• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.67 no.5
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• pp.493-509
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• 2024

In neurointensive care units (NICUs), particularly in cases involving traumatic brain injury (TBI), swift and accurate decision-making is critical because of rapidly changing patient conditions and the risk of secondary brain injury. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in NICU can enhance clinical decision support and provide valuable assistance in these complex scenarios. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review of the current status and future prospects of AI utilization in the NICU, along with the challenges that must be overcome to realize this. Presently, the primary application of AI in NICU is outcome prediction through the analysis of preadmission and high-resolution data during admission. Recent applications include augmented neuromonitoring via signal quality control and real-time event prediction. In addition, AI can integrate data gathered from various measures and support minimally invasive neuromonitoring to increase patient safety. However, despite the recent surge in AI adoption within the NICU, the majority of AI applications have been limited to simple classification tasks, thus leaving the true potential of AI largely untapped. Emerging AI technologies, such as generalist medical AI and digital twins, harbor immense potential for enhancing advanced neurocritical care through broader AI applications. If challenges such as acquiring high-quality data and ethical issues are overcome, these new AI technologies can be clinically utilized in the actual NICU environment. Emphasizing the need for continuous research and development to maximize the potential of AI in the NICU, we anticipate that this will further enhance the efficiency and accuracy of TBI treatment within the NICU.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.123-127
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• 1978

The major objective of this research is to identify those hospital characteristics that best explain cost variation among hospitals and to formulate linear models that can predict hospital costs. Specific emphasis is placed on hospital output, that is, the identification of diagnosis related patient groups (DRGs) which are medically meaningful and demonstrate similar patterns of hospital resource consumption. A casemix index is developed based on the DRGs identified. Considering the common problems encountered in previous hospital cost research, the following study requirements are estab-lished for fulfilling the objectives of this research: 1. Selection of hospitals that exercise similar medical and fiscal practices. 2. Identification of an appropriate data collection mechanism in which demographic and medical characteristics of individual patients as well as accurate and comparable cost information can be derived. 3. Development of a patient classification system in which all the patients treated in hospitals are able to be split into mutually exclusive categories with consistent and stable patterns of resource consumption. 4. Development of a cost finding mechanism through which patient groups' costs can be made comparable across hospitals. A data set of Medicare patients prepared by the Social Security Administration was selected for the study analysis. The data set contained 27,229 record abstracts of Medicare patients discharged from all but one short-term general hospital in Connecticut during the period from January 1, 1971, to December 31, 1972. Each record abstract contained demographic and diagnostic information, as well as charges for specific medical services received. The 'AUT-OGRP System' was used to generate 198 DRGs in which the entire range of Medicare patients were split into mutually exclusive categories, each of which shows a consistent and stable pattern of resource consumption. The 'Departmental Method' was used to generate cost information for the groups of Medicare patients that would be comparable across hospitals. To fulfill the study objectives, an extensive analysis was conducted in the following areas: 1. Analysis of DRGs: in which the level of resource use of each DRG was determined, the length of stay or death rate of each DRG in relation to resource use was characterized, and underlying patterns of the relationships among DRG costs were explained. 2. Exploration of resource use profiles of hospitals; in which the magnitude of differences in the resource uses or death rates incurred in the treatment of Medicare patients among the study hospitals was explored. 3. Casemix analysis; in which four types of casemix-related indices were generated, and the significance of these indices in the explanation of hospital costs was examined. 4. Formulation of linear models to predict hospital costs of Medicare patients; in which nine independent variables (i. e., casemix index, hospital size, complexity of service, teaching activity, location, casemix-adjusted death. rate index, occupancy rate, and casemix-adjusted length of stay index) were used for determining factors in hospital costs. Results from the study analysis indicated that: 1. The system of 198 DRGs for Medicare patient classification was demonstrated not only as a strong tool for determining the pattern of hospital resource utilization of Medicare patients, but also for categorizing patients by their severity of illness. 2. The wei틴fed mean total case cost (TOTC) of the study hospitals for Medicare patients during the study years was $11,27.02 with a standard deviation of $117.20. The hospital with the highest average TOTC ($1538.15) was 2.08 times more expensive than the hospital with the lowest average TOTC ($743.45). The weighted mean per diem total cost (DTOC) of the study hospitals for Medicare patients during the sutdy years was $107.98 with a standard deviation of $15.18. The hospital with the highest average DTOC ($147.23) was 1.87 times more expensive than the hospital with the lowest average DTOC ($78.49). 3. The linear models for each of the six types of hospital costs were formulated using the casemix index and the eight other hospital variables as the determinants. These models explained variance to the extent of 68.7 percent of total case cost (TOTC), 63.5 percent of room and board cost (RMC), 66.2 percent of total ancillary service cost (TANC), 66.3 percent of per diem total cost (DTOC), 56.9 percent of per diem room and board cost (DRMC), and 65.5 percent of per diem ancillary service cost (DTANC). The casemix index alone explained approximately one half of interhospital cost variation: 59.1 percent for TOTC and 44.3 percent for DTOC. Thsee results demonstrate that the casemix index is the most importand determinant of interhospital cost variation Future research and policy implications in regard to the results of this study is envisioned in the following three areas: 1. Utilization of casemix related indices in the Medicare data systems. 2. Refinement of data for hospital cost evaluation. 3. Development of a system for reimbursement and cost control in hospitals.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.22-40
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• 2000

