• Health Policy and Management
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.43-75
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• 2002

This study focuses on the factors that make the financial structure of hospitals in Korea different, and on recommended courses of action that could be very helpful to hospitals in maintaining a sound financial structure. Data used in this study were collected from 132 hospitals with complete general data of present conditions as well as financial statements. They were chosen from the 174 hospitals that passed the standardization audit undertaken by the Korean Hospital Association from 1996 to 2000 for the purpose of accrediting training hospitals. The dependent variable in this study is financial structure. It consists of liabilities as against total assets (total liabilities to total assets, short-term liabilities to total assets, long-term liabilities to total assets, short-term borrowings to total assets, long-term borrowings to total assets). The independent variables are ownership type, hospital type, location, whether or not a representative is a director of the hospital, the possibility of changing a hospital director, bed size, period of establishment, asset structure, profitability, growth, tax shields, business risk, competition. The factors that appear to have the strongest impact on the liabilities to total assets of all the hospitals sampled are ownership type, hospital type, profitability, tax shields, and business risk. It was found that not-for-profit private hospitals and for-profit private hospitals have more liabilities than public hospitals, and tertiary medical institutions have less liabilities than the secondary general hospitals. Moreover, hospitals earning more at the expense of high business risk have a distinct tendency to lower liabilities. Concerning the current ratio, it was found that factors such as ownership type, hospital type, period of establishment, asset structure, and business risk are the more significant variables. The current ratio of public hospitals is higher than that of both not-for-profit private hospitals and for-profit private hospitals, and the current ratio of tertiary medical institutions is higher than that of general hospitals. As business risk is higher in hospitals compared to other businesses, the current ratio becomes higher; this is because it is assumed that for fear of bankruptcy, hospitals lessen liabilities to total assets. On the other hand, as hospitals become older, the fixed assets to total assets become lower. It is remarkable that in hospitals, the factors affecting liabilities to total assets have an opposite regression coefficient sign against factors affecting current ratio. It brings out the same results borne out by the old financial theories and researches, in which a lot of the liabilities of hospitals are considered as the cause of worsening liquidity. Therefore, it is very important for hospitals to maintain a sound financial structure in order to survive using the rational acquisition and maintenance of capital.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.118-138
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• 1999

This study presents the variations on drug utilization for outpatients' URI, gastritis. and hypertension by the type of hospital- tertiary hospital. general hospital. hospital. clinic. It investigated drug expenses. daily drug expenses. days of medication. the highest price of the drugs used. and the number of the different drugs used for each disease and type of hospital. This study also performed analysis to see how much the variations of variables related to drug use affect the variations of drug expenses. The dependent variable was drug expenses and the independent variables were days of medication. the average price of the drugs used. and the number of the different drugs used. Analysis of the drug utilization was performed on NFMI(National Federation of Medical Insurance) 1994 medical expense claim data. Patients with secondary diseases were excluded. In this study. 379 patients with URI, 386 patients with gastritis. 1.257 patients with hypertension were included. It was founded that there were large variation on drug utilization between the types of hospital for same diseases. Days of medication were longest in tertiary hospitals and shortest in hospitals or clinics. Clinics showed the lowest daily drug expenses in all of the diseases investigated. Daily drug expenses were highest in general hospitals or hospitals. which also tended to use drugs of higher price than other types of hospital. General hospitals and hospitals had larger variations in daily drug expenses and the highest price of drugs. It suggested that drug might be utilized overly in general hospitals and hospitals and some other factors might influence on drug utilization in these hospitals. It was found that the variations of drug expenses were affected by the variations of drug price and days of medication rather than the number of the different drugs. Then the strategy to reduce the variations of drug utilization and to improve the quality of drug utilization should focus on the drug price and days of medication. Further study is needed to assess the quality as well as the variation of drug utilization and to show the factors which affect them.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.203-213
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• 2024

Backgrounds/Aims: The standard treatment for acute cholecystitis, biliary pancreatitis and intractable biliary colics ("hot gallbladder") is emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). This paper aims to identify the prognostic factors and create statistical models to predict the outcomes of emergency LC for "hot gallbladder." Methods: A prospective observational cohort study was conducted on 466 patients having an emergency LC in 17 months. Primary endpoint was "suboptimal treatment," defined as the use of escape strategies due to the impossibility to complete the LC. Secondary endpoints were postoperative morbidity and length of postoperative stay. Results: About 10% of patients had a "suboptimal treatment" predicted by age and low albumin. Postop morbidity was 17.2%, predicted by age, admission day, and male sex. Postoperative length of stay was correlated to age, low albumin, and delayed surgery. Conclusions: Several predictive prognostic factors were found to be related to poor emergency LC outcomes. These can be useful in the decision-making process and to inform patients of risks and benefits of an emergency vs. delayed LC for hot gallbladder.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2016

