• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.40-51
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• 2006

Backgrouds : This study was performed to compare the satisfaction levels for health examination programs provided by between the Korea National Health Insurance Corporation (KNHIC) and private healthcare organizations in Korea. We investigated factors associated with the satisfaction level for the KNHIC health examination. Also, factors explaining for the additional receipt of private healthcare organization's examination were identified. Methods : A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in June 2004 with 250 beneficiaries of the KNHIC industrial workers' program and 100 beneficiaries of the KNHIC selfemployed program. A total of 297 completed the questionnaire, including 213 (85.2%) and 84 (84.0%) for each insurance program. Ten questions measuring satisfaction levels for each examination program were rated on a scale ranging from 1 (strongly unsatisfied) to 5 (strongly satisfied). Results : Among the subjects receiving both examinations, the mean satisfaction level for the KNHIC examination (3.07) was significantly lower than that for the private healthcare organization's examination (3.50) (p<0.05). The KNHIC examination showed lower satisfaction for all of the 10 items than the counterpart. In particular, the KNHIC examination had the scores of lower than 3.0 for the items reflecting post-examination management services. According to the multiple regression analysis results, the satisfaction for the KNHIC examination was positively associated with the positive attitude toward health examination(${\bullet}$,=0.38, p<0.00). The logistic regression results showed that the likelihood of receiving the private healthcare organization's examination in addition to the KNHIC examination increases as the respondents were less healthier(OR=0.29, 95% CI = 0.10¢¶0.84), the satisfaction level for the KNHIC examination decreased(OR=0.46, 0.28¢¶0.75) or the attitude toward health examination was more positive (OR=2.56, 1.31¢¶5.12). Conclusion : The relatively low satisfaction level for both examination programs suggests that there's ample room for improvement of health examination services in Korea. The negative association between additional receipt of private healthcare organization's examination and satisfaction level for the KNHIC examination implies that the improvement of the satisfaction for the KNHIC examination would help to reduce the national expenditure spent on the additional examination.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.325-337
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• 2023

Background: While there are many studies estimating the effects of private health insurance on various types of health care utilization, few have examined how such effects change in conjunction with important policy reforms in national health insurance (NHI). This study examined how the effect of private health insurance (supplemental and fixed cash benefit) on high-cost outpatient imaging test utilization changed following the expansion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coverage in 2018, which is a key example of the NHI benefit expansion policy in recent years. Methods: Data from the 2017 and 2019 Korea Health Panel Survey, which contained information about healthcare utilization before and after the expansion of MRI coverage in 2018, were used. The incremental effect of private health insurance on high-cost outpatient imaging test utilization for each period were quantified and compared, with special attention given to the type of private health insurance. Results: While people with supplemental private health insurance were more likely to use high-cost outpatient imaging tests than those without, both before and after the expansion of MRI coverage, the incremental effect increased from 1.6% points in 2017 to 2.5% points in 2019. Conclusion: Benefit expansion in NHI does not necessarily reduce disparities in the use of health care between private health insurance subscribers and non-subscribers. The results of our study also suggest that the path through which private health insurance affects healthcare utilization may not be limited to the price mechanism alone but can be more complex.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.263-271
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• 2018

Health technology assessment (HTA) is defined as multidisciplinary policy analysis to look into the medical, economic, social, and ethical implications of the development, distribution, and use of health technology. Following the recent changes in the social environment, there are increasing needs to improve Korea's healthcare environment by, inter alia, assessing health technologies in an organized, timely manner in accordance with the government's strategies to ensure that citizens' medical expenses are kept at a stable level. Dedicated to HTA and research, the National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency (NECA) analyzes and provides grounds on the clinical safety, efficacy, and economic feasibility of health technologies. HTA offers the most suitable grounds for decision making not only by healthcare professionals but also by policy makers and citizens as seen in a case in 2009 where research revealed that glucosamine lacked preventive and treatment effects for osteoarthritis and glucosamine was subsequently excluded from the National Health Insurance's benefit list to stop the insurance scheme from suffering financial losses and citizens from paying unnecessary medical expenses. For the development of HTA in Korea, the NECA will continue exerting itself to accomplish its mission of providing policy support by health technology reassessment, promoting the establishment and use of big data and HTA platforms for public interest, and developing a new value-based HTA system.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.17-21
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• 2021

