• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.1016-1021
• /
• 2008

A number of wireless technologies have been implemented, but each technology has its limitation in terms of coverage and bandwidth. WLAN and 3G cellular network has emerged to be a complementary platform for wireless data communications. However, the mobility of roaming terminals in heterogeneous networks poses several risks. To maintain secure communications in universal roaming, the effective authentication must be implemented. The focus of this paper is on analysis of authentication architecture involved in integrated WLAN/3G networks.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.14
• /
• pp.6055-6059
• /
• 2015

Background: Medication policy development in Thailand is continually promoting rational drug use. Letrozole, an endocrine therapy drug, is usually prescribed for post-menopausal status early and advanced stage breast cancer. After Ministry of Public Health announced Letrozole as compulsory licensed drug in 2009, more breast cancer patients can access to this drug at low cost especially those within universal coverage schemes. To ensure that Letrozole is rationally prescribed, the drug utilization study was conducted. Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the appropriate use of Letrozole in breast cancer and the relationship between appropriate use and health benefit schemes. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study to evaluate use of Letrozole in breast cancer patients was performed for six months between January - June 2010 in seven regional cancer hospitals, Thailand. All prescriptions of Letrozole were identified from pharmacy dispensing databases and prescription papers. A medical record review was also performed to evaluate appropriate use referring to the drug use evaluation criteria. The approved criterion of this study was referred from the guideline of Thai National Formulary version 2010. Results: There were 681 prescriptions of Letrozole for 254 breast cancer patients with an average age of $58.6{\pm}10.0years$. The patients in universal coverage scheme (UCS), civil servant medication benefit scheme (CSMBS) and social security scