• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.57-67
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• 2014

Objective : This study aimed to compare the patients' satisfactions with local Korean Medicine(KM) clinics and networked KM clinics, and to find out which factors had an effect on it. Method : Six local KM clinics and six networked KM clinics were selected, and patients' questionnaires on the satisfaction with KM clinic use were administered using exit poll method. The questionnaires were developed to measure satisfactions with facility, doctor and staffs, and services. 240 patients completed the questionnaires, and the data were statistically analyzed. Results : There was more diversity in patients' diseases among networked KM clinics users, however, treatments provided were not differentiated clinically between two types of KM clinics. Patients' satisfaction scores for local KM clinics were significantly higher than those for networked KM clinics in the aspects of doctors/staffs (9.35 vs 8.92, p<.01) and services (8.76 vs 8.42, p<.05). 90.0% of local KM clinic users expressed their willingness to recommend the clinics they used to others, while 75.0% of networked KM clinics users did. For both the local and networked clinics, 'KM doctors' kindness', and 'process and waiting time' were statistical factors affecting patients' satisfaction. Conclusion : The patients' satisfactions with general KM clinics were higher than those with networked KM clinics. Networked KM clinics need to develop services to meet the diverse medical demands which were created by them selves.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.69-78
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• 2013

Objectives : Health cooperative movement is of increasing concern among medical consumers and professionals in Korea. Most health cooperative clinics provide Western Medicine and Korean Medicine(KM) to patients. This study aimed to evaluate the primary care level of health cooperative KM clinics and compare it with local KM clinics in Korea. Methods : Face to face survey was performed at the 3 health cooperative KM clinics and 5 local KM clinics with the Korean Primary Care Assessment Tool (KPCAT). The KPCAT consists of 5 domains (21 items): first contact (5), coordination function (3), comprehensiveness (4), family/community orientation (4), and personalized care (5). Subjects were patients or guardians who had visited KM clinics five times or more during the last 3 months. We compared primary care scores of each domain between health cooperative KM clinics and local KM clinics. Results : Data were collected from 200 respondents (100 patients from health cooperative KM clinics and 100 local KM clinics). Total average scores of the KPCAT for health cooperative clinics and local KM clinics were $81.1{\pm}12.0$ and $75.4{\pm}9.5$, respectively. Among primary care domains, personalized care was the highest ($89.2{\pm}12.0$, $89.6{\pm}8.4$, respectively), and comprehensiveness function was the lowest ($68.5{\pm}22.5$, $54.5{\pm}22.0$, respectively). Significant differences between two groups were noted in comprehensiveness function (68.5 vs. 54.5, P=0.000), family-community orientation (79.5 vs. 73.0, P=0.004), first contact(89.2 vs 84.0, p=0.001) and coordination function(74.0 vs 68.7, p=0.025). Conclusions : Based on the patients assessment, health cooperative KM clinics provide more primary care-oriented services than local KM clinics. This means that health cooperative clinic can be one of alternatives to strengthen the primary health care in Korea. Future researches are recommended to measure patients satisfaction and treatment effectiveness in the health cooperative clinics.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.145-163
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• 1998

At the result of data analysis with sample survey, oriental medicine clinics which treat particular kinds of illness with specialization make the profit of 1.6 times and the expense of 0.74 times more than those which treat general diseases, namely, the former gain the profit of about 2.9 times more than the latter. After excluding other variables which affect in the profit of oriental medicine clinics with multiple regression model, when considering only advantage of treatment for particular kinds of illness, specialized oriental medicine clinics win the more profit of 18.3 percent than general oriental medicine clinics. The specialization of oriental medicine clinics can become one of the positive measures in the situation of enlargement of medical of oriental medicine, falling of oriental medicine price and conflict of western and oriental medicine, etc. The specialization can help western medicine replace with oriental medicine, and level and scientific system of oriental medicine improve. Medical service for particular diseases, one of the better devices for improving profit of oriental medicine clinics, can theoretically make more advantage of oriental medicine clinics through measure of price discrimination than general medicine clinics.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.17-28
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• 2022

