• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.265-272
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• 2007

It was not until 1975 that cancer registration was initiated in Korea; voluntary registration of cancer patients of training hospitals throughout the country began under the auspices of the Korean Cancer Society(KCS). However, an official cancer registration, the Korea Central Cancer Registry(KCCR), began on July 1st, 1980. Forty-five training and two non-training hospitals throughout the country initiated registration of patients in whom neoplasms had been found. Data related to case information specified are to be sent to the KCCR at the National Medical Center(it moved at National Cancer Center in 2000). The initial cancer registration of KCS was merged to the KCCR in 1980. Although the KCCR covers most all the large training hospitals in Korea, it cannot provide incidence data. It is, however, the only of its kind in the world, being neither hospital nor population based. The first population based cancer registry(PBCR) was launched in a small county, Kangwha(it has around 80,000 inhabitants), by Yonsei University Medical College in 1983. All data were collected by active methods, and incidence statistics for 1986-1992 appeared in Vol VII of the CI5. Another PBCR, Seoul Cancer Registry(SCR), started in 1991. It was supported by a civilian foundation, the Korean Foundation for Cancer Research. The basic idea of case registration of SCR was the incorporation of KCCR data to PBCR, e. g. dual sources of case registration, i.e., from the KCCR and also including cases diagnosed in small hospitals and other medical facilities. Assessing completeness and validity of case registration of SCR, the program and methodology used by the SCR was later extended to other large cities and areas in Korea, and the PBCR in each area was established. Cancer incidence statistics of Seoul for 1993-1997, Busan for 1996-1997, and Daegu for 1997-1998, as well as Kangwha for 1993-1997, appeared eventually in Vol VIII of the CI5. The Korean or 'pillar' model for a PBCR is a new one. The KCCR data file is a reliable basis, as a pillar, for a PBCR in each area. The main framework of the model for such a registry is the incorporation of a KCCR data file with data from additionally surveyed cases; the data related to cancer deaths, medical insurance claims, and visit-and surveillance of non-KCCR medical facilities. Cancer registration has been adopted as a national cancer control program by Korean government in 2004 as the Anti-Cancer Act was enacted. Since then, some officers have tried to launch a nation-wide PBCR covering whole country. In the meantime, however, cancer registration was interrupted and discontinued for years due to the Privacy Protection Law, which was solved by an amendment of the Anti-Cancer Act in 2006. It would be premature to establish the nation-wide PBCR in Korea. Instead, continuous efforts to improve the completeness of registration of the KCCR, to progress existing PBCRs, and to expand PBCRs over other areas are still to be devoted. The nation-wide PBCR in Korea will be established eventually with summation of the PBCRs of the Korean model.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.82 no.2
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• pp.91-93
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• 2019

Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Globally, there were an estimated 1.8 million new cases and 1.59 million deaths in 2012. In Korea, the incidence of lung cancer is increasing and 24,267 (47.6/100,000) patients with lung cancer were registered at the Korea Central Cancer Registry in 2015. Previous nationwide surveys of lung cancer were performed in 1998 by the Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases and in 2007 by the Korean Association for Lung Cancer (KALC), but the studies faced difficulties in maintaining lung cancer registry because of limitations regarding the Private Information Protection Act. To produce unbiased and reliable epidemiological data, the KALC and Korean Central Cancer Registry developed a detailed lung cancer registry (KALC-R) data structure. Following a pilot survey of 489 lung cancer cases in 2013, about 10% of the sampled lung cancer cases from the Korean Central Cancer Registry are surveyed each year. With the analysis of detailed data from the KALC-R, an important epidemiological background for scientific research or policy development is expected to be generated.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.29-74
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• 2022

