• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.59-71
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• 2004

Objectives: This study aimed to measure the disability weights for the Korean Burden of Disease study, and to compare them with those adopted in the Australian study to examine the validity and describe the distinctive features. Methods : The standardized valuation protocol was developed from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study and the Dutch Disability Weights study. Disability weights were measured for 123 diseases of the Korean version of Disease Classification by three panels of 10 medical doctors each. Then, overall distribution, correlation coefficients, difference by each disease, and mean of differences by disease group were analyzed for comparison of disability weights between the Korean and Australian studies. Results : Korean disability weights ranged from 0.037 to 0.927. While the rank correlation coefficient was moderate to high ($r_s$=0.68), Korean disability weights were higher than the corresponding Australian ones in 79.7% of the 118 diseases. Of these, war, leprosy, and most injuries showed the biggest differences. On the contrary, many infectious and parasitic diseases comprised the greater part of diseases of which Korean disability weights were lower. The mean of the differ ences was the highest in injuries of GBD disease groups, and in cardiovascular disease, injuries, and malignant neoplasm of the Korean disease category. Conclusions : Korean disability weights were found to be valid on the basis of overall distribution pattern and correlation, and are expected to be used as basic data for broadening the scope of burden of disease study. However, some distinctive features still remain to be explored in following studies.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.297-314
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• 2012

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to analyze the trend of the number of nursing staffs and skill mix and to assess the effectiveness of hospital nurse expansion policies in Korea. Methods : The trend of the number of nursing staffs and skill mix were analyzed using time series data, which composed of yearly series data from 1975 to 2009. The impact of hospital nurse expansion policies was estimated by autoregressive integrated moving average(ARIMA) intervention model. Results : The number of general hospital and hospital nurses per 100 beds was decreased in late 1980s and late 1990s due to rapid growth of beds. As a result of the number of nurse aids per 100 beds decreased, skill mix became high in general hospital but nurse ratio among hospital nursing staffs was about 50%. Expansion of new nurse and revised differentiated inpatient fee were only effective in expansion of hospital nursing staffs. But they had no effect in general hospitals. Conclusion : In Korea, a few policies related to expansion of hospital nurses have an effect on increasing the number of hospital nurse. Nevertheless, level of hospital nursing staffs is inferior to that of general hospital.

• The Korean journal of internal medicine
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.469-476
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• 2024

Background/Aims: The reimbursement policy for cryptogenic stroke (CS) was expanded in November 2018 from recurrent strokes to the first stroke episode. No reports have demonstrated whether this policy change has affected trends in implantable loop recorder (ILR) utilization. Methods: We identified patients who received an ILR implant using the Korea Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database between July 2016 and October 2021. Patients meeting all the following criteria were considered to have CS indication: 1) prior stroke history, 2) no previous history of atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF/AFL), and 3) no maintenance of oral anticoagulant for ≥4 weeks within a year before ILR implant. AF/AFL diagnosed within 3 years after ILR implant or before ILR removal was considered ILR-driven. Results: Among 3,056 patients, 1,001 (32.8%) had CS indications. The total ILR implant number gradually increased for both CS and non-CS indications and the number of CS indication significantly increased after implementing the expanded reimbursement policy. The detection rate for AF/AFL was 26.3% in CS patients over 3 years, which was significantly higher in patients implanted with an ILR within 2 months after stroke than those implanted later. Conclusions: The expanded coverage policy for CS had a significant impact on the number of ILR implantation for CS indication. The diagnostic yield of ILR for AF/AFL detection seems better when ILR is implanted within 2 months than later. Further investigation is needed to demonstrate other clinical benefits and the optimal ILR implantation timing.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.41-50
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• 2011

Objectives: Objectives: The objective of this study is to describe the WHO-CHOICE(World Health Organization- CHOosing Interventions that are Cost-Effective) programme, and to consider the application of WHO-CHOICE programme in Korea, especially on the health promotion policy. Methods: Literature review was conducted on the contents of WHO-CHOICE programme in the previous studies, guidebook, and software. We also contacted WHO-CHOICE team at WHO to identify the contents not clearly presented in the documents. Results: The WHO-CHOICE programme is a standardized tool for analyzing and comparing the cost effectiveness of health promotion policies. It is composed of PopMod to measure the health effect of intervention and of CostIt to measure the cost. The cost of tobacco control policy in Korea was analyzed with the cooperation of WHO-CHOICE team preliminary, and the results were different with the results of tobacco control policy on western pacific region of WHO. Conclusions: The cost effectiveness study based on WHO-CHOICE programme could help decide a priority of health promotion policy for settings with limited resources. For the improvement of health, the future work on WHO-CHOICE programme need to be considered.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.69-74
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• 2022

