• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.37-51
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• 2023

Purposes: There exist many non-covered services that the National Health Insurance does not cover, and thus, their prices are set by individual health care providers. However, little study has been done to investigate how hospitals set prices for those services. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between ownership, profitability, and prices of those services for a sample of general hospitals. Methodology/Approach: Data regarding the prices of major non-covered services (e.g., upper-level hospital room fees, MRI, Da 7inci robot surgery, and LASIK) were obtained from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service and the financial information, as well as other characteristics, were derived from the financial reports from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and multiple linear regression analyses were used to test the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variables. Findings: Hospitals owned by private universities appeared to have higher prices for non-covered services while regional public hospitals tend to have lower prices. Profitability, measured by operating margin, was not significantly related to the prices. Hospitals that charge higher prices were more likely to be located in the capital area (Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi), and to employ larger number of personnel. Practical Implications: Public hospitals tend to charge lower prices for non-covered services. Relative market power appears to be related to pricing. Further research is needed to investigate whether such a relationship varies over time and its effects on the quality and access.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.9 no.11
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• pp.55-61
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• 2019

This study was conducted to identify the predictors of the choice of regional small and medium hospitals by identifying the job preference, recognition of small and medium hospitals. For this purpose, data were collected from September 2018 to October 2018 for nursing students attending 4 universities in Gwangju and Jeollanam - do, and total of 476 questionnaires were analyzed using the SPSS / WIN 24.0 program. The results showed that 66.0% of nursing students selected region local small and medium hospitals. The factors influencing the choice of region small and medium hospitals were high school region, nursing school performance and recognition of small and medium hospitals. In order to increase the employment rate of nursing students to the region small and medium hospitals, nursing educators should provide personalized career guidance to students who want to work in small and medium hospitals and hospital personnel should establish various public relations activities and marketing strategies to raise recognition of small and medium hospitals.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.121-129
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• 2017

The study is to identify the status of the ward of public hospital for integrated nursing care service. Integrated nursing service has expanded nationwide from 2016 but 10 out of 34 public hospitals are currently unable to operate as nurses due to the shortage. Analyze each floor plan and space program of ward and provide the basic data for the construction of the architecture plans for Integrated nursing care service. For this study, selecting 14 wards of public hospital in Korea and then analyzes space organization, distance from NS to bedroom and NS to core(Elevator) and spatial hierarchy of them. Among the 14 public hospitals, there are 7 types of double-loaded corridor, 4 types of double corridor and 3 types of single corridor. If NS is placed centrally, the control of the outsider and the patient's control would be efficient, but most of NS are lean on one side of floor. the placement of NS should be independent of individual arrangements, but it should be smooth alignment with patient spaces, staff spaces, and public spaces. This study could serve as basic research for the architectural plan for future integrated nursing care in ward of public hospital.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.53-63
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• 2021

Purpose: Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is an important field of inpatient treatment, in which critically ill patients have been treated intensively with advanced medical technology. The level of treatment in the intensive care unit and the modernization of related facilities are important indicators of the quality of medical care. At present, when regional public hospitals are expanding frequently, reasonable planning of ICU has become an important part of medical institutions that treat ICU. The purpose of this study is to provide basic data on the net area of each unit, which can be used in ICU building planning. Methods: The investigation and analysis of the ICU were conducted in 12 medical institutions, based on theoretical analysis based on relevant guidelines and literature, and analysis of actual space composition and net area through architectural drawings. Results: This research provides basic data, such as the location relationship with other important departments, regional division, spatial composition, the relationship between main activities and regions, the composition of facilities in the region, and the area and proportions of each region. Implications: It is expected that the results of this article will provide effective reference materials for the reasonable spatial organization and effective operation of the intensive care units of ordinary public hospitals of different sizes in the future.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.4641-4650
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• 2015

This study aims to further strengthen the medical expertise to offer specialized medical care specialization strategies to gain a competitive edge through the customer segmentation of the Regional Public Hospital. Investigation period was selected to study the inpatients 26,658 people January to December 2013. The method of analysis are Cluster analysis and Decision Tree Analysis. In conclusion, female, age over 60, and diseases in musculoskeletal system and connective tissue were commonly selected as identifiers of the target market of Regional Public Hospital. Customers in this target market are loyal to specialized medical service and keeping continuous relationship with these customers through communication and monitoring of results of provided medical service would be important because the effect of word of mouth propagated to other group of customers having equivalent scale of consumption is expected. And the concentration of the scope of medical service of Regional Public Hospital and the collaboration and mutual reliance of medical service under the strategic alliance with other institutions and private hospitals are also needed.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.25 no.4 s.40
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• pp.399-412
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• 1992

This study was designed to investigate factors relating to fiscal deficit for regional health insurance. The financial statements for the fiscal year 1990 of nationwide 254 regional medical insurance societies were analyzed. Important findings are summarized below: 1. There were differences in the main reason fur the financial deficit among regions when deficit and surplus societies were compared by regions. The total revenue per enrollee, especially revenue from the premium contribution of a deficit society was significantly smaller than that of a surplus society in large cities and counties. On the other hand, the total expenditure per enrollee of a deficit society was larger than that of a surplus society in small cities. 2. Both low premium rate at the beginning of health insurance program and less effort to increase the premium rate were main factors for the smaller revenue from the contribution of a deficit society in large cities and counties. 3. Larger expenditures per covered person of a deficit society in small cities were explained with larger medical expenditures especially for out-patients services rather than larger administrative expenses. 4. A regression analysis showed that utilization rates in out-patient services were significantly associated with income and numbers of total medical care institution per capita within a region where a health insurance society located. Also expenses paid by insurer per visit were associated with the proportion of utilization for tertiary care hospitals as well as the proportion of utilization of public health centers.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.85-108
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• 2012