The purpose of the study was to discuss amrketing strategy for oriental hospital, by making a comparative analysis of how hospital user satifaction was affected by hospi시 choice motivation between oriental hospital users and western hospital. The data usel in this study was the Korea Isititute of oriental medicine(1999)'s study on utilization of oriental medical care. And and interview was hold with outpatients who visited around march to April, 1999, at each an oriental hospital and a westen hospital in Seoul and in Wonju city, Kongwon province. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS program. The factor analysis of hospital choice motivation was made by figuring out facor's mean value, and T-test and ANOVA were employed to find out what difference was made by sociodmographic charcteristics to the factors. Also, the multiple regression analysis was carried out to examine what gave an impact on hospital user satisfaction. The findings of this study were as follows; First as a result of making a factor analysis against hospital choice motivation to find out what kind of differenc there was between oriental hospital user motivation and western hospital and person factors. Among them, the hospital charcteristics, preception, personal and person factors. Among them, the hospital charcteristics appered to have the biggest effect of hospital choice motivation. Second, as a result of making comparison between oriental oriental hospital user satisfaction and werterm hospital user satisfaction, there was a singificant between their satisfaction at treatment time, kindness and relative kiness aginst the pther hospital. The oriental level combining 6 items. The geneal satisfaction level combining 6itmes tured out to have reliability of chronbach $\alpha$=0.7126. As a result of examining how mech the general satifaction level depended on sociodemographic characteristics, ther was found be significantly affected by age, marital status, educational background or hospital type. Those who a spouse or a lower educational background or the oriental hospital users got better score. Third, the multiple regression analysis was made to find out what factors affected western and oriental hospital user satisfaction, As a result, the waiting time, experience of other medical facilities and hospital characteristic variable were identified as a key factor on which westerm hospital user satisfaction depended. In conclusion, the oriental hhspital user expressed more staisfaction than the weshren hospital users. Then the characteristic factor played a singificant role in user satisfaction, which included hospital facilities, kindness of herb doctor and employees, or hospital reputation of credibility. in order to raise hospital user datisfaction, it seemed necessary to pay more attention to hospital characteristic factor rather than to perception factor.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.2078-2087
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• 2010