Objective : This study was aimed to review the Act on the Promotion of Korean Medicine and Pharmaceuticals. Method : We searched document about the Act on the Promotion of Korean Medicine and Pharmaceuticals. We used Korean Law Information Center(https://www.law.gov.kr) to find the revision of the act. Results : We looked at the current status of the revision of the Act on the Promotion of Korean Medicine and Pharmaceuticals, and the law was revised four times in total. Through the revision of the law, the definition of Korean medical practice was not only expanded, but also the establishment and role of National Institute of Korean Medicine Development were extended. Specific descriptions of Korean medicine technology will be needed in the future, and laws that are less effective should be revised and the role of National Institute of Korean Medicine Development should be further strengthened. Conclusion : For the future of Korean medicine, in-depth consideration is needed on how to foster oriental medicine.

• 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.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.253-255
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• 2015

The concept of precision medicine-prevention and treatment strategies that take individual variability into account-is hot issue of US in the year 2015. Precision medicine is a new concept that approach patients individually by there characteristics, such as genome, life style, environmental exposure, etc. For developing the precision medicine, National Institute of Health of US has been prepared the Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program, at least 1 million people cohort. The US President Obama announced the Precision Medicine Initiative on 30th January 2015. He announced that he will pioneer a new model of patient-powered research that promises to accelerate biomedical discoveries and provide clinicians with new tools, knowledge, and therapies to select which treatments will work best for which patients. Most medical treatments have been designed for the 'average patient.' As a result of this 'one-size-fits-all-approach,' treatments can be very successful for some patients but not for others. This is changing with the emergence of precision medicine, an innovative approach to disease prevention and treatment that takes into account individual differences in people's genes, environments, and lifestyles. Precision medicine gives clinicians tools to better understand the complex mechanisms underlying a patient's health, disease, or condition, and to better predict which treatments will be most effective. The healthcare researcher should prepare the new medicine era such as bio-information technology convergence, big data study.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2019

Backgrounds : The market of Complementary Alternative Medicine(CAM) in the United State(U.S.) accounts for a large proportion of the global CAM market and has a high growth rate. The recent introduction of Obama Care has brought the change in the health insurance system for CAM, and we need to analyze it for its implication to Korean system. Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the current status of acupuncture and chiropractic health insurance in the U.S., and to draw implications for expanding the health insurance coverage for Korean traditional medicine through the comparison between the U.S. and Korean health insurance systems. Methods : We examined the data through the literature search and from the websites of both U.S. government departments and related organizations for the health insurance policy. Based on the collected data, we analyzed its CAM health insurance system in Korea. Results : The acupuncture covered by public health insurance in the U.S. has a limit in the number of treatments and a range of applied diseases compared with Korea. In addition, the practice of acupuncture is not subdivided. However, the chiropractic in the U.S. which also has a limited number of coverage and only three categories of practices are similar to that of Korea. Conclusions : Although the use of CAM by public health insurance is not active in the U.S., but the organizations such as Veterans Health Administration in Vermont is already discussing the use of acupuncture to solve the problem of opioid overuse. Thus Korea also needs to discuss to promote the expansion of the insurance system for CAM.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.457-467
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• 2003

Purpose: This study examined the development and performance of the school health promotion policy guideline that is applicable to Korean school health. Methods: 1. The WHO's guideline was translated into Korean and modified by school health experts 2. A questionnaire was conducted to assess the performance of school health policy on 207 nurses in elementary schools in Seoul and Cheonbuk. Result: The Korean version of the school health promotion policy guidelines were developed including 9 components and 36 checkpoints. Compared to that of WHO, the component 'school nursing teacher' was added and three components were eliminated: 'equitable access to school resources', 'control of helminth', and 'sun protection policy'. The performance degree of first-aid, closure of school in a calamity, and control of HIV/AIDS was very low. The performance degree of a healthy diet, and regular physical examination was quite high. This study was the first that developed the school health promotion policy guideline and examined the performance. Further research is needed to validate the guidelines developed by this study.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.19-36
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to assess adequately equipped with convenience facilities for the disabled in 160 healthcare institutions in Jongno district, Seoul. Healthcare institutions were equipped an average of 3.7 facilities out of 10. General hospitals had an average of 5.0 facilities, which was higher than an average of 3.6 facilities for private clinics (p<0.05). Of 160 healthcare institutions, only 13 (8.1%) offered easy access to the outpatient setting from the entrance for wheelchair users, highlighting difficult wheelchair access within hospitals. To provide easy access to medical service for the disabled, more accessible designs need to be adopted as part of the effort to improve public facilities for the disabled. Also, universal designs could be applied for newly constructed roads, structures and transportation vehicles to maximize accessibility for the disabled. Increased accessibility for the disabled in the community will eventually increase the use of healthcare institutions.