• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.57-66
• /
• 2015

Objective : Private health insurance coverage in Korean medicine has been reduced since October 2009 for preventing unnecessary utilization. The aim of this study is to identify how private health insurance coverage reduction affects on the Korean medicine utilization. Method : We analyzed the Korea Health Panel data from 2008 to 2012. Panel negative binominal regression model was used to analyze the relationship between private health insurance coverage reduction and utilization of outpatient service. Panel tobit regression analysis was used to identify the relationship between private health insurance coverage reduction and health expenditure of outpatient service. Results : Private health insurance coverage reduction significantly dropped both utilization and health expenditure of outpatient service by 9%, 9.22% respectively. In addition, therapeutic utilization significantly decreased up to 10%. Conclusion : Private health insurance coverage reduction seems to have an effect to reduce both utilization and the health expenditure of Korean medicine outpatient service. This effect was more noticeable in the therapeutic utilization. Thus, more elaborate policy will be needed to prevent unnecessary utilization of Korean medicine.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.46-75
• /
• 2008

Main objective of this study is to investigate the factors that affect the reduction and recovery rate of hospital health insurance review departments of Korean tertiary hospitals, general hospitals and hospitals. A nationwide mail survey was conducted through structured questionnaire for chiefs and members of health insurance review departments of 178 hospitals, and data from 1,064 respondents were utilized in the final analysis. Major findings are as follows: 1) Monthly average reduction rate of surveyed hospitals was 1.18% for inpatients and 0.56% for outpatients. Also, average recovery rates from protests were 45.7% and 53.6%, respectively. 2) Average ages of health insurance review department employees were 41.5 for chiefs and 34.9 for members, and their average working period was 6.64 years. 69.1% of the respondents felt stress in their jobs, and they suggested 'communication problems with doctors' along with 'heavy workloads' as major reasons for the stress. 3) Reduction rates decreased and recovery rates increased when separate member in charge was assigned to each medical department, when health insurance review departments periodically provided medical parts with related education, and when the members participated in various committees.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.226-235
• /
• 2003

Under the present occupational therapy 6 items of overall coverage objects of health insurance are being applied and among them, only 3 items including the simple therapy, complex therapy, and special therapy can be demanded in the hospital. The treatment for Activities of Daily Living(ADL), Oral Motor Exercise and Functional Electrical Stimulation(FES) is exempted from an issue of reduction object, because it was covered 100% by the person himself. The reason why there are a lot of reduction factors is attributed mainly to vagueness of criteria and lack of exact understanding between therapists of insurance-applied hospitals. The reduction factors are characterized to confine them to only special treatment which demands the highest insurance cost claimed and to be applied without consideration of treatment times or days of hospital treatment. Moreover, the 56.38%, rate of reduction results from its uniform application based on willful convenience of health insurance not on embodiment of criteria or characteristics of various type of patients.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.138-144
• /
• 2018

Background: Diagnostic imaging fee had been reduced in May 2011, but it was recovered after 6 months because of strong opposition of medical providers. This study aimed to analyze the behavior of medical providers according to fee changes. Methods: The National Health Insurance claims data between November 2010 and December 2012 were used. The number of exams per computed tomography was analyzed to verify that the fee changes increased or decreased the number of exams. Multivariate regression model were applied. Results: The monthly number of exams increased by 92.5% after fee reduction, so the diagnostic imaging spending were remained before it. But medical provider decreased the number of exams after fee return. After adjusting characteristic of hospitals, fee reduction increased the monthly number of exams by 48.0% in a regression model. Regardless type of hospitals and severity of disease, the monthly number of exams increased during period of fee reduction. The number of exams in large-scaled hospitals (tertiary and general hospital) were increased more than those of small-scaled hospitals. Conclusion: Fee-reduction increased unnecessary diagnostic exams under the fee-for-service system. It is needed to define appropriate exam and change reimbursement system on the basis of guideline.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.43 no.5
• /
• pp.343-351
• /
• 2020

This study analyzed dose reduction and quality of images through dose reduction tools and shielding board to protect sensitive eye lens in radiation during orbit CT examinations for clinical data use. During CT scans of the phantom, surface dose (CT scanner dosimetry phantom, ion chamber-3 times) and quality of image (radiosurgery head phantom, visual assessment-2 times, HU standard deviation) were evaluated using X-care which is dose reduction tools and bismuth shielding board. The results of experiments of eight conditions showed a relatively reduced dose in all other conditions compared to when no conditions were set. In particular, the area corresponding to the ophthalmic part reduced the surface dose by up to 45.7 %. The visual evaluation of images by specialists and the quality evaluation of images analyzed by HU standard deviation were clinically closest to the use of X-care and shielding board (1 cm in height). Therefore, it is believed that the use of shielding board in a suitable location with dose reduction tools while investigating the optimal radiation dose will reduce the exposure dose of sensitive lens at radiation while maintaining the quality of the images with high diagnostic value.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 2021

Purpose: This study aims to examine the effect of the copayment reduction policy on the health care utilization of patients under age 15 after the policy started in 2017. (이하는 아래 methodoloty로 이동) Methodology: Data on the ALOS, the average admission cost, and the out-of-pocket expenditure for patients under 15 years of age from 2015 to 2019 were obtained from the National Health Insurance database. Policy effects were measured by analyzing three dependent variables before and after policy: the average length of stay (ALOS), the average admission cost, and the out-of-pocket expenditure for patients under 15 years of age. The collected data were analyzed using the SAS package, and the analysis methods used in this study were the mean difference test and linear regression analysis. Findings: The study results reveal that, after the copayment reduction policy in the year 2017, the ALOS and the out-of-pocket expenditure were significantly decreased, but the average admission cost was significantly increased. Practical Implications: These results imply that the policy of copayment reduction for the patients under the age of 15 has contributed to mitigating the patients' financial burden with little concern about growing medical utilization.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.254-259
• /
• 2021

