• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.16-29
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• 1989

The general objective of this study is to grasp the treatment expenses of common diseases by character of medical care institutions. The specific objective is to find out the treatment expenses for selected common diseases by type of medical care institutions and also by level of symptom. A record review method was employed to obtain required information for the analysis of expenses. A total of 40,000 cases treated by 85 medical care institutions were selected by the study team during the period 22 June to 14 July 1988. The 85 medical care institutions were sampled by stratified proportionate random sampling method. The major findings obtained from the information collected by the study team are as follows ; 1) Treatment expenses were composed of physical examination, medication, injection anesthesia, rehabilitation surgical intervention, lab test, X-ray and diagnosis. The highest expenses was for medication, accounted for 36.7% of the total: 13.9%, injection; Lab, tests respectively: 10.5%, physical examination : 8.6% surgical intervention; 7.9% admission : 6.3%, X-ray and diagnosis: 1.5%, rehabilitation. 2) Treatment expenses per case of common diseases were quite different from not only type of medical care institutions, such as university hospital, general hospital, hospital and clinic, but also from level of symptom. 3) Treatment expenses per case for the aged were higher than that of the young. The treatment cases for over 60 years of age accounted for 19.4% of the total, however the proportion of treatment expenses accounted for 23.8% of the total. 4) Duration of treatment and visits for same diseases varied from type of medical cara institutions. Based on these study findings, the following further research should be conducted: (1) Establishment of health care delivery system. (2) Feasibility of the development of health care programme for the aged. (3) Strengthening for primary health care approach.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.10 no.11
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• pp.493-502
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• 2012

This study aimed to determine the management and environmental factors affecting medical expense reduction. For analysis, medical expenses were divided into hospitalization expenses and outpatient treatment expenses, and the rate of medical expense reduction was classified into initial and final reduction rates. Data were collected through a direct survey among 205 directors of independent health insurance review departments of hospital-level medical institutions in Korea. The results of the study are discussed below: In the analysis, differences in the initial and final reduction rates of hospitalization expenses and outpatient treatment expenses were compared. The results showed that, in hospitalization expenses, the initial and final reduction rates were both significantly affected by the following management factors: number of beds, number of departments, number of personnel reviewing health insurance cases, and total number of employees. Further, in outpatient treatment expenses, the initial and final reduction rates were both affected significantly by the following management factors: management of medical records, number of beds, number of departments, number of personnel reviewing health insurance, and total number of employees. The management factors significantly affecting both the initial and final reduction rates were higher number of beds for hospitalization expenses and electronic medical record management for outpatient treatment expenses. The environmental factors significantly affecting both the initial and final reduction rates of hospitalization expenses were a highly cooperative work environment, better implementation of indicator management systems, and overtime pay. Better implementation of indicator management system and a committee for handling medical expenses had significant effects on the initial reduction rate for outpatient treatment expenses. A highly cooperative work environment, better implementation of indicator management system, and overtime pay had significant effects on the final reduction rate for outpatient treatment expenses.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.61-73
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• 2017

In the Health Insurance System of South Korea, patients must pay high out-of-pocket expenditures for the medical service by uninsured medical benefits. So, the government implemented a policy to relieve the burdens of patients by lowering the uninsured selective-medical treatment costs in August, 2014. This study investigate the policy effects of selective-medical treatment(SMT) on the medical service's usage and cost with severe lung cancer patients. The patients are selected in one university hospital(with 1,000 beds), between one year before and after policy implementation. The study find that the usages of outpatient(visit number) and inpatient (length of stay) are not changed by statistically significant. It means that there are no effect in medical service behavior between before and after the policy. In medical expenses, outpatients decreased in their out-of-pocket payments by policy, but total medical expenses and insured medical benefits is not changed, because of the increased another medical insurance fees. For inpatient, although the SMT costs are statistically significant decrease, the total out-of-pocket payments and insured medical expenses are not changed statistically significant. Those findings show that the political decision making about SMT made lowing the selective-medical expenses, but total insured cost and patient's out-of pocket money were not changed by the new increased medical insurance fees. It means that the policy about SMT gave no particular benefit for patients. So, it need another benefit plans to lower the medical expenses of severe lung cancer patients with a high medical service usage and much total medical expense.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.71-87
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• 2011