In 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions to global health systems. The Korea has taken full-fledged actions against this novel infectious disease, swiftly implementing a testing-tracing-treatment strategy. New obligations have therefore been given to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) to devote the utmost effort towards tackling this global health crisis. Thanks to the universal national health insurance and state-of-the-art information communications technology (ICT) of the Korea, HIRA has conducted far-reaching countermeasures to detect and treat cases early, prevent the spread of COVID-19, respond quickly to surging demand for the healthcare services, and translate evidence into policy. Three main factors have enabled HIRA to undertake pandemic control preemptively and systematically: nationwide data aggregated from all healthcare providers and patients, pre-existing ICT network systems, and real-time data exchanges. HIRA has maximized the use of data and pre-existing network systems to conduct rapid and responsive measures in a centralized way, both of which have been the most critical tactics and strategies used by the Korean healthcare system. In the face of new obligations, our promise is to strive for a more responsive and resilient health system during this prolonged crisis.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.62-71
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• 2020

Background: The purpose of this study is to analyze the current status and factors of elderly patients' hospitalization for hip replacement, knee replacement, and general spine surgery. Methods: National health insurance data in 2018 was provided by the National Health Insurance Service. We used multiple regression to analyze factors associated with the medical utilization of hip replacement, knee replacement, and general spine surgery in elderly patients over 65 years old. The dependent variables are the length of stay and total health expenditure. The independent variables are the demographic-social factors (sex, age, region, insurance type, income level) and surgery-related factors (institution type, location of the hospital, surgery classification). Results: The most common factor affecting surgery was the location of medical institutions. Compared with the medical institutions located in metropolitan, the length of stay in rural medical institutions was higher and total health expenditure was lower. The lower quartile of income, the higher the length of stay and total health expenditure. In addition, the variables of age, type of health insurance, and type of medical institution were statistically significant. Conclusion: In this study, we confirmed the effect of sociodemographic factors and medical institution factors on the Healthcare Utilization of spinal and joint surgery.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.594-602
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• 2016

This study was carried out to suggest hospital referral system improvements based on health insurance subscriber perceptions of the delivery of healthcare. Health insurance subscriber outpatients (n = 207) referred from a stage 1 medical institution to the S university hospital located in Seoul responded to the study survey. The study's item reliability is reliable as the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was greater than 0.7. This study results showed that 5.9% of patients were referred from a higher stage hospital to a same stage hospital. The main factor attracting patients to S university hospital were physician reputation and confidence. The highest factor ($4.40{\pm}.92$) was xxxx. In addition, survey respondents reported that the concentration of patients in extra-large hospitals in Seoul ($4.24{\pm}.97$) was an important issue, and the issue with the highest priority for improvement ($4.05{\pm}1.02$). A positive correlation was detected between the recognition and improvement of delivery of healthcare (p < 0.01). Based on the results, we suggest that improvements in the delivery of healthcare should focus on patients rather than suppliers of national health insurance or other insurers. Keywords: delivery of healthcare, health services accessibility, national health insurance, tertiary care centers, hospital referral.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.57-68
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• 2014

