• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.78-86
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• 2024

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the specialty hospital system by comparing the medical use of inpatients who had artificial joint replacement surgery in specialty hospitals and non-specialty hospitals. Methods: This study utilized 2021-2022 healthcare benefit claims data provided by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. The dependent variable is inpatient medical use which is measured in terms of charges per case and length of stay. The independent variable was whether the hospital was designated as a specialty hospital, and the control variables were patient-level variables (age, gender, insurer type, surgery type, and Charlson comorbidity index) and medical institution-level variables (establishment type, classification, location, number of orthopedic surgeons, and number of nurses). Results: The results of the multiple regression analysis between charges per case and whether a hospital is designated as a specialty hospital showed a statistically significant negative relationship between charges per case and whether a hospital is designated as a specialty hospital. This suggests a significant low in charges per case when a hospital is designated as a specialty hospital compared to a non-specialty hospital, indicating that there is a difference in medical use outcomes between specialty hospitals and non-specialty hospitals inpatients. Conclusion: The practical implications of this study are as follows. First, the criteria for designating specialty hospitals should be alleviated. In our study, the results show that specialty hospitals have significantly lower per-case costs than non-specialty hospitals. Despite the cost-effectiveness of specialty hospitals, the high barriers to be designated for specialty hospitals have gathered the specialty hospitals in metropolitan and major cities. To address the regional imbalance of specialty hospitals, it is believed that ease the criteria for designating specialty hospitals in non-metropolitan areas, such as introducing "semi-specialty hospitals (tentative name)," will lead to a reduction in health disparities between regions and reduce medical costs. Second, it is necessary to determine the appropriateness of the size of hospitals' medical staff. The study found that the number of orthopedic surgeons and nurses varied in charges per case. Therefore, it is believed that appropriately allocating hospital medical staff can maximize the cost-effectiveness of medical services and ultimately reduce medical costs.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.1-16
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• 2016

After entering a more stable growth phase since the 2000s, new urban development has become smaller and fragmented and interiors of existing cities are aging and becoming underutilized. Therefore, using vacant and underutilized land in urban area has high value in national urban policies in terms of compact urban development and circular land use management. To do so, it is necessary to develop scientific research methods and tools to better understand the characteristics and potential of vacant and underutilized land. The main goals of the study are as follows. First, this research aims to develop a pilot system for analysis and assessment of abandoned, vacant, and underutilized space. The pilot system will act as a scientific policy support measure to systematically identify vacant and underutilized space. Busan Metropolitan City, with a variety of vacant and underutilized space, was selected as the case study area. The second goal is to develop a planning support system for abandoned, vacant and underutilized Land using open source GIS software, uDig. GIS based decision support systems or planning support systems to resolve spatial problem is not a new innovation, but using open source GIS provides new opportunities and potential. To conclude, the research will derive implications for future work.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.9-19
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to analyze the difference in suicide rates between regions and to determine the effect of social workers on the regional suicide rate. The main analysis results are as follows. First, the suicide rates in metropolitan cities were lower than was lower than in other regions, and cities and districts were lower than those in the county area. Second, suicide rates were high in areas with many cultural and social welfare facilities per population. Suicide rates were high in low mental health facilities and low social welfare budgets. The suicide rate in rural areas was high. Third, suicide rates were high in areas with low economic requirements, areas with a high proportion of the elderly, divorce rates, and areas with a small number of social security recipients and living alone. In other words, the suicide rate in rural areas was high. Finally, social workers did not affect the difference in local suicide rates. Local social services and budgets have no real impact on suicide rates. In the future, it is necessary to improve the quality and quantity of community welfare practices that can lower community suicide rates.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.486-495
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• 2021