As social disasters occur under the Disaster Management Act, which can damage the people's "life, body, and property" due to the rapid spread and spread of unexpected COVID-19 infectious diseases in 2020, information collected through inspection and reporting of infectious disease pathogens (Article 11), epidemiological investigation (Article 18), epidemiological investigation for vaccination (Article 29), artificial technology, and prevention policy Decision), (3) It was used as an important basis for decision-making in the context of an infectious disease crisis, such as promoting vaccination and understanding the current status of damage. In addition, medical policy decisions using infectious disease data contribute to quarantine policy decisions, information provision, drug development, and research technology development, and interest in the legal scope and limitations of using infectious disease data has increased worldwide. The use of infectious disease data can be classified for the purpose of spreading and blocking infectious diseases, prevention, management, and treatment of infectious diseases, and the use of information will be more widely made in the context of an infectious disease crisis. In particular, as the serious stage of the Disaster Management Act continues, the processing of personal identification information and sensitive information becomes an important issue. Information on "medical records, vaccination drugs, vaccination, underlying diseases, health rankings, long-term care recognition grades, pregnancy, etc." needs to be interpreted. In the case of "prevention, management, and treatment of infectious diseases", it is difficult to clearly define the concept of medical practicesThe types of actions are judged based on "legislative purposes, academic principles, expertise, and social norms," but the balance of legal interests should be based on the need for data use in quarantine policies and urgent judgment in public health crises. Specifically, the speed and degree of transmission of infectious diseases in a crisis, whether the purpose can be achieved without processing sensitive information, whether it unfairly violates the interests of third parties or information subjects, and the effectiveness of introducing quarantine policies through processing sensitive information can be used as major evaluation factors. On the other hand, the collection, provision, and use of infectious disease data for research purposes will be used through pseudonym processing under the Personal Information Protection Act, consent under the Bioethics Act and deliberation by the Institutional Bioethics Committee, and data provision deliberation committee. Therefore, the use of research purposes is recognized as long as procedural validity is secured as it is reviewed by the pseudonym processing and data review committee, the consent of the information subject, and the institutional bioethics review committee. However, the burden on research managers should be reduced by clarifying the pseudonymization or anonymization procedures, the introduction or consent procedures of the comprehensive consent system and the opt-out system should be clearly prepared, and the procedure for re-identifying or securing security that may arise from technological development should be clearly defined.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.530-535
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• 2021

Background: Despite the lack of official COVID-19 statistics, various workplaces and occupations have been at the center of COVID-19 outbreaks. We aimed to compare legal measures and governance established for managing COVID-19 infection risks at workplaces in nine Asia and Pacific countries and to recommend key administrative measures. Methods: We collected information on legal measures and governance from both general citizens and workers regarding infection risks such as COVID-19 from industrial hygiene professionals in nine countries (Indonesia, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Republic of the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand) using a structured questionnaire. Results: A governmental body overseeing public health and welfare was in charge of containing the spread and occurrence of infectious diseases under an infectious disease control and prevention act or another special act, although the name of the pertinent organizations and legislation vary among countries. Unlike in the case of other traditional hazards, there have been no specific articles or clauses describing the means of mitigating virus risk in the workplace that are legally required of employers, making it difficult to define the responsibilities of the employer. Each country maintains own legal systems regarding access to the duration, administration, and financing of paid sick leave. Many workers may not have access to paid sick leave even if it is legally guaranteed.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.71-96
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• 2011

Within the traditional medical delivery system, patients residing in medically vulnerable areas, those with body movement difficulties, and nursing facility residents have had limited access to good healthcare services. However, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provides us with a convenient and useful means of overcoming distance and time constraints. ICT is integrated with biomedical science and technology in a way that offers a new high-quality medical service. As a result, rapid technological advancement is expected to play a pivotal role bringing about innovation in a wide range of medical service areas, such as medical management, testing, diagnosis, and treatment; offering new and improved healthcare services; and effecting dramatic changes in current medical services. The increase in aging population and chronic diseases has caused an increase in medical expenses. In response to the increasing demand for efficient healthcare services, a telehealth service based on ICT is being emphasized on a global level. Telehealth services have been implemented especially in pilot projects and system development and technological research. With the service about to be implemented in earnest, it is necessary to study its overall acceptance by consumers, which is expected to contribute to the development and activation of a variety of services. In this sense, the study aims at positively examining the structural relationship among the acceptance factors for telehealth services based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Data were collected by showing audiovisual material on telehealth services to online panels and requesting them to respond to a structured questionnaire sheet, which is known as the information acceleration method. Among the 1,165 adult respondents, 608 valid samples were finally chosen, while the remaining were excluded because of incomplete answers or allotted time overrun. In order to test the reliability and validity of the assessment scale items, we carried out reliability and factor analyses, and in order to explore the causal relation among potential variables, we conducted a structural equation modeling analysis using AMOS 7.0 and SPSS 17.0. The research outcomes are as follows. First, service quality, innovativeness of medical technology, and social influence were shown to affect perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of the telehealth service, which was statistically significant, and the two factors had a positive impact on willingness to accept the telehealth service. In addition, social influence had a direct, significant effect on intention to use, which is paralleled by the TAM used in previous research on technology acceptance. This shows that the research model proposed in the study effectively explains the acceptance of the telehealth service. Second, the research model reveals that information privacy concerns had a insignificant impact on perceived ease of use of the telehealth service. From this, it can be gathered that the concerns over information protection and security are reduced further due to advancements in information technology compared to the initial period in the information technology industry, and thus the improvement in quality of medical services appeared to ensure that information privacy concerns did not act as a prohibiting factor in the acceptance of the telehealth service. Thus, if other factors have an enormous impact on ease of use and usefulness, concerns over these results in the initial period of technology acceptance may become irrelevant. However, it is clear that users' information privacy concerns, as other studies have revealed, is a major factor affecting technology acceptance. Thus, caution must be exercised while interpreting the result, and further study is required on the issue. Numerous information technologies with outstanding performance and innovativeness often attract few consumers. A revised bill for those urgently in need of telehealth services is about to be approved in the national assembly. As telemedicine is implemented between doctors and patients, a wide range of systems that will improve the quality of healthcare services will be designed. In this sense, the study on the consumer acceptance of telehealth services is meaningful and offers strong academic evidence. Based on the implications, it can be expected to contribute to the activation of telehealth services. Further study is needed to assess the acceptance factors for telehealth services, such as motivation to remain healthy, health care involvement, knowledge on health, and control of health-related behavior, in order to develop unique services according to the categorization of customers based on health factors. In addition, further study may focus on various theoretical cognitive behavior models other than the TAM, such as the health belief model.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.133-162
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• 2019