Objectives : This study applied the research model of Bontis (1998), which has been used to investigate everything from business corporations to hospitals in Korea, examined its generalizability and attempted to verify which factors of the intellectual capital affects organizational performance, represented by indicators for the clinical and financial performance of hospitals. Methods : Primary data for the study were collected from 91 general hospitals through self-administered questionnaires, and secondary data on clinical and financial performance of hospitals were collected form existing statistics. Collected data were analyzed with SPSS 11.5 (ver.) and AMOS 18.0 (ver.). Results : It was found that only human capital and customer capital had indirect effects on hospital performance. It was also revealed that structural capital had a direct effect on clinical performance, and an indirect effect on financial performance. Conclusions : This result means that there is a need to individually consider both the clinical performance and financial performance when measuring the organizational performance of a hospital, and it also shows that positive improvement in the clinical performance can contribute to the improvement of the financial performance through this process.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2020

Objectives: This study investigated the financial performance of Korean Medicine hospitals in Korea in order to understand the current status of hospital management and improve its efficiency. Methods: Financial statements of 24 medical corporations, 19 juridical foundations and 18 school hospitals from 2016 to 2018 were obtained from the secondary data published by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the National Tax Service and the Korea Advancing Schools Foundation. Financial performance was measured on 6 dimensions: liquidity, profitability, activity, growth, cost and productivity (investment efficiency) by analyzing 8 financial indicators: Liability to Total Assets, Net Profit to Patient Service Revenues, Total Assets Turnover, Growth Rate of Patient Service Revenues, Operating Expenses to Patient Service Revenues, Value Added to Patient Service Revenues, Value Added to Total Assets, and Value Added to Personnel Expenses. Results: Korean Medicine hospitals showed lower Liability to Total Assets, Liquidity and Value Added to Total Assets than Western Medicine hospitals did. They also showed higher Value Added to Patient Service Revenues and Value Added to Personnel Expenses than Western Medicine hospitals did. They also showed higher Value Added to Patient Service Revenues and Value Added to Personnel Expenses than those of Western Medicine hospitals do. The net profit decreased significantly (-50.8%) in 2018 whereas Patient Service Revenues increased (6.9%) for the same period due to Operating Expenses increase and Non-Operating loss. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the Korean Medicine hospital sector in Korea needs to improve liquidity and financial structure and to enhance profitability by reducing Personnel Expenses and generating Non-operating revenues in order to improve its investment efficiency and competitiveness.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.470-477
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• 2010

The purposes of this study were to identify the evaluation categories, areas, attributes of the hospital food service and to define the relative importance of the evaluation categories, areas, attributes of the hospital food service using analytic hierarchy process. A survey was conducted from January 8th to 25th in 2007. Questionnaires were mailed to the 310 directors of dietetic departments of hospitals that included 160 primary hospitals, 107 secondary hospitals, and 43 tertiary hospitals. The result of the analytic hierarchy process indicated that relative importance of evaluation category was 0.5259 for food service management and 0.3407 for nutrition care. The food service management consisted of four subcategories, which are equipment standard, sanitation, production, and delivery service. Sanitation(relative importance: 0.2652) was the most important area among the subcategories and it was followed by equipment standard(0.2067), delivery service(0.1864) and production(0.1848). The nutrition care has two subcategories, menu management and meal management. The relative importance of menu management(0.4174) was higher than that of meal management(0.3555). The quality of food service and nutrition care to inpatients can be improved by the evaluation system based on appropriate applications of the developed evaluation indicators for hospital food service systems.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.385-399
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• 2005

Objective: The objective was to extract a preliminary performance measurement indicators of nursing organizations in hospitals using the BSC(Balanced Score Card) developed by Kaplan and Norton, and to analyze the content validity and evaluation methods of the performance measurement indicators with actual nurses in the nursing organization as participants in the study. Methods: The preliminary performance measurement indicators was created through a literature review and had the content validity by a professional. This survey was sent via post to 316 nurse managers and nurses with more than 5 years of experience in seven secondary and tertiary hospitals in the Seoul Gyonggi district. The completed questionnaires were returned by mail. Results: Fourteen indicators for finances, 16 for customer services, 27 for internal business processes, and 13 for learning and growth were selected. Conclusion: Amidst a rapidly changing medical environment, a first step was taken towards developing a performance measurement from various perspectives for nursing organizations in hospitals from various perspectives, rather than just one or a past-oriented perspective. However, as the most important thing is to actually use these indicators, continuous interest in publicity and education must be developed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.151-165
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• 1997