Since the introduction of National Health Insurance(NHI) in 1977, it has grown rapidly and contributed to extend patient's access to the health care services. However, limited coverage for health care services of NHI has been ongoing challenge and private health insurance(PHI) has been rising as an alternative source of enhancing coverage and saving out-of-pocket(OOP) expenditure for patients. In this study, after controlling for socio-demographic, economic, health related variables, we identified the patients' healthcare utilization and subsequent OOP expenditure depending on their PHI enrollment and their enrollment types(fixed benefit, indemnity, fixed benefit plus indemnity). Data were collected from the 2010 Korean Health Panel. The unit of analysis was a member of household(n=13,324). Of the 13,324 cases, 70.7% of patients held PHI, in detail, fixed benefit(47.0%), indemnity(3.6%), fixed benefit plus indemnity(20.1%). Major findings showd that patients who enrolled in PHI used more outpatient services(outpatient visit, number of physician visit, number of examination) and spent more OOP expenditure than non-PHI patients. There were also differences of healthcare utilization and OOP expenditure among the types of PHI. In addition, PHI patients used more inpatient services(inpatient use, number of hospitalization, LOS), but there was no significant difference between PHI and non-PHI patients with regard to the OOP expenditure. Thus, we could not find any distinct relationship between the types of PHI and patients' tertiary hospital use. Policy-makers should need careful political deliberation for monitoring the effect of PHI on health care utilization and subsequent expenditure not only to improve patients' coverage but also to save their OOP expenditures.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.57 no.11
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• pp.644-653
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• 2019

Since 2013, adults aged over 20 can receive national health insurance scaling once a year in South Korea. In this study, we analyzed the usage status of national health insurance care service for periodontal disease in 2010-2018 by using Healthcare big data of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. The increase rate of the dental care users was very high at 7.8 and 11.2% in 2013 and 2014, respectively. These are higher than the increase rate of all medical institution users, which is between -1.7 and 3.7%. In 2017, the rate of dental use was 44.4%, which has increased more than 10% compared to 2012. Percent receiver of national health insurance scaling was 19.5% in 2017. The 20s had the highest rate of 23.2%. The rate decreased with age. Based on these results, it can be evaluated that the expansion of national health insurance coverage for scaling improves accessibility to dental care. A more long-term assessment of the effect of periodic dental examination and scaling on reducing the prevalence of periodontal disease is needed. National health insurance coverage should be extended to oral hygiene education and supportive periodontal therapy in order to prevent periodontal disease.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5265-5270
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• 2014

Background: In Korea, the National Health Insurance program has initiated various copayment policies over a decade in order to alleviate patient financial burden. This study investigated healthcare spending and utilization in the last 12 months of life among patients who died with lung cancer by various copayment policy windows. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study using nationwide lung cancer health insurance claims data from 2002 to 2012. We used descriptive and multivariate methods to compare spending measured by total costs, payer costs, copayments, and utilization (measured by length of stay or outpatient days). Using 1,4417,380 individual health insurance claims (inpatients: 673,122, outpatients: 744,258), we obtained aggregated healthcare spending and utilization of 155,273 individual patient (131,494 inpatient and 103,855 outpatient) records. Results: National spending and utilization is growing, with a significant portion of inpatient healthcare spending and utilization occurring during the end-of-life period. Specifically, inpatients were more likely to have more spending and utilization as they got close to death. As coverage expanded, copayments decreased, but overall costs increased due to increased utilization. The trends were the same in both inpatient and outpatient services. Multivariate analysis confirmed the associations. Conclusions: We found evidence of the higher end of life healthcare spending and utilizations in lung cancer patients occurring as coverage expanded. The practice pattern within a hospital might be influenced by coverage policies. Health policy makers should consider initiating various health policies since these influence the long-term outcomes of service performance and overall healthcare spending and utilization.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.144-152
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• 2016

Purpose: This study compares beneficiaries of Korean Medicaid with those under the National Health Insurance program, seeking to understand how each group utilizes their healthcare. Methods: Data were obtained from a Health Promotion Survey in 2005. Health status was measured by the respondents' perception of health. Health service utilization included the availability of healthcare services, the type of healthcare institution, and intent to revisit. Predisposing and enabling factors, as well as health care needs were used for this study. Results: Compared to National Health Insurance beneficiaries, Medicaid beneficiaries reported lower levels of health status and fewer enabling factors. They had more chronic diseases and disabilities. Education level, existence of chronic diseases, exercise patterns, and disabilities were associated with health status. Conclusion: We found that Medicaid beneficiaries had fewer resources and higher levels of health needs. As Medicaid is reformed, policy makers and administrators should understand healthcare utilization behaviors of Medicaid beneficiaries and the factors hindering access to care.