• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.9-35
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• 2007

The Health care program in Korea has now been systemized after 30 years of declaring the inauguration of the national health insurance system by the current government. The national health care covering all Korean citizens was achieved after 12 years of implementing the national health insurance and the health care program since 1977. Hundreds of multiple operational agencies managing the insured individually had undergone the amalgamation process from 1998 to 2000, and had been restructured as one agency, the National Health Insurance Corporation. In 2003, the community/area based financial management was also merged together with the employment based financial management. The National health care system of Korea offer various merits, compared with that of other countries, such as health care provision covering all Koreans, low insurance premium, accessibility of medical services/facilities etc. However, there are still some weak features which need to be addressed for improvement; below expectation insurance cover system, mistrust on the medical services, low medical charges resulted from excessive restrictions, and unstable financial status of the national health insurance etc. Therefore, the National health care system should continue to evolve to re-establish itself as more effective national health care system by further strengthening its merits, and by improving its weaknesses; with adopting the positive system to optimize the costs of prescribed medicines/drugs, applying simpler insurance coverage system to calculate the optimum medical charges, promoting private medical insurances, and increasing insurance premium etc.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.21 no.1 s.23
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• pp.10-20
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• 1988

This study was conducted to compare the maternal charactristics, and birth weight of infants delivered at five different categories of medical facility in Taegu to examine the risk level of pregnant women and children by the medical facility for delivery. The study population included 1,410 pregnant women who delivered a baby at one of nine medical facilities (3 university hospitals, 2 general hospitals, 2 private clinics, 1 midwife clinic, 1 MCH center) in Taegu in April, 1987(April and May, 1987 for K university hospital), Pregnant women were interviewed to ask the age and educational level of woman, payment of medical fee, birth order, delivery method. Birth weight of infant was obtained from medical record. Mean ages of the women delivering at the university hospitals(27.5 years) and at general hospitals(26.7 years) were higher than those at midwife clinic(25.4 years) and at MCH center(26.1 years). Also, mean years of school education were higher in women of university hospitals(12.7 years) and general hospitals (12.2 years) than in women of midwife clinic(9.2 years) and MCH center (9.3 years). The percentages of women covered by the medical insurance were far greater in the university hospitals(78.1%) and general hospitals(82.9%) than in private clinics(44.3%) , midwife clinic(29.1%) and MCH center (5.4%). Infants born at the MCH center were mostly the second birth (47.3%) while 56.0% to 61.7% of infants born at all the other medical facilities were the first birth more women delivering at the university hospitals had history of spontaneous abortion as well as still birth than the women delivering at the other medical facilities. The preform birth rate (11.4%) and low birthweight incidence rates(5.8-13.0%) in university hospitals were significantly higher than those of other medical facilities. Accordingly, c-section rates showed a wide variation among the medical facilities. Study findings revealed that most of women delivering at the university hospitals and general hospitals are in the middle of or upper socio-economic class and obstetrically high risk group regardless of socioeconomic class while the wome delivering at the midwife clinic and MCH center are low risk group of low socioeconomic class. Therefore, the data of a specific medical facility are highly limited in interpretation and can not be generalized.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.789-797
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• 2021

