• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.141-148
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to investigate the health behavior performance between the young adults and the elderly with hypertension. The research data were analyzed using 2018 Korea Medical Panel data. The subjects of this study were 3,117 persons without disabilities or activity disorders among those diagnosed with hypertension. As a result of the study, first, it was found that the medical utilization rate and drug adherence were high overall. Second, the average body mass index(BMI) and obesity over 25 kg/m2 were found to be higher among the young adults. Third, smoking and drinking were higher in young adults in terms of experience and smoking and alcohol consumption. Fifth, the subjective health status was found to be perceived more positively by the young adults. Based on the results of this study, it is necessary to raise awareness of the need for customized health care from a young age and to develop sustainable and effective programs.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.127-137
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the treatment outcomes according to the socioeconomic factor of patients who visited the emergency room. Methods: This study conducted frequency analysis, percentage analysis, and Fisher's exact test analysis method, using the R 4.1.2 program based on the 2019 data from the Korea Health Panel. Results: Among the treatment results of 1,648 patients, 392 patients were hospitalized or transferred to other hospitals, 845 were discharged after treatment, 224 were discharged, and 7 died. The Fisher's exact test of treatment outcomes and socioeconomic factors was not statistically significant for status of the worker and employment relationship, but was significant for the housing, household, economic activity, and insurance types, and marital status and education. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that it is necessary to conduct follow up studies on socioeconomic factors to provide basic data that can contribute to fairness and equity in the health care field.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2014

Background: A need arises to efficiently control health expenditure for medical aid due to a sharp increase in medical aid expenditure. This study experimently analyzes the impact of physician behavior on medical use for medical aid beneficiaries using supplier induced demand (SID) theory. Methods: This study looks into analyze SID effect using expenditure factor analysis of medical aid for the years between 2003 and 2010 in comparison with health insurance. Moreover, this study analyzes the existence and scale of SID using econometrics modeling with panel data on 16 cities and provinces's health expenditure data for medical aid from 2003 1/4 to 2010 4/4. Results: This study finds that the growth rate of visit days per capita and treatment amount per visit days for medical aid is higher than health insurance. Furthermore, the result of econometrics modeling analysis shows the existence of SID in general hospital, hospital, clinic, oriental clinic. Conclusion: In order to efficiently control expenditure for medical aid, it is required to reinforce macro polices such as the introduction of 'target management' and micro policies such as the strengthen of management on medical institutes in the perspective of suppliers as well as regulations of demanders.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.87-93
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• 2024

Background: In recent years, studies have shown conflicting results regarding the benefits of dietary supplements in reducing healthcare expenditures. This study aimed to address this inconsistency by examining the association between supplement consumption and health expenditures using nationally representative data from the Korea Health Panel Survey (2019-2020). Methods: A 1:1 matched case-control dataset was established using propensity score matching technique based on supplement consumption. Then, total annual healthcare expenditures were compared between the two groups. In addition, a multivariate regression analysis (Proc Surveyreg) was performed to determine the association between the supplement consumption and medical costs. Results: The supplement user group spent about 1.72 million Korean won, while the non-user group spent about 1.43 million Korean won on medical services (p=0.0186). The results of multivariate regression showed that the costs were approximately 26.15% higher in the user group than in the non-user group (p=0.0004). Conclusion: Contrary to the previous studies that have shown the benefits of supplement use in reducing healthcare costs, this study showed that those who consistently consumed supplements spent more on medical services. This can be interpreted in the same context as previous studies suggesting that dietary supplement intake is a healthy behavior for managing one's health. However, we caution against drawing firm conclusions due to data limitations. Further analysis using patient-level epidemiologic data is needed.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.13-25
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• 2014

This research was performed to investigate the characteristics and determination factors on tertiary hospital inpatients. The used data was the four waves of Korea Health Panel(2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), and the number of subjects was 4,430 cases of tertiary and general hospital admission. The statistical methodology used in the study is the logistic regression model. The significant affecting factors in utilizing tertiary hospital admission were gender, marital status, education, household income, residence region and ICD-10 classification. Man, graduating college/university, married, high-income were socio-economic affecting factors in tertiary hospital admission. Medical need factor of ICD-10 classification and residence region of inpatients was also significant affecting factors in tertiary hospital admission. The 81.4% of inpatients at tertiary hospital had chronic disease and the 12.9% of inpatients readmitted, the 68.2% had a selecting doctor and the only 26.7% of inpatients reinforced by private medical insurance. This study recommended the Korean government to provide proper rule for tertiary hospital admission in order to improve the equity and efficiency of health care system.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.115-126
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• 2015

Objectives : This research was performed to investigate the characteristics and determination factors of health care policy satisfaction and welfare recognition for health insurance & health care financing. Methods : The utilized data were 4,174 cases who responded to a welfare recognition survey in the 8th wave of the Korea Welfare Panel Study (2013). The statistical methodology used in this study is the multiple regression model. Results : The significant affecting factors of health care policy satisfaction were age, education, household income, welfare attitudes, and health status. Medical utilization & private medical insurance were not related to health care policy satisfaction. The affecting factors of health insurance reinforcement were age, health status, welfare attitudes. The affecting factors of health care financing expansion were age, economic activity type, medical utilization, welfare attitudes. The affecting factors of welfare attitudes were age, economic activity type, household income, health insurance, and health status. Conclusions : Health care policy satisfaction, health insurance reinforcement, and health care financing expansion were all affected by age and welfare attitude; but this was not the case for private health insurance. This study recommended that the Korean government provide active planning for reinforcement of health insurance and publicity of the health care system in order to accord with the prospects of people.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2019