Objective : The present study is aimed at providing basic data to help oriental medical hospitals devise efficient operational plans by analyzing the medical expenses of in-patients in an oriental medical hospital and the factors affecting such expenses. Methods : PASW 18.0 was used to analyze the medical insurance program data of 929 patients who were discharged from a university oriental medical hospital(with 105 sick-beds) during the period from January 1 to December 31, 2010 after treatment under the coverage of health insurance and medical aid. Results : 1) Of all the patients hospitalized, 63.3% were females, their mean age was 52.73 years old, and 87.7% was covered by the health insurance program. The biggest number or 31.2% of the patients were treated by the department of acupuncture, 31.5% suffered mainly from the diseases of musculoskeletal system and connective tissues, and the average length of stay at the hospital was 19.49 days. 2) There were statistically significant differences in total medical expenses by age, clinical department in charge, principal diagnosis, and number of days hospitalized while daily average medical expenses differed depending on age, type of medical security, clinical department, principal diagnosis, and number of days staying at the hospital. 3) Total medical expenses were found significantly influenced by age, type of medical security, clinical department, principal diagnosis, and number of days hospitalized(explanatory power : 95.9%), whereas type of medical security, clinical department and principal diagnosis turned out to exercise significant influence on the daily average medical expenses(explanatory power : 26.9%). Conclusion : Oriental medical hospitals are suggested to make efforts to ensure geographical and economical accessibility for their main clients, the elderly and middle-aged, as well as to improve satisfaction of the clients with the medical service provided. They are also encouraged to work out systems to specialize in treatment with a focus on chronic degenerative and adult diseases. In addition, they are expected to try to enhance people's awareness of oriental medicine in an attempt to diversify the brackets of clients and increase frequency of their utilization.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Mechanical Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2011

The present study aimed to compare and analyze the particulars of and difference in medical expenses and their composition ratio for 2,026 patients hospitalized at 2 types of medical institutions (443 at a clinic and 1,583 at a hospital) in Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do under coverage of automobile insurance during 2009. From the analysis, it became evident that there were differences in individual characters of inpatients covered by automobile insurance, and details, composition and composition ratio of medical treatment for them depending on types of medical institutions. There was no difference, however, between the total and average medical expenses per capita even when markup rate was applied to the automobile insurance by types of hospitals. The ratio of radiotherapy and physical therapy in the composition of medical expenses was found to be extraordinarily high in clinics compared to that of hospitals. The composition ratio of the fixed cost including charge for hospitalization also turned out to be fairly high in all medical institutions.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.337-343
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• 2021

Objectives: To investigate effectiveness and satisfaction of applying critical pathway (CP) to Hwa-byung outpatients. Methods: Subjects were 32 outpatients who were diagnosed with Hwa-byung between January 1 and 2021 to October 31, 2021. Among these patients, 18 patients were applied with CP and 14 patients received treatment without applying CP. Their medical records and administration records were retrospectively analyzed. Data were analyzed by mean, standard deviation, and t-test using SPSS 26.0 program. Results: Mean total treatment period significantly decreased in the CP group compared with the non-CP group. Medical expenses were classified by treatment period, per visit, and patient charges per type of visit. When analyzed specifically by detailed items, there was a decreasing tendency in total medical expenses, uncovered medical expenses, and patient charges but an increasing tendency in covered medical expenses, although some of these changes were not statistically significant. Satisfaction score increased in the CP group compared with the non-CP group in general, although not all increases were statistically significant. Conclusions: Applying CP may contribute to the reduction of medical expenses and improvement of medical service quality. Further research on the development of CP for various diseases and the application of CP under various circumstances is needed.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.395-403
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• 2013

Purpose: This article examined the affecting factors of a malocclusion status of a patient for orthodontic treatment, orthodontics medical expenses and oral health behavior on orthodontic satisfaction. Methods: This paper conducted a survey from the 15th of July to 30th of September 2012 for the patients who were under orthodontic treatment at three dental clinics where are in Deagu, and distributed a total of 210 questionnaires and analyzed 194 questionnaires, excepting for some questionnaires that were answered unfaithfully. Results: This study classified the related factors into a feeling of satisfaction with treatment and mental satisfaction for finding orthodontic satisfaction. There were the effect of the right tooth-brushing method, a periodic scaling and orthodontics medical expenses on a feeling of satisfaction with treatment, and power of explanation was 16.7%. Conclusion: There were the effect of a malocclusion status, matters that requires attention during orthodontic treatment, a periodic scaling during orthodontic treatment and orthodontics medical expenses on mental satisfaction, and power of explanation was 16.9%. Based on the result above, this paper concluded that preventive treatment and early treatment should be emphasized through developing a program for regular oral examination suited to each medical type, including the method for improving the medical treatment condition and care service for increasing orthodontic satisfaction, which the dental medical-service providers could consider the patients and secure trust.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.1-11
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• 2016

Objectives : The aim of this study is to investigate the actual condition of the occurrence and recovery of medical expenses through seafarers insurance and to provide basic data that will be helpful in the establishment of efficient hospital management strategies for medical expenses of insurance companies depending on the type of seafarers insurance. Methods : Three general hospitals located in Busan, Korea, were selected, and seafarers insurance claim data was collected from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013(24 months) and analyzed. There were 5,490 cases in total. Results : There was a significant difference in the distribution of disease incidence, accrued medical expenses, reimbursement of medical expenses, and the actual condition of medical receivables depending on the insurance company. Conclusions : Therefore, differentiated payback strategies for medical expenses are needed that consider the various seafarers insurance companies and their treatment characteristics.

• The Korean journal of internal medicine
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.1160-1168
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• 2018

Background/Aims: The Republic of Korea is a country where the hemodialysis population is growing rapidly. It is believed that the numbers of treatments related to vascular access-related complications are also increasing. This study investigated the current status of treatment and medical expenses for vascular access in Korean patients on hemodialysis. Methods: This was a descriptive observational study. We inspected the insurance claims of patients with chronic kidney disease who underwent hemodialysis between January 2008 and December 2016. We calculated descriptive statistics of the frequencies and medical expenses of procedures for vascular access. Results: The national medical expenses for access-related treatment were 7.12 billion KRW (equivalent to 6.36 million USD) in 2008, and these expenses increased to 42.12 billion KRW (equivalent to 37.67 million USD) in 2016. The population of hemodialysis patients, the annual frequency of access-related procedures, and the total medical cost for access-related procedures increased by 1.6-, 2.6-, and 5.9-fold, respectively, over the past 9 years. The frequency and costs of access care increased as the number of patients on hemodialysis increased. The increase in vascular access-related costs has largely been driven by increased numbers of percutaneous angioplasty. Conclusions: The increasing proportion of medical costs for percutaneous angioplasty represents a challenge in the management of end-stage renal disease in Korea. It is essential to identify the clinical and physiological aspects as well as anatomical abnormalities before planning angioplasty. A timely surgical correction could be a viable option to control the rapid growth of access-related medical expenses.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.58-75
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• 1998

Background : In Korea, the rational use of antibiotics are rarely controlled, and their patterns of utilization are not understood. In order to reduce the excessive use and to improve the appropriate use of antibiotics, it is necessary to accurately determine present uses of antibiotics in hospitals. Methods : Analysis of the use of prescription drugs was performed on NFMI(National Federation of Medical Insurance) 1994 medical expense claim data. A stratified sampling by types of hospitals, departments, and diseases was obtained from 1994 August data. Patients with secondary diseases were excluded. In this study, 2,697 adults with URI, 6,397 children with URI, 704 adults with bronchitis, and 1,838 children with bronchitis were included. Results : Most patients were prescribed medication (95.2-99.6%). Of the patients prescribed medication, more than 85% of URI patients and more than 91% of bronchitis patients were prescribed antibiotics. Antibiotics expenses accounted for 14% of total medical expenses in adults and 9% of total medical expenses in children. In adults with URI, antibiotics expenses accounted for 52% of drug expenses. Of the patients prescribed antibiotics, average number of antibiotics used was 1.6-1.7. For patients who are prescribed antibiotics, drug expenses were 62-97% greater than patients not prescribed antibiotics. When children were prescribed antibiotics, the highest price of drugs prescribed were 3.4-fold greater. In addition, the number of drugs prescribed also increased by more than one. Elderly patients, more than 60 years, were prescribed antibiotics less frequently. Children less than 10 years and elderly patients greater than 60 years old were prescribed fewer antibiotics than other patients. And they were prescribed medications for longer days than other patients. Conclusion : This study demonstrated that the average rate of prescribing antibiotics was higher in Korea than other countries. Measures to reduce overuse of antibiotics and to improve the appropriate prescription of antibiotics must be considered for cost effective treatment and overall health of people.