BACKGROUD/OBJECTIVES: Registered dietitian nutritionists (RDN) are providers of medical nutrition therapy (MNT) to address health and chronic disease. Traditionally, RDNs have provided care in healthcare facilities including hospitals and private care facilities. The purpose of this study was to determine how RDN individualized MNT in the home impacted nutrition, physical activity, and food security. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This is a secondary data analysis. The mean age of the participants (n = 1,007) was 51.6 years old with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 34.1 kg/m². Individualized MNT visits were delivered by an RDN in the home setting from January to December 2019. Participants were referred by healthcare professionals or self-referred. Participants had MNT benefits covered by their health insurance plan (43.3% Medicaid; 39.8% private insurance; 7.9% Medicare, 9% other). Health outcomes related to nutrition care were measured. Outcomes included self-reported consumption of nutrition factors and physical activity. Our secondary outcome focused on food security. The changes in weight, BMI, physical activity, and nutrition factors were analyzed by a linear regression model or linear mixed model, adjusting for age, sex, baseline value, and number of appointments. Food security was summarized in a 2 by 2 contingency table. RESULTS: Baseline values had significantly negative impacts for all changes and number of appointments was significant in the changes for weight and BMI. Increases in physical activity were significant for both female and male participants, 10.4 and 12.6 minutes per day, respectively, while the changes in weight and BMI were not. Regarding dietary factors, the consumption total servings per day of vegetables (0.13) and water (3.35) significantly increased, while the consumption of total servings of whole grain (-0.27), fruit (-0.32), dairy (-0.80) and fish (-0.81) significantly decreased. About 24% (of overall population) and 45% (of Medicaid population) reported improvements in food security. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that home visits were a useful setting for MNT delivered by RDNs. There is a strong need for individualized counseling to meet the participants' needs and personal goals.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.29-39
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• 2021

Purpose: As the need for a hospital specializing in infectious diseases has increased, construction is being promoted. Hospitals specializing in infectious diseases receive some state subsidies, but in the case of private hospitals, hospital operation efficiency should be considered to prevent cost loss. Therefore, we aim to derive a building plan for a general ward in a hospital specializing in infectious diseases that can be used not only in normal times but also in times of crisis. Methods: In this study, relevant literature review and field interviews were conducted with medical staff working in facilities designated as infectious disease hospitals. Results: The general ward building plan of the hospital specializing in infectious diseases was classified into three categories and presented. 'Spatial composition' for nursing unit and ward zoning, 'Spatial plan' for ward space conversion in normal times and crises, 'Bedroom plan' for effective dimensions and area of the ward. Implications: It can be used as a guideline when designing an infection-facility ward. And it can be a basis for inducing improvements to prevent infection in the ward of existing medical facilities.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.22 no.4 s.28
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• pp.555-577
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• 1989

This study was conducted to compare the delivery management including laboratory tests, medication and surgical procedures for the delivery in various medical facilities. Two university hospitals, two general hospitals, three hospitals, two private obstetric clinics, and two midwifery clinics in a large city were selected as they permitted the investigators to abstract the required data from the medical and accounting records. The total number of deliveries occurred at these 11 facilities between 15 January and 15 February, 1989 was 789 among which 606(76.8%) were vaginal deliveries and 183 (23.3%) were C-sections. For the normal vaginal deliveries, CBC, Hb/Hct level, blood typing, VDRL, hepatitis B antigen and antibody, and urinalysis were routinely done except the private clinics and midwifery clinics which did not test for hepatitis B and Hb/Hct level at all. In one university hospital ultrasonography was performed in 71.4% of the mothers and in one general hospital liver function test was done in 76.7% of the mothers. For the C-section, chest X-ray, bleeding/clotting time and liver function test were routinely done in addition to the routine tests for the normal vaginal deliveries. Episiotomy was performed in 97.2% of the vaginal deliveries. The type and duration of fluid infused and antibiotics administered showed a wide variation among the medical facilities. In one university hospital antibiotics was not administered after C-section at all while in the general hospitals and hospitals one or two antibiotics were administered for one week on the average. In one private clinic one pint of whole blood was transfused routinely. A wide variation was observed among the medical facilities in the use of vitamin, hemostatics, oxytocics, antipyreptics, analgesics, anti-inflammatory agents. sedatives. digestives. stool softeners. antihistamines. and diuretics. Mean hospital day for the normal vaginal deliveries of primipara was 2.6 days with little variation except one hospital with 3.5 days. Mean hospital day for the C-section of primipara was 7.5 days and that of multipara was 7.6 days and it ranged between 6.5 days and 9.4 days. Average hospital fee for a normal vaginal delivery without the medical insurance coverage was 182,100 Won for the primipara and 167,300 Won for the multipara. In case of the primipara covered by the medical insurance a mother paid 82,400 Won and a multiparous mother paid 75,600 Won. Average hospital fee for a C-section without the medical insurance was 946,500 Won for the primipara and 753,800 Won for the multipara. In case of the primipara covered by the medical insurance a mother paid 256,200 Won and a multiparous mother paid 253,700 Won. Average hospital fee for a normal vaginal delivery in the university hospitals showed a remarkable difference, 268,000 Won vs 350,000 Won, as well as for the C-section. A wide variation in the laboratory tests performed for a normal vaginal delivery and a C-section as well as in the medication and hospital days brought about a big difference in the hospital fee and some hospitals were practicing the case payment system. Thus, standardization of the medical care to a certain level is warranted for the provision of adequate medical care for delivery.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.50-67
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• 2000