Objectives : This study was conducted to prepare basic data for improving the system related to Extramural herbal dispensaries by analyzing the characteristic factors of Korean medicine clinics that affect the type of Extramural herbal dispensaries. Methods : This study utilized '2021 Korean Herbal Medicine Consumption Survey', with 1,817 final participants. We performed ANOVA to compare the characteristics of Korean medicine clinics according to the type of extramural herbal dispensary. Multinomial logistic regression analysis were conducted to analyze characteristics of Korean medicine clinics affecting the form of extramural dispensaries. Results : Among Korean medicine clinics, 71.22% of the institutions used only the intraherbal dispensaries, 11.12% of the institutions used the Extramural herbal dispensaries in parallel, and 17.67% of the institutions used only the Extramural herbal dispensaries. The characteristics of Korean medicine clinics that increased the probability of concurrently using extramural herbal dispensaries were institution area, bed presence or absence, number of regular workers, region, number of prescriptions for insurance herbal medicines, and number of prescriptions for uninsured herbal medicines. The characteristics of Korean medicine clinics, which increase the probability of using only extramural herbal dispensaries, were age, durations of clinical experience, specialist license, franchise, area, bed presence or absence, number of regular workers, number of prescriptions for uninsured herbal medicines, and price of treatment for diseases. Conclusion : The reason why Korean medicine clinics use extramural herbal dispensaries is the result of a combination of efficient use of clinic size and the preparation of uninsured herbal medicines.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.67-81
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• 2012

Objective : This study aimed to analyze the utilization of Korean Medicine clinics, and high-frequent diseases by sex, age, and region of outpatients and inpatients Methods : The data for this study were "Report on Usage Patterns of Korean Medicine Clinics" issued by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2008. Descriptive analysis and correspondence analysis were used to find the patterns of patient's utilization by sex, age and region Results : Diagnosis and examination methods mostly consisted of the pulse for diagnosis. Treatment methods consisted of acupuncture, medical herbs in package, and insurance extract powder. Fee for consultation was paid by Korean Medicine insurance. Usage increased when people's age was over 20 and climaxed among people who were in their 40s and 50s and decreased gradually afterwards. Also, there were differences between the sexes. There were differences in high-frequent diseases by regions, and in usage of Korean Medicine clinics according to sex and age. Conclusion : It was found that there were differences in usage and patterns of Korean Medicine Clinics according to sex, age, and region.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.90-99
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• 2011

Objectives: Comparison of the status of herbal medicine management carried out by traditional Korean medicine hospitals and clinics, and changes in the prices of the herbal medicines offered by them. Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted for 126 traditional Korean medicine hospitals and 4,200 traditional Korean medicine clinics. Questionnaire sheets were dispatched to them by mail in 2008. Rate of response: 57 hospitals (45.2%) and 465 clinics (11.0%) Results: 1. Concerning the herbal medicines kept by them, the hospitals and the clinics kept 295 and 147 kinds of medicine, respectively, on average. As for their monthly expenditure on the purchase of herbal medicines, the hospitals spent an average of KRW 28.38 million while the clinics spent an average of KRW 1.64 million. 2. The average monthly expenditure of the clinics on the purchase of herbal medicines decreased by 32% from 2006, which can be interpreted as a reduction of their business. 3. The prices of herbal medicines for disease treatment ranged from KRW 140,000~190,000 per jae(dosage form) in the hospitals compared to KRW 140,000~168,000 in the clinics. 4. Compared to 1994, the prices of herbal medicines used for disease treatment have risen, whereas the prices of herbal medicines used as tonics have decreased. Conclusions: There are no conspicuous differences between the hospitals and the clinics in terms of the prices charged for herbal medicines, regardless of whether they are used to treat diseases or prescribed as tonics.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.25-36
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• 2011