Due to the nature of medical malpractice lawsuits, it is difficult for medical consumers, who are weak in getting information when it comes to health care problem, to secure all information inside the hospital. Even if you are confident about the hospital infection, it is true that people have difficult to obtain medical testimony by expert. It is seen as no easy task to testify to the malpractice of colleagues who work in the same field not only in our country but also abroad, when a doctor gives negative testimony to another doctor in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Although few health care providers will be motivated to take medical care from the outset, testimony or statements from a medical practitioner can have a significant impact on the outcome of a lawsuit, as it is impossible for the patient to control or be aware of the whole process of medical conduct, especially in the event of a hospital infection and the victim. If the hospital can prove the causality of damages caused by negligence of the employees or supervision of the hospital itself in a medical suit caused by the infection, the level of protection of the victim could be raised further. We sought to find a solution to these problems by looking at the provisions of other laws related to hospital infection. In particular, as the comparative legal review regarding hospital infection, Germany's legislative precedent sets a medical contract as a typical civil law contract, so it is thought that looking at German civil law regulations also has implications for Korean law. We also tried to improve the French Special Act 'rights of patients' and we can look at the consequent changes in court cases. Finally, the content of the U.S. case's and the theory of 'the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur' in relation to it show that doctors and hospitals have been forced to shift the burden of proof through this theory. This paper tried to find out the implications of mitigating the burden of proof by reviewing various issues that might be related to medical litigation of hospital infection from a comparative point of view.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.109-132
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• 2019

Recently, medical accidents related to surgical procedures have increased. In addition, the media reported that some of these accidents were involved in health crimes. Patient-advocate groups have called for mandatory establishment and management of CCTV in operating rooms. There is a lot of discussion among the interested parties, so it is necessary to review the relevant laws and regulations. The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of CCTV in operating rooms and to review legislations related to establishment and management of the CCTV in operating rooms. Medical institutions use CCTV for management of facilities and patient safety and install it in operating rooms optionally. The Constitution guarantees the privacy and the privacy of correspondence of every citizen, but it can be limited by the law for public welfare. Currently, however, there is no existing law about establishment and management of the CCTV in operating rooms and it can be defect of legal system. Under the current legislations, it is likely that the Self-determination can be violated due to the characteristic of healthcare provider when CCTV is mandatorily installed in operating room. In addition, the regulations on access and leakage of confidential information known by operator are insufficient. So that, the safety of the visual data might be threatened. Furthermore, unless the period and the place of storage of the visual data are clearly defined, it is highly unlikely to meet the original purpose of patient safety and prevention of medical accidents. This study is meaningful as there is few previous study on this topic although the need for legal review about this is growing and several bills are being proposed. It is expected that the results of this study can be utilized as basic data for enactment or amendment of the laws and regulations about establishment and management of CCTV in operating rooms.