This study conducted a chi-square test and a logistic regression analysis by not only using a investigation data of discharged patients with damages from 2004 to 2006, but also using a census and a research data on the actual condition from health care system. The result follows; First, the centralization of medical utilization of operation patients is becoming apparent, centrally the capital area. To improve this, a policy that can not only provide medical centers and sickbed, but also improve the quality of local medical treatments for the localization of medical treatments. Second, propelling localization policy of certain diseases for the localization of medical utilization is needed as the rate of non-residential of operation patients that have diseases of the eye and adnexa, or cancers is high. Third, a localization policy for patients with damages is needed as the rate of treatments in other regions of operation patients with industrial accidents is increasing day by day.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.267-273
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• 2004

Objectives : This study was aimed at investigating the medical service utilization pattern of patients who use public medical aid compared to those who have health insurance. Methods : We selected every patient between the age of 18 and 69 who used public medical aid from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2001, in Gwangju metropolitan city, South Korea. For comparison, a list of patients with health insurance was gathered for same period. Then the medical records of those who had been hospitalized for acute appendicitis were selected among both groups. Of those records, we compared the number of cases of ruptured appendicitis to cases of whole acute appendicitis in both groups. Regarding coding for ruptured appendicitis, International Classification of Diseases - 10 (ICD-10) was used. Multiple logistic regression was used as a statistical tool to determine the effectiveness of risk factors. Results : Even after adjusting for risk factors, such as age and sex, the proportion of perforation of acute appendicitis among public medical aid patients was found to be significantly higher than among insured patients. Conclusions : This comparative study on ruptured appendicitis among public medical aid patients and insured patients, indicates that the proportion of perforation of acute appendicitis could be an index showing that these types of patients utilize medical services differently than insured patients. We know that when abdominal pain is not properly treated at the outset, it easily develops into ruptured appendicitis complicated with peritonitis. Considering this data analysis, we guess the public medical aid system to have significant problem with medical accessibility. So additional and systematic research on the pattern of utilization of medical services of public medical aid patients is needed.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.261-269
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to present the effective management strategy of RI based on the results of research on the causal relationship between the regional medical care capacity and the hospital management performance by calculating the RI of the general hospitals in Korea, This research has significance. The results of this study are as follows: First, statistically significant differences were found in Number of beds and recurring profits in urban areas by the general characteristics. Second, the correlations between the RI and the variables of the regional medical use are as follows: Recurring profit ratio, New Outpatient Visits, Operating Margin, Daily Outpatient Visits per 100 Beds, Daily Inpatient Days per 100 Beds, and Average Charge per Inpatient Day. Based on the results of this study, the significance of this study is as follows. First, we calculated the affinity for local medical use, which is the index of local medical utilization. Secondly, it is analyzed according to internal and external environmental factors such as city size, hospital size, etc. It can be said that the hospital provided basic data for establishment of hospital management strategy to increase the utilization rate of local medical care.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.60-66
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• 2024

Purpose: This study investigated changes in interpersonal violence and utilization of trauma recovery services during the COVID-19 pandemic. At an urban level I trauma center, trauma recovery services (TRS) provide education, counseling, peer support, and coordination of rehabilitation and recovery to address social and mental health needs. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted considerable changes in hospital services and increases in interpersonal victimization. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted between September 6, 2018 and December 20, 2020 for 1,908 victim-of-crime patients, including 574 victims of interpersonal violence. Outcomes included length of stay associated with initial TRS presentation, number of subsequent emergency department visits, number of outpatient appointments, and utilization of specific specialties within the year following the initial traumatic event. Results: Patients were primarily female (59.4%), single (80.1%), non-Hispanic (86.7%), and Black (59.2%). The mean age was 33.0 years, and 247 patients (49.2%) presented due to physical assault, 132 (26.3%) due to gunshot wounds, and 76 (15.1%) due to sexual assault. The perpetrators were primarily partners (27.9%) or strangers (23.3%). During the study period, 266 patients (mean, 14.9 patients per month) presented before the declaration of COVID-19 as a national emergency on March 13, 2020, while 236 patients (mean, 25.9 patients per month) presented afterward, representing a 74.6% increase in victim-of-crime patients treated. Interactions with TRS decreased during the COVID-19 period, with an average of 3.0 interactions per patient before COVID-19 versus 1.9 after emergency declaration (P<0.01). Similarly, reductions in length of stay were noted; the pre-COVID-19 average was 3.6 days, compared to 2.1 days post-COVID-19 (P=0.01). Conclusions: While interpersonal violence increased, TRS interactions decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting interruption of services, COVID-19 precautions, and postponement/cancellation of elective visits. Future direction of hospital policy to enable resource and service delivery to this population, despite internal and external challenges, appears warranted.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2013