This study aims to estimate the consumption of antibiotics in Korea and to suggest the further studies. To measure the amount of antibiotics consumption, we referred to the statistic of NFHI(National Federation of Health Insurance) and a private institute of pharmaceutical information(Korea Intercontinental Medical Statistics; IMS Korea). There were 1,563 antibiotics produced in Korea in 1997. The total amount of antibiotics production was 1,197 billion won in 1997. Antibiotics accounted for 17.6% of the total pharmaceutical productions in 1997. Cephalosporins have taken the largest part of antibiotics production since 1992. The estimation using NFHI data showed that the total expenditure of antibiotics used in health facilities was 268 billion won, 608 billion won, 911 billion won in 1990, 1994, 1997 respectively. Tertiary hospitals spent 246 billion won, general hospitals 287 billion won, hospitals 78 billion won, clinics 300 billion won in 1997. The amount of expenditure and the intensity of antibiotics consumption in hospitals have increased more steeply than any other health facilities. The total expenditure of antibiotics consumption in health facilities and pharmacies was 778 billion won when estimated using the data from IMS Korea, and 999 billion won from NFHI. Cephalosporins was the fast growing antibiotics group in all of the market- hospitals, clinics, pharmacies since 1991. To measure the amount and patterns of antibiotics consumption more precisely, a pharmaceutical monitoring or surveillance system is needed.

• Journal of Local Government Studies
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.87-112
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• 2014

The entry of aging society and the coming of (super) aged society need overall the elderly welfare policy and budget for quantitative expansion and qualitative increase to the elderly welfare services. However, financial limit to the elderly welfare and increase to elderly welfare services in local government rely on central government or private sector. This study is discussed the gap between demands and supplies of the elderly welfare services in Busan Metropolitan City and policy implications suggested by these results. The major findings of the study are summarized as follows. First, the rate of the poor elderly under minimum living standard and the elderly housing facilities in demand of the elderly welfare services is reduced, but other measuring indicators are generally increased. Second, a per 10,000 elderly welfare service officials and a per 10,000 elderly medical welfare facilities in supply of the elderly welfare services are generally increased, but other measuring indicators are reduced. The policy implications of the study is to reduce the poor elderly under minimum living standard, to expend the elderly welfare budget, and adequately to supply a variety of the elderly welfare facilities for reduce demand of the elderly welfare services.

