome targeted by intervention, with varying level of evidence. Further studies are needed with integrative approaches on global health and life course perspectives, with a focus on the plurality of settings, worker types, and women.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 2013

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify a conceptual link between role conflict, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, with a specific examination on how job satisfaction mediated the relationship between role conflict and organizational commitment, among community healthcare workers. Methods: Participants were 119 community healthcare workers of the Seoul Preventive Project for Metabolic Syndrome at 15 community health centers. Descriptive analysis, correlations analysis, and multiple regression analysis were used for statistical analysis of our data. Additionally, Sobel's test was used to verify the significance of the mediating effect. Results: An inverse association between role conflict and organizational commitment was found (beta=-0.53, p<.001). This relationship was fully mediated by job satisfaction (z=-6.43, p<.001). Conclusion: Job satisfaction mediates the effects of role conflict on the organizational commitment of healthcare workers in community health centers. Strategies for improving the components of job satisfaction are needed to achieve better outcomes in organizational commitment in the Seoul Preventive Project for Metabolic Syndrome and possibly other work settings.