Background: Particulate matter (PM) is one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide. Previous studies in South Korea have applied a relative risk calculated from Western populations when estimating the disease burden attributable to PM. However, the relative risk of PM on health outcomes may not be the same across different countries or regions. Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the premature deaths and socioeconomic costs attributable to long-term exposure to PM in South Korea. We considered not only the difference in PM concentration between regions, but also the difference in relative risk. Methods: National monitoring data of PM concentrations was obtained, and missing values were imputed using the AERMOD model and linear regression model. As a surrogate for relative risk, hazard ratios (HRs) of PM for cardiovascular and respiratory mortality were estimated using the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort. The nation was divided into five areas (metropolitan, central, southern, south-eastern, and Gangwon-do Province regions). The number of PM attributable deaths in 2018 was calculated at the district level. The socioeconomic cost was derived by multiplying the number of deaths and the statistical value of life. Results: The average PM₁₀ concentration for 2014~2018 was 45.2 ㎍/m³. The association between long-term exposure to PM₁₀ and mortality was heterogeneous between areas. When applying area-specific HRs, 23,811 premature deaths from cardiovascular and respiratory disease in 2018 were attributable to PM₁₀ (reference level 20 ㎍/m³). The corresponding socioeconomic cost was about 31 trillion won. These estimated values were higher than that when applying nationwide HRs. Conclusions: This study is the first research to estimate the premature mortality caused by long-term exposure to PM using relative risks derived from the national population. This study will help precisely identify the national and regional health burden attributed to PM and establish the priorities of air quality policy.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.291-303
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• 2013

After establishing national greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, the South Korean government has been pursuing sector- and industry-specific greenhouse gas emission reduction measures; in support of which, metropolitan city / state governing entities, such as Gyeonggi Province, etc., have been in lock steps by establishing and executing climate change measures that are appropriate for the regional characteristics. However, in the case of local governments, difficulties abound due to the fact that the per-unit greenhouse gas emission amounts and the future emission estimates for establishing reduction targets are not clear. In order to establish correct climate change measure policies, the policy directions and the assessment of verified greenhouse gas emission amounts would need to serve as the basis, and along with the national level climate change effect and vulnerability assessment, there's a need to develop methodologies that take into consideration the local characteristics and conditions. To this end, this study calculated the greenhouse gas emission amounts of the City of Siheung, a basic local government in Gyeonggi Province, by using the GEBT (Greenhouse gas Emission Business-as-usual Tool) developed by the National Institute of Environmental Research to facilitate easy calculations of BAU (business-as-usual) emission quantities by local governing entities.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.137-151
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• 2011

This dissertation aims to empirically analyze the effect of cultivation of software industry on the local economy through Inter-regional Software Input-Output Analysis. The temporal range of analysis of effect of software industry on the local economy shall be for the year 2005 since analysis is made on the basis of the Regional Industrial Input-Output Table published by the Bank of Korea in 2005, and spatial domain shall be limited to the 16 metropolitan cities and provinces, which are the standards for each administrative zone. Results of analysis of this dissertation are as follows. Firstly, average inverse matrix coefficient of software industry for each region was computed to be 1.6248, which is lower than the average inverse matrix coefficient of 1.7979 for the entire industries. Secondly, among these, inverse matrix coefficient of software industry for each region on other industry within the same region was 0.1794, which is higher than that of entire industries at 0.1382. However, average inverse matrix coefficients of software industry for each region on self-industry within the same region and entire industries in other regions were found to be 1.0119 and 0.4335, respectively, which is lower than those of entire industries at 1.0982 and 0.5616, respectively. Thirdly, domestic produces induced by final demand items of software industry for each region was the highest for Seoul with 17.3309 trillion Korean won, accounting for 81.0% of the total, followed by Gyeonggi with 2.3370 trillion Korean won, 10.9% of the total. Fourthly, distribution ratios of domestic produces induced by final demand items of software industry for each region were found to be 19.1%, 72.1% and 8.8% with respect to the weight of consumption, investment and export, respectively, thereby illustrating very high level of distribution ratios of domestic produces being induced by investment in comparison to the distribution ratios of domestic produces being induced for the entire industries at 47.3%, 19.8% and 32.9%, respectively.