• Korean Security Journal
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• no.51
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• pp.275-290
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• 2017

Since the establishment of Security Business Act in 1976, the Korean private security industry has rapidly grown in the qualitative and quantitative aspects. In the circumstance, various roles of private security guards have been demanded. A private security guard as the first contactor of the users of multi-use facilities should first find an accident field situation and make a response when an accident occurs, and should give first aid as most as possible until emergency medical workers arrive. However, there is a lack of first-aid education for the private security guards who are responsible for the safety of facility users. Therefore, the purpose of this study is first to find how many times private security guards have job and first-aid education, and analyze how the education count influences their first-aid ability; secondly to analyze how private security guards' satisfaction with first-aid education influences their first-aid ability. To achieve the purpose, this researcher conducted a questionnaire survey on first-aid ability of the private security guards working in the metropolitan areas. For data analysis, Stata se/ 14.0ver was applied. For the analysis on validity and reliability, exploratory factor analysis was conducted and a Cronbach's a value was drawn. To find the actual conditions of first-aid education, frequency analysis, inter-group difference analysis, and multi-regression analysis were conducted. According to the data analysis, there were not enough times of job education and first-aid education for private security guards, and their satisfaction with first-aid education and first-aid ability were difference depending on the job and first-aid education counts. Also, their satisfaction with first-aid education partially influenced their first-aid ability.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.22-44
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• 2007

The objective of this study is to examine relevant factors of the service level of aged care facilities. The sample used in this study consisted of 357 aged care facilities in Korea. Data were collected with self-administered questionnaire and 140 returned questionnaire were analyzed by SPSS Version 12.0. The major findings of the study are as follows: First, there was no significant mean difference in the service level by the facility characteristics, except the length of operation. Second, it was found that both administrative characteristics and employer characteristics were positively associated with the level of nursing and supportive services. Third, the study results revealed that the following three variables of employee education and training, community networks, and employer's philosophy and management principles had significant positive effects on the level of nursing services. Meanwhile, the following two variables of employee education and training, and community networks had significant positive effects on the level of supportive services. In conclusion, in order to improve their service level, the managers of aged care facilities in Korea should make efforts to provide more employee education and training, establish networks with the community stakeholders, for example, local clinics and hospitals. It is also recommended for the government to make a policy inducing more qualified private investors to enter the aged care market, as well as to strengthen the qualification of the managers of the public aged care facilities.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.31-58
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• 1995

The Korean government achieved the universal coverage of health insurance in July 1989, and concomitantly introduced a new measure of regulated health care delivery system in using medical care. There are three reasons why the government took the new health care delivery system. Firstly, there was ample room for improving the allocative efficiency in the use of medical facilities. And the second one was to constrain the dramatic increase of medical demand under health insurance. Thirdly, and the most important reason was to alleviate the patient crowdedness in big general hospitals, particularly tertiary hospitals. There are essentially two different ways to control the use of health care : one is to cut the demand for health care, and the other to regulate behaviors of providers through the use of incentives/disincentives, demand-side approach or supply-side approach. The objective of this study is to examine whether or not medical care utilization behaviors under health insurance scheme have been changed among medical facilities such as clinic, hospital, general hospital and tertiary hospital in comparison with those before and after the introduction, particularly whether the patient crowdedness in tertiary hospitals has been alleviated or not. In order to conduct this study, the insurance claim data during the period of January 1989 and July 1992 were analyzed by focusing on diagnosis of both inpatients and outpatients, and especially the fifteen most frequent diseases in ambulatory care and the seven most frequent diseases in hospitalizatio. In addition, the same analyses were made on the changes in medical care utilization by specialty department. This was because the five departments, such as family medicine, ENT, eye, dermatology and rehabilitation, were exempted from applying the regulated health care delivery system in tertiary hospitals. The study revealed that a remarkable alleviation effect in the crowdness was noted for tertiary hospitals. This effect was most conspicuous for the most frequent mild diseases of both inpatient and outpatient care. For example, the fifteen most frequent OPD care at tertiary facilities have decreased as much as by 40%, of which 34% belonged to the cut in initial visits. Meanwhile, the proportion of those who used general hospitals and private practitioner's clinics have increased due to the shift of patients. The cases from the five special departments were also decreased, but not so much as other departments. A problem was noted that, as time passed by, the decreasing tendencies of crowdness at tertiary hospitals due to the regulated system became slightly smaller. Therefore, through complementary remedies are needed for the future implementation.