Objectives: The aim of this survey was to investigate utilization, intended use, problems with and demand for medical devices by surveying members of the traditional Korean medical society. Methods: We distributed questionnaires to 13,957 traditional Korean medical doctors via e-mail, and received replies from 1,225. The questionnaire consisted of 4 multiple-choice questions for survey respondent information, 8 multiple-choice questions about the status of medical devices utilizing, and a short answer question about the demand for medical devices. Results: Use of medical devices in traditional Korean medical clinics is common. Diagnostic medical devices are mainly used to assess the patient's condition and to establish a close rapport with clients. In case of therapeutic medical devices, they are usually used for secondary treatment. Issues with traditional Korean medical devices currently in use were ineligibility for national health insurance, low reliability, uncertain validity, and high price. In development of traditional Korean medical equipment, the need for diagnostic medical devices was greater than for therapeutic, and the need for the recording and analysis of medical image data and visualization of medical information was great. Conclusions: There is growing demand for facilitating the development and commercialization of traditional Korean medical devices. To satisfy this demand, research on evaluation indicators that reflect functional and structural clinical information and how to clinically assess the indicators should proceed.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.89-96
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• 2013

This article aimed to introduce 'risk sharing' schemes for pharmaceuticals between drug manufacturers and healthcare payer. Published literature review was undertaken to summarize risk sharing concepts and collect information on existing scheme examples in other countries focusing on new anticancer drugs. Risk sharing schemes could be categorized into health outcomes-based and non-outcomes (financial) based ones. Outcome-based schemes could be broken down into performance-linked reimbursement and conditional coverage. Performance-linked reimbursement can be further broken into outcomes guarantee and pattern or process of care and conditional coverage included coverage with evidence development and conditional treatment continuation schemes. Non-outcome based schemes included market share and price volume at population level, and utilization caps and manufacturer funded treatment initiation at patient level. We reviewed the fifteen examples for anticancer drugs that risk sharing agreements in response to the inherent uncertainties and increased costs of eleven anticancer drugs. Of them, eight cases were coverage with evidence development schemes. The anticancer drugs except bevacizumab and cetuximab were all listed on the national health insurance formulary in Korea, with reimbursement criteria defined on the basis of approved indications and administrations. Risk sharing approach may be a useful tool to ensure values for drug expenditure, but there are a number of concerns such as high administration costs, lack of transparency and conflicts of interest, especially for performance-based health outcomes reimbursement schemes.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.83-93
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• 2015

Purpose: This study was to investigate the relationship among the symptom recognition, health behavior compliance, and the hospital arrival time to identify factors influencing the hospital arrival time in patient with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods: The subjects of this study were 200 patients with AMI in C hospital in D city. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, One way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and stepwise multiple liner regression tests. Results: Level of symptom recognition and health behavior compliance was low. The median value of hospital arrival time was 4.48 hours (ST-segment Elevation Ml was 2.43 hours and Non ST-segment Elevation MI was 7.83 hours). Among the studied factors, only symptom recognition had a statistically significant positive correlation with health behavior compliance (r=0.38, p<.001). Factors influencing the hospital arrival time were MI classification, diabetes mellitus (DM) and transport vehicle to the 1st hospital, and they accounted for 13% of the variance for hospital arrival time in AMI patients. Conclusion: To prevent the delay of hospital arrival time in MI patients, a more robust nursing strategic intervention according to MI classification and DM is necessary; further education on the importance of transportation utilization is also mandated.