Background: The health of the economically active population contributes to increased corporate productivity by reducing the productivity loss caused by disease and increasing job efficiency, which in turn is a national benefit. Since the economically active population is a concept encompassing workers and a source of economic development for a country, that population's health should be treated with importance not only from a personal standpoint but also at a national level. Methods: In this study, data of 11,007 adults aged 20 years and older who participate in economic activities were analyzed in the five-year Korea Health Panel Study from 2010 to 2014 including the number of dental visits and dental medical expenses. Results: Factors related to "gender," "education level," "age," "duty category," "income level," "employment type," "national health insurance," and "chronic disease status" of the economically active population are affected in relation to the number of visits and dental medical expenses. The number of dental visits increased with higher education levels (p<0.001), and the number of visits to the dentist increased with older age (p <0.001). Dental medical expenses were 91,806 Korean won (KRW) more for "white-collar workers" than for "blue-collar workers" (p<0.03), and 127,674 KRW more for "regular workers" than for "atypical workers" (p<0.02). Conclusion: When it is necessary to improve policies to enhance the efficiency of the distribution of health and medical resources in the overall balance of the dental health sector, we should try to identify various factors of oral health disorder due to income inequality among the classes according to the country's employment type in order to find ways to reduce the health gap among the social classes.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.71-82
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to estimate incomes and costs of the medical clinics by using secondary data. Methodology: The medical incomes and costs were estimated from 405 clinics operated by sole practitioner providing out-patient services among all clinics subject to the Medical Cost Survey on National Health Insurance Patients in 2017, excluding dental clinics and oriental medical clinics. The incomes and costs of the medical clinics were reflected with incomes and costs of health insurance benefits and were calculated by types of medical services (i.e., basic care, surgery, general treatment, functional test, specimen test and imaging test). The costs were classified as follows: labor costs, equipment costs, material costs and overhead costs. Secondary data was used to estimate the incomes and costs of the medical clinics. For allocation bases for costs for each type of the medical service, the ratio of revenue from health insurance benefits by types of medical services was applied. However, labor costs were calculated with the activity ratio by types of medical services and occupations, using clinical expert panel data. Finding: The percentage of health insurance income for all medical income was 73.1%. The health insurance cost per clinic was 401,864 thousand won. Labor cost accounted for the largest portion of the health insurance income was 191,229 thousand won (47.6%), followed by management cost was 170,018 thousand won (42.3%), materials cost was 35,434 thousand won (8.8%), and equipment costs was 5,183 thousand won (1.3%). Practical Implications: This study suggests a method of estimating incomes and costs of medical clinic services by using secondary data. It could efficiently provide incomes and costs to assess an appropriate level of the health insurance fee to the clinics.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.110-122
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• 2024

Objectives: This study analyzed the Korea Health Panel Annual Data 2019 to investigate factors related to the use of non-insured Korean medicine (KM) treatment in individuals with chronic diseases. The non-insured KM treatments of interest were herbal decoction (HD) and pharmacopuncture (PA). Methods: Among adults aged 19 or older, 6,159 individuals with chronic diseases who received outpatient KM treatment at least once in 2019 were included. They were divided into three groups according to the KM treatment used: (1) basic insured KM non-pharmacological treatment (BT) group (n = 629); (2) HD group (n = 256); (3) PA group (n = 184). Logistic regression analysis was used to explore factors associated with favoring HD or PA use over BT. Potentially relevant candidate factors were classified using the Andersen Behavior Model. Results: Compared to BT, the 1st to 3rd quartiles of income compared to the 4th quartile (odds ratio: 1.50 to 2.06 for HD; 2.03 to 2.83 for PA), health insurance subscribers compared to medical aid (odds ratio: 2.51; 13.43), and presence of musculoskeletal diseases (odds ratio: 1.66; 1.91) were significantly positively associated with HD and PA use. Moreover, the presence of cardiovascular disease (odds ratio: 1.46) and neuropsychiatric disease (odds ratio: 1.97) were also significantly positively associated with HD use. Conclusion: The presence of some chronic diseases, especially musculoskeletal diseases, was significantly positively associated with HD and PA use, while low economic status was significantly negatively associated with HD and PA use, indicating the potential existence of unmet medical needs in this population. Since chronic diseases impose a considerable health burden, the results of this study can be used for reference for future health insurance coverage policies in South Korea.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.29-57
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• 2001

Since the inauguration of the medical insurance system in 1977, the increasing medical expenses which can be menace to tile finance of the medical insurance system, have become major concern in the medical insurance field In Korea. This study focuses on the determinants of the medical expenses in the health insurance in Korea and analyzes the impact of these factors on the increase in the medical expenses. The empirical work is done using the pooled cross-section and time-series data of the medical insurance for the self-employeds and the industrial workers from the year 1995 to 1997. The result of this study shows that the main determinants of the medical expenses in the health insurance are the ratio of the population of the aged to the total population, the frequency of the utilization, number of doctors per capita and the regime changes. Although the increasing trend in the medical expenses seems to be unavoidable, we probably need to add some efficiency to the medical expenses by suppressing the supply and the utilization of the unnecessary medical services. The fee-for-service reimbursement system of today can't suppress the supply of the unnecessary medical services effectively. So we need to convert the present fee-for-service system into DRG's which is known to reduce the medical costs. The increase in the medical expenses comes from a lot of factors. Therefore, we should develop more systematic and comprehensive measures to control the soaring medical expenses in consideration of the various factors such as demand, supply, and the organizational side of the medical system.