A cost analysis for hospitalized patients was performed based on the KDRG classification in order to determine an appropriate nursing fee under the PPS(Prospective Payment System). The data was collected from 20 nursing units of three tertiary hospitals and two secondary hospitals from August 26 to September 15, 1996. The study consisted of 148 inpatients diagnosed for lens procedures(KDRG 03900), tonsillectomy &/or adenoidectomy(KDRG 16100), Cesarean section(KDRG 37000), or vaginal delivery(KDRG 37300) without any complications. The direct or indirect nursing hours of each patients were measured. Then, direct or indirect nursing expenditures of four nursing units, operating room and delivery room were computed. Finally, the resources used including average total nursing hours, average length of stay and average nursing cost of each KDRG were estimated as follows; 1) The average total nursing hours were 640 minutes for lens procedures, 403 minutes for tonsillectomy &/or adenoidectomy, 934 minutes for appendectomy with complicated principal diagnosis, 1,094 minutes for Cesarean section and 631 minutes for vaginal delivery. Significant differences were found in average total nursing hours among hospitals. 2) The average length of stay in lens procedures were 5 days, 4 days for tonsillectomy &/or adenoidectomy, 6 days for appendectomy with complicated principal diagnosis, 8 days for Cesarean section and 3 days for vaginal delivery. All results were within normal determined by the Ministry of Health and Welfare although significant differences existed among hospitals, especially with average length of stay for leng procedures between tertiary hospitals and secondary hospitals which was greater than for those of others. 3) The average nursing cost were 87,146 Won for lens procedures, 69,600 Won for tonsillectomy &/or adenoidectomy, 128,337 Won for appendectomy with complicated principal diagnosis, 151,769 Won for Cesarean section and 85,403 Won for vaginal delivery. These costs were 7.6%, 13.0%, 13.0%, 16.0% and 22.0%, respectively, of the official price fixed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare under the prospective payment system. Research for the analysis of nursing costs according to the severity of illness for those KDRGs shoud be carried out within the period of the PPS pilot project. In addition, a proper nursing fee schedule for a new reimbursement system based upon the result of the above research should be prepared in the near future.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 2021

Purpose: To evaluate and analyze the adequacy of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)s taken before publication of the 2018 recommendation in South Korea. Materials and Methods: We enrolled 87 cases of breast MRIs, from January 2010 to November 2013, taken at external hospitals in the study. Breast MRI protocol elements are divided into three categories based on the recommendation by the Breast Imaging Study Group of the Korean Society of Magnetic Resonance: (1) Essential elements for breast MRI protocol; (2) Element to consider when evaluating imaging quality; and (3) Optional element for breast MRI protocol. Also, we divided enrolled cases into three groups based on their conducting locations -- (1) Primary hospitals, (2) Secondary hospitals, and (3) Tertiary hospitals-and analyzed them for the adequacy of imaging protocols based on the 2018 recommendation. We used a Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test to identify differences between categorical variables. Results: Over 98% of the criteria for 'essential elements for breast MRI protocol' were satisfied when compared with the 2018 Recommendation. Over 96% of the criteria for 'elements to consider when evaluating imaging quality' were also satisfied, except for the slice thickness (83.9%). Optional elements for breast MRI protocol were satisfied with various percentages. There were no statistically significant differences between groups of tertiary, secondary, and primary hospitals; however, 3 tesla of MRI (P = 0.04), subtraction image protocol (P = 0.032), and DWI protocol (P = 0.03) were used more frequently in the tertiary hospitals than in the others. Conclusion: We found that the categories of 'essential elements' and 'elements to consider when evaluating imaging quality' were satisfied at 98% and 96%, respectively, when compared with the 2018 Recommendation by the Breast Imaging Study Group of the Korean Society of Magnetic Resonance.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.11-30
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to lay groundwork for future research on the outcomes of national quality awards for secondary-care healthcare organizations. Methods: For this study, a secondary-care hospital was selected through a convenience sampling method and all of its organizational members participated in complete enumeration survey using 109 survey questions derived from the MBNQA criteria for healthcare through structural equation modeling (SEM) Results: As a result, Leadership was shown to drive Foundation and Direction, which affect System that creates Results with 12 hypotheses supported out of 18 hypotheses established. Conclusion: The findings of this study will provide valuable implications to the top management of secondary-care hospitals for self-examining quality management and promoting sustainable competitiveness.