• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.62-71
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• 2020

Background: The purpose of this study is to analyze the current status and factors of elderly patients' hospitalization for hip replacement, knee replacement, and general spine surgery. Methods: National health insurance data in 2018 was provided by the National Health Insurance Service. We used multiple regression to analyze factors associated with the medical utilization of hip replacement, knee replacement, and general spine surgery in elderly patients over 65 years old. The dependent variables are the length of stay and total health expenditure. The independent variables are the demographic-social factors (sex, age, region, insurance type, income level) and surgery-related factors (institution type, location of the hospital, surgery classification). Results: The most common factor affecting surgery was the location of medical institutions. Compared with the medical institutions located in metropolitan, the length of stay in rural medical institutions was higher and total health expenditure was lower. The lower quartile of income, the higher the length of stay and total health expenditure. In addition, the variables of age, type of health insurance, and type of medical institution were statistically significant. Conclusion: In this study, we confirmed the effect of sociodemographic factors and medical institution factors on the Healthcare Utilization of spinal and joint surgery.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.132-144
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• 2013

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the medical expense change and influencing factors after introducing longterm care insurance system. The study period was 2 years before and after introduction of the system. Methods: We analyzed data collected from two divided group lived in Incheon. Four hundred and eighty-five elderly who received long-term care wage for one year were selected for experimental group. For control group, 1,940 elderly were selected by gender and age stratified random sampling. Difference-In-difference analyses was used for evaluating policy effectiveness. Also multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify the factors associated with total medical expenditures. The control variables were demographic variables, economic status, diseases, and medical examination variables. Results: Difference-in-difference analyses showed that total average medical expenses among long-term patients has decreased by 61.85%. Of these, the hospitalization expenses have decreased by 91.63% and the drug expenses have increased by 31.85%. Multiple regression analyses results showed that total average medical expenses among long-term patients have significantly decreased by 46.5% after introducing the long-term care insurance. The hospitalization expenses have significantly decreased by 148.5%, whereas the drug expenses have increased by 53.6%. And outpatient expenses have increased by 10.4%, but the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results showed that total medical expenses and hospitalization expenses have decreased after introducing the long-term care insurance. These results could support the opinion that the health insurance spending among long-term patients will be reduced gradually by long-term care insurance through changing medical demand.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.101-109
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• 2009

Objectives : This study aimed to investigate the present status of physical therapies provided in the Korean medicine clinics, and to find out the priorities among and the estimated fees of physical therapies for the National Health Insurance plan. Methods : We administered nationwide survey to Korean medicine doctors using the on-line survey system. 16 physical therapies were listed in the Web-based questionnaires, and responders were asked to mark the therapies they used for their patients, and, for each therapy they marked, to fill in the form including the frequencies of service, service fees, target diseases, and priorities for health insurance coverage, etc. Results : Of 488 respondents, 93.7% provide more than one physical therapy for their patients, and each responder uses 5.9 physical therapies on average. 60-90% of physical therapies are being given to patients for free because they are not covered by the National Health Insurance. There is little evidence that the specialties of Korean medicine doctors are related with the use of physical therapies, but, in some therapies, the doctors with longer career years use the physical therapy more frequently. Most physical therapies are applied to the patients with musculoskeletal diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and nervous diseases, etc. Conclusions : Physical therapies are widely used among Korean medicine doctors without proper compensation. This could be the one of the main factors distorting the profit structure of Korean medicine clinics, and it encourages the National Health Insurance to cover physical therapies provided in the Korean medicine clinics.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.37-51
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• 2006

This study evaluates the reliability of the discharge status variable m health insurance claims for identifying in-hospital patient deaths. This study used 2002 national health insurance claims and the cause of death statistics from Korean national statistical office. The Study data set included acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery patients in 133 general and tertiary hospitals. The gold standard containing patient death information was made and then compared with that of claims data. The hospitals were classified into four groups based on the number of deaths in each hospital. Simple kappa coefficients were calculated to evaluate the agreements of patient deaths between the gold standard and the insurance claims. CABG (83.9%) showed higher agreements than AMI(73.0%) in matched in-hospital patient death information between data sets. Simple kappa coefficients of CABG (0.63) and AMI (0.59) showed moderate or good agreements. The agreements, however, varied depending on the disease or hospital types. The fact that the agreements are only moderate to good indicates that the accuracy of in-hospital death information in claims is not high. n the variable is used to identify patient deaths, it may mislead people. Therefore, efforts should be made to improve the reliability of the discharge status variable in health insurance claims.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.457-467
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• 2020

Objectives: This study confirms the current status of visiting oral health-care services for the elderly to draw policy implications for revitalization of the visiting oral health care services in the future. Methods: First, a survey was conducted on health centers about the current status of the elderly visiting oral health-care service and how to revitalize it. Next, the number of oral hygiene services provided to the elderly was checked in the long-term care insurance system. Results: Oral health education (100%) was the most common practice in visiting oral health-care service for the elderly, and the most difficult thing in providing services was the lack of dental hygienists (38.9%). The status of oral health-care services in the long-term care insurance system for elderly revealed that the total number of service claims has been confirmed to be zero since the introduction of the system. Conclusions: Despite the existence of a system that provides elderly visiting oral healthcare services, to revitalize it, the law must be amended to secure a dental hygienist as the main agent of the activity and to further take responsibility for autonomous authority and performance.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.411-412
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to evaluate relationships between the economic status and the oral health status. Data were obtained from the National Health Insurance Corporation database. The prevalence of dental caries and tooth loss were compared among the ten-percentile according to the level of the monthly income. The prevalence of dental caries and tooth loss were lower in the high level of monthly income than low level of monthly income group. There was a significant relationships between the economic status and the oral health status.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.247-257
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• 2012