• Journal of Service Research and Studies
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.25-35
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• 2022

Covid-19, of which the first patient in Korea occurred in January 2020, has affected various fields. Of these, the tourism sector might havebeen hit the hardest. In particular, since tourism-based industrial structure forms the basis of the region, Gangwon-province, and the tourism industry is the main source of income for small businesses and small enterprises, the damage is great. To check the situation and extent of such damage, targeting the Chuncheon region, where public access is the most convenient among the Gangwon regions, one-day tours are possible using public transportation from Seoul and the metropolitan area, with a general image that low expense tourism is recognized as possible, this study conducted empirical analysis through data analysis. For this, the general status of the region was checked based on the visitor data of Chuncheon city provided by the tourist information system, and to check the levels ofinterest in 2019, before Covid-19, and in 2020, after Covid-19, by comparing keywords collected from the web service sometrend of Vibe Company Inc., a company specializing in keyword collection, with SK Telecom's T-map search site data, which in parallel provides in-vehicle navigation service and communication service, this study analyzed the general regional image of Chuncheon-city. In addition, by comparing data from two years by developing a tourism popularity index applying keywords and T-map search site data, this study examined how much the Covid-19 situation affected the level of interest of visitors to the Chuncheon area leading to actual visits using a data analysis approach. According to the results of big data analysis applying the tourism popularity index after designing the data mart, this study confirmed that the effect of the Covid-19 situation on tourism popularity in Chuncheon-city, Gangwon-provincewas not significant, and confirmed the image of tourist destinations based on the regional characteristics of the region. It is hoped that the results of this research and analysis can be used as useful reference data for tourism economic policy making.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.196-205
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current status of hospice palliative care facilities, and to identify problems and improve hospice palliative care in Korea. Methods: The questionnaire survey was implemented from October to December, 2007. It was consisted of general characteristics of organization, health manpower, facilities & equipments, service programs, and so on. Sixty two (79.5%) out of 78 hospice palliative care facilities returned the questionnaires. Results: They were 42 hospital-based hospice palliative care hospitals and 9 clinics, and most of them are located at central metropolitan areas (Seoul and Gyeonggi Province). more than 80% of hospitals met with the requirements (one doctor per 10 patients and one nurse per 1.5 patients), whereas 42.9% of clinics met the requirements. Approximately 22% of them met the requirement of sick room (4 patients for 1 room). Most of them provided various hospice palliative care programs. The proportion of giving regular education programs to hospice palliative care personnels were about half (41.9%). Thirty two (51.6%) facilities provided home visiting hospice palliative care service. Conclusion: There were lack of enough health manpower, rooms, and programmes and they varied among facilities. It is necessary to increase the number of hospice palliative care facilities with consideration of regional fair distribution and standardization of programmes.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.13-28
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• 2023

This study examines the process of project promotion in Busan, which introduced the private participation-type consultative body for the first time in the country in the promotion stage of the private-initiated park development project, and introduced flexible application of the system and differentiated policy elements in the implementation process, and examines the operational characteristics and we tried to analyze performance, etc. As a result of the analysis, first, the preferred bidder was selected by introducing a mixed method in the project method, which is an independent project method that cannot be seen in other local governments. Second, by specifying guidelines considering the characteristics of each park and detailed guidelines such as the location, area, and maximum height of non-park facilities, criteria for establishing a rational development plan utilizing regional identity and the basis of evaluation standards were laid. Third, in the project process, transparency was secured through the delegation-type roundtable, in which the private sector performs the functions and roles of key actors, thereby preventing disputes such as suspicion of preferential treatment. Fourth, in order to improve the quality of park facilities to be donated and to secure design adequacy, after approval of the implementation plan, a general planner was introduced and construction project management (design stage) services were performed to promote efficient implementation and specialization of luxury parks in the region. As a result, the city of Busan carried out the project efficiently by conserving 5 parks from sunset, a park area of 2.25km², and reducing land compensation and park construction costs by KRW 740 billion. Reinforcement of the public nature of the private-initiated park development project was suggested. However, due to the application of these systems and verification procedures, the project period is prolonged, and park services are delayed along with the financial burden on private operators.