Background: Prophylactic antibiotics are commonly used in craniofacial surgeries. Despite the low risk of surgical site infection after nasal surgery, a lack of consensus regarding the use of antibiotic prophylaxis in the closed reduction of nasal bone fractures has led to inappropriate prescribing patterns. Through this study, we aimed to investigate the status of prophylactic antibiotic use in closed reductions of nasal bone fractures in Korea. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted using data from the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort of Korea from 2005 to 2015. We analyzed the medical records of patients who underwent closed reduction of nasal bone fractures. The sex, age, region of residence, comorbidities, and socioeconomic variables of the patients were collected from the database. Factors that affect the prescription of perioperative antibiotics were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 3,678 patients (mean±standard deviation of age, 28.7±14.9 years; 2,850 men [77.5%]; 828 women [22.5%]) were included in this study. The rate of antibiotic prescription during the perioperative period was 51.4%. Approximately 68.8% of prescriptions were written for patients who had received general anesthesia. The odds of perioperative prophylactic antibiotic use were significantly higher in patients who received general anesthesia than who received local anesthesia (odds ratio, 1.59). No difference was found in terms of patient age and physician specialty. Second-generation cephalosporins were the most commonly prescribed antibiotic (45.3%), followed by third- and first-generation cephalosporins (20.3% and 18.8%, respectively). In contrast, lincomycin derivatives and aminoglycosides were not prescribed. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that there was a wide variety of perioperative antibiotic prescription patterns used in nasal bone surgeries. Evidence-based guidance regarding the prescribing of antimicrobial agents for the closed reduction of nasal bone fractures should be considered in future research.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.341-351
• /
• 2010

The purpose of this study was to estimate the socioeconomic costs resulting from alcohol drinking among adolescents as of 2006 from a societal perspective. Methods: The costs were classified into direct costs, indirect costs, and other costs. The direct costs consisted of direct medical costs and direct non-medical costs. The indirect costs were computed by future income losses from premature death, productivity losses from using medical services and reduction of productivity from drinking and hangover. The other costs consisted of property damage, public administrative expenses, and traffic accident compensation. Results: The socioeconomic costs of alcohol drinking among adolescents as of 2006 were estimated to be 387.5 billion won (0.05% of GDP). In the case of the former, the amount included 48.25% for reduction of productivity from drinking and hangover, 39.38% for future income losses from premature death, and 6.71% for hangover costs. Conclusions: The results showed that the socioeconomic costs of alcohol drinking among adolescents in Korea were a serious as compared with that of the United States. Therefore, the active interventions such as a surveillance system and a prevention program to control adolescents drinking by government and preventive medicine specialist are needed.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.319-323
• /
• 2021

Background: Prophylactic antibiotics are used to prevent surgical wound infection; however, proper indications must be followed with careful consideration of the risks and benefits, especially in clean or clean-contaminated wounds. Nasal bone fractures are the most common type of facial bone fracture. The most common method for treating nasal bone fracture is closed reduction, which is performed inside the nasal cavity without an incision. The purpose of this study was to determine the need for antibiotic use in the closed reduction of nasal bone fractures. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using data from the National Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital of the Republic of Korea between 2016 and 2018. The records of patients who underwent closed reduction of nasal bone fracture were reviewed and classified according to sex, age, comorbidities, perioperative antibiotic usage, postoperative complications, nasal packing, anesthesia type, surgeon's specialty, and operation time. Results: Among the 373 patients studied, the antibiotic prescription rate was 67.3%. Just 0.8% of patients were prescribed preoperative antibiotics only, 44.0% were prescribed postoperative antibiotics only, and 22.5% were prescribed both preoperative and postoperative antibiotics. There were no cases that satisfied the definition of "surgical site infection." Furthermore, 2.1% of infection-related complications (e.g., mucosal swelling, synechia, and anosmia) occurred only in the antibiotic usage group. The use of nasal packing, anesthesia type, and surgeon's specialty did not show any difference in infection-related complication rates. Conclusion: According to the study findings, the routine use of perioperative antibiotics is not recommended in uncomplicated nasal bone fracture surgery.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.30
• /
• pp.12.1-12.7
• /
• 2015

Objectives In South Korea, health insurance data are used as material for the health insurance of national whole subject. In general, health insurance data could be useful for estimating prevalence or incidence rate that is representative of the actual value in a population. The purpose of this study was to apply the concept of episode of care (EoC) in the utilization of health insurance data in the field of environmental epidemiology and to propose an improved methodology through an uncertainty assessment of disease course and outcome. Methods In this study, we introduced the concept of EoC as a methodology to utilize health insurance data in the field of environmental epidemiology. The characterization analysis of the course and outcome of applying the EoC concept to health insurance data was performed through an uncertainty assessment. Results The EoC concept in this study was applied to heat stroke (International Classification of Disease, 10th revision, code T67). In the comparison of results between before and after applying the EoC concept, we observed a reduction in the deviation of daily claims after applying the EoC concept. After that, we categorized context, model, and input uncertainty and characterized these uncertainties in three dimensions by using uncertainty typology. Conclusions This study is the first to show the process of constructing episode data for environmental epidemiological studies by using health insurance data. Our results will help in obtaining representative results for the processing of health insurance data in environmental epidemiological research. Furthermore, these results could be used in the processing of health insurance data in the future.