Purpose: This study is designed to identify major factors that affect morale among staff of long-term care insurance in National Health Insurance Corporation. Methods: In order to collect the data, a survey was conducted by using the structured questionnaire based on 161 staff members of long-term care insurance of 50 long-term care operation centers, which were randomly selected by the table of random numbers in the whole centers of National Health Insurance Corporation from September 1 to 30, 2011. As for the data analysis, SPSS 18.0 was used to conduct the descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, mutiple regression, and path analysis. Results: The average point of morale was 3.37, and had a negative correlation with the job stress, while it had a positive correlation with the social support, professional identity, and self-efficacy. Job stress, social support, and professional identity have a significant effect on morale among the independent variables. These variables have significant effects on morale, and also have a positive effect on self-efficacy. The findings show that self-efficacy mediates the process of morale. Conclusion: In this study, the factor which influences the morale was identified. It turned out that the morale could be improved by reinforcing the professional identity, managing the health status as well as rotating the working place. As such, it expects both the improvement of long-term care insurance services outcome and its quality through the morale management.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.72-81
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• 2020

Background: The out-of-pocket maximum is one of the distinctive healthcare systems which sets a ceiling on co-payment in order to reduce the burden of households from the unpredictable medical expenditure. However, this leads to an increase in the demand for healthcare services especially in long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) in Korea. Methods: This study analyzed the influence factor of medical service overuse of 165,592 inpatients in LTCHs which out-of-pocket maximum is applied, by utilizing data from the National Health Insurance Service (2016). Based on Anderson Model, the medical service overuse, as a dependent variable, was defined as long-stay admission more than 180 days at the LTCHs. Independent variable was comprised of predisposing factors (gender, age), enabling factors (income level, types of out-of-pocket maximum) and need factors (illness level, patient use of tertiary hospital). Results: The most powerful factor of medical service overuse in LTCHs was availability of pre-payment for the out-of-maximum (odds ratio [OR], 191.66; p<0.001). This tendency was found in high income level status (p<0.001). Furthermore, mild inpatients (OR, 1.50; p<0.001) which had no experience with the tertiary hospitals (OR, 2.06; p<0.001) were more relevant to the medical service overuse in LTCHs, compared to the severe inpatients. Conclusion: It is suggested that a separate standard of out-of pocket maximum with regards to LTCHs is required to secure the beneficial functions of long-term hospitals and prevent unnecessary financial leakage to achieve sustainable and financially sound National Health Insurance.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.574-583
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• 2009

Purpose: This paper analyzed alternative methods of calculating the conversion factor for nurse-midwife's delivery services in the national health insurance and estimated the optimal reimbursement level for the services. Methods: A cost accounting model and Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) model were developed to estimate the conversion factor of Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) for nurse-midwife's services, depending on the scope of revenue considered in financial analysis. The data and sources from the government and the financial statements from nurse-midwife clinics were used in analysis. Results: The cost accounting model and SGR model showed a 17.6-37.9% increase and 19.0-23.6% increase, respectively, in nurse-midwife fee for delivery services in the national health insurance. The SGR model measured an overall trend of medical expenditures rather than an individual financial status of nurse-midwife clinics, and the cost analysis properly estimated the level of reimbursement for nurse-midwife's services. Conclusion: Normal vaginal delivery in nurse-midwife clinics is considered cost-effective in terms of insurance financing. Upon a declining share of health expenditures on midwife clinics, designing a reimbursement strategy for midwife's services could be an opportunity as well as a challenge when it comes to efficient resource allocation.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.219-225
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• 2020

Background: There is increasing concern that moderate preterm (32-33 weeks' gestation) and late preterm (34-36 weeks' gestation) birth may be associated with minor neurodevelopmental problems affecting poor school performance. Purpose: We explored the cognitive function, cognitive visual function, executive function, and behavioral problems at school age in moderate to late preterm infants. Methods: Children aged 7-10 years who were born at 32⁺⁰ to 36⁺⁶ weeks of gestation and admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit from August 2006 to July 2011 at the National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital were included. We excluded children with severe neurologic impairments, congenital malformations, or chromosomal abnormalities. Neuropsychological assessments consisted of 5 neuropsychological tests and 3 questionnaires. Results: A total of 37 children (mean age, 9.1±1.2 years) participated. The mean gestational age at birth was 34.6±7.5 weeks, while the mean birth weight was 2,229.2±472.8 g. The mean full-scale intelligence quotient was 92.89±11.90; 24.3% scored between 70 and 85 (borderline intelligence functioning). An abnormal score was noted for at least one of the variables on the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnostic system for 65% of the children. Scores below borderline function for executive quotient and memory quotient were 32.4% and 24.3%, respectively. Borderline or clinically relevant internalizing problems were noted in 13.5% on the Child Behavior Check List. There were no significant associations between perinatal factors or socioeconomic status and cognitive, visual perception, executive function, or behavior outcomes. Conclusion: Moderate to late preterm infants are at risk of developing borderline intelligence functioning and attention problems at early school age. Cognitive and executive functions that are important for academic performance must be carefully monitored and continuously followed up in moderate to late preterm infants.