One of the ways to achieve the principle of equal access for equal needs, availability and geographical accessibility of health care resources regardless of resident sites is important. The purpose of this paper is to measure socioeconomic inequities in distribution of health care resources among regions in the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea). Data were extracted from regional statistics of National Health Insurance, Community Health Survey, Korea Social Science Data Archive, and Korean Statistical Information Services at the same period of 2009. The dependent variables were the number of health workforce and health care facilities in each region. The proxy indicator of regional socioeconomic status was local tax per person. To identify whether inequalities among regions, we examined the concentration index(CI) and indirectly standardized CI by controlling each region's demographics and need factors. Total observations were 232 districts in nationwide, and we analyzed separately Seoul(25 districts) and non-Seoul areas(207 districts). The standardized CI values of health care resources were positive(favoring the rich region) across the nation in almost all kinds of resources. Especially the number of specialist, dentist, dental clinics, clinics, oriental medical clinics, pharmacists, and pharmacies were statistically significantly favoring the rich region. But the CI for the number of long-term care hospitals, public health centers were negative(favoring the poor region). The tendency of CI presenting positive values were increased in Seoul area. But in the case of non-Seoul, the CI indexes were nearly zero. The results suggest that except the Seoul area, little regional socioeconomic-related inequalities were observed in the distribution of health care resources in Korea.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.81-96
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• 2009

The expansion of long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) is expected to contribute to meeting the long-term care needs of the elderly with chronic diseases in a rapidly aging society. It is also expected to increase efficiency of health resource use and decrease elderly health expenditures by transferring patients from acute care hospitals (ACHs) to LTCHs. This study aimed to empirically examine how the expansion of LTCHs had influences on the length of hospitalization of the elderly in ACHs. Panel regression analysis was employed as an analytic tool using data of the National Health Insurance and the National Statistical Office from 2002 to 2006. The expansion of LTCHs was measured as location quotient (LQ) of LTCHs, denoting the share of LTCHs in a large city or province relative to the share of LTCHs at the national level. In addition, per capita GRDP (gross regional domestic product) and the proportion of population over 65 were included as control variables. The main findings are as follows. First, it was observed that LQ of LTCHs showed a statistically significant negative association with the length of hospitalization of the elderly in ACHs. Second, the negative correlation was evident among general hospitals with over 100 beds while it was not among hospitals with less than 100 beds. Third, LQ of LTCHs had more influences among the elderly over 85. In conclusion, the expansion of LTCHs seems to contribute to decrease in the inpatient cost of the elderly in ACHs and to increase efficiency in the utilization of health resources.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.260-268
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• 2024

Objectives: Regional disparities in cardiovascular care in Korea have led to uneven patient outcomes. Despite the growing need for and access to procedures, few studies have linked regional service availability to mortality rates. This study analyzed regional variation in the utilization of major cardiovascular procedures and their associations with short-term mortality to provide better evidence regarding the relationship between healthcare resource distribution and patient survival. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using nationwide claims data for patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), stent insertion, or aortic aneurysm resection in 2022. Regional variation was assessed by the relevance index (RI). The associations between the regional RI and 30-day mortality were analyzed. Results: The RI was lowest for aortic aneurysm resection (mean, 26.2; standard deviation, 26.1), indicating the most uneven regional distribution among the surgical procedures. Patients undergoing this procedure in regions with higher RIs showed significantly lower 30-day mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.73; 95% confidence interval, 0.55 to 0.96; p=0.026) versus those with lower RIs. This suggests that cardiovascular surgery regional availability, as measured by RI, has an impact on mortality rates for certain complex surgical procedures. The RI was not associated with significant mortality differences for more widely available procedures like CABG (aOR, 0.96), PCI (aOR, 1.00), or stent insertion (aOR, 0.91). Conclusions: Significant regional variation and underutilization of cardiovascular surgery were found, with reduced access linked to worse mortality for complex procedures. Disparities should be addressed through collaboration among hospitals and policy efforts to improve outcomes.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.283-293
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• 2017

Objectives: The objective of the present study was to compare prognosis of patients with gastric or colorectal cancer according to places where they received surgeries. Methods: The cancer patients underwent surgeries in sampled hospitals located in Daegu were matched 1:1 to the patients who visited sampled hospitals in Seoul using propensity score method. After the occurrences of death were examined, Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis and the log-rank test was performed to compare the survival curves. Results: A total of six out of 291 gastric cancer patients who had surgeries in Daegu died (2.1%) and ten deaths (3.4%) occurred from patients went Seoul hospitals. Out of 84 gastric cancer patients who had chemotherapy after surgeries in Daegu, 13 (15.5%) patients died while 18 (21.4%) deaths occurred among patients underwent surgeries in Seoul. Six deaths (6.9%) out of 87 colorectal cancer patients who had surgeries in Daegu were reported. Five patients (5.7%) died among the patients underwent surgeries in Seoul. Among the colorectal cancer patients with chemotherapy after surgeries, 13 patients (12.4%) who visited hospitals in Daegu and 14 (13.3%) patients who used medical centers in Seoul died. There were no significant differences according to places where patients used medical services. Conclusions: The result of this study is expected to be used as basic data for policy making to resolve centralization problem of cancer patients and to help patients to make rational choices in selection of medical centers.