Objective: To check the status of traditional Korean medical doctors' medical services amid the continual increase in the number of traditional Korean medicine clinics. Methods: A survey of traditional Korean medicine clinics based on questionnaire sheets mailed to 4,200 out of 10,895 clinics, of which 465, or 11.0%, responded, in the June 1, 2008 to December 9, 2008 period. Results: 1. 65.6% of the traditional Korean responding clinics are doing business in a rented space; 92.1%of them are one-person institutions; 24.4% of them, i.e., the largest group of those surveyed, operate in a space sized 41 (123 $m^2$)~50 pyeong (150$m^2$). The number of sick beds installed in their facilities comes to 7.9 on average. 2. Concerning support staff, 190 of them (or 40.9%), i.e., the largest group of those surveyed, employ two people in this capacity. They generally comprise assistant nurses (48.7%) and others (47.6%). 3. The size of the space used by the clinics is showing a tendency to increase. The number of sick beds and support staff, including assistant nurses, reached a peak in 2006, and has been on the decrease since then. 4. The average number of on-days comes to six days a week among 92.6% of those surveyed. Their average daily service hours come to 9 hours and 33 minutes (from 9:17 am to 6:50 pm). 5. Per-patient service time: 14 minutes on average; per-patient acupuncture time: 18.8 minutes; per-patient moxa cautery time: 10.1 minutes per-patient; boil-cupping time: 5.7 minutes; per-patient physical treatment: 28 minutes. Conclusion: Periodical studies should be carried out concerning desirable ways of developing traditional Korean medicine clinics with the focus on the facilities, doctors' service hours, and types of service.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.49-58
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• 2022

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors affecting the intention of traffic accident patients, who had visited Korean medicine clinics for the purpose of treating traffic accidents, on revisiting and recommending those clinics to others. Methods : This study conducted the frequency analysis, Rao-scott chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis on 389 people, who answered that they had once visited Korean medicine clinics for treatment in traffic accidents, using data from the 2020 Korean Medicine Utilization and Herbal Medicine Consumption Survey. Results : As a result of the analyses, it was revealed that the significant influencing factors entailed marital status, job status, the attitude of medical staff, and access to the Korean medicine clinics, while only access to the Korean medicine clinics was a significant influencing factor for the intention to recommend to others. Especially, the intention of to revisit and to recommend in case of satisfying access to the Korean medicine clinics were 8.476 times and 6.784 times higher than when it is not the case. Conclusions : The results of this study reflect the characteristics of automobile insurance, and indicate that both further study and policy establishment on the operation of the automobile insurance system are required to ensure sufficient treatment for traffic accident patients.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.79-91
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose was to study the market of traditional Korean medical devices and survey, list and number medical devices in traditional Korean medical clinics. Methods: we researched in three ways. 1. We investigated the list of devices regarded as traditional Korean medical devices in 'Report on production, export, and import of medical devices.' 2. We investigated the statistics of medical devices equipped in traditional Korean medical clinics through the website of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service. 3. We surveyed medical devices in traditional Korean medical clinics by mail. Results: 1. We could not directly investigate the market for traditional Korean medical devices because they were not categorized as such ('traditional Korean medical devices'). 2. The number of medical devices in traditional Korean medical clinics has increased alongside the increase of traditional Korean medical clinics. 3. Traditional Korean medical clinics hold over 64,962 medical devices and have below 50 percent of traditional Korean medical diagnosis devices. 4. Meridian function testing machines, pulse diagnosis devices, and yangdorak showed ranking of equipment-ratio equal to ranking of insurance fees. Conclusions: Traditional Korean medical device regulations should be enacted following definitive and concrete Korean traditional medical concepts by the Korean traditional medical society.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2022

As more veterinary clinics become specialized with the growth of the companion animal market, an increasing number of veterinary clinics perform orthopedic surgery and use orthopedic products, some of which are defective and have side effects. Thus, the present study aimed to prepare fundamental data for the revision and development of manufacturing standards for these products in order to prevent their side effects. We conducted a survey targeting veterinary clinics as consumers and medical device companies as suppliers. Veterinary clinics were surveyed via offline and online methods; 320 clinics that offered orthopedic surgery and approximately 4,000 veterinary clinics that were registered in the Korean Veterinary Medical Association were targeted, and 153 veterinary clinics responded to the survey. The survey for medical device companies, was performed online, targeting 29 companies; 14 companies responded. The number of side effects of orthopedic products was higher in animal orthopedic products than in those for human use. Many consumers tended to suspect that side effects were caused by product defects. To resolve side effects after using orthopedic products, consumers mostly underwent reoperation. Meanwhile, some severe cases proceeded to legal disputes. Similarly, medical device companies, or the suppliers, responded that most side effects occurred in veterinary orthopedic products and that product defects and mistakes in use were the causes. As for most of the follow-up actions for side effects, these companies either reported the issue to those in charge or analyzed and resolved the issues themselves. Therefore, to develop quality products, suppliers should be provided with clear standards for the production, and information disclosure and a report system for side effects should be particularly established to gain consumers' trust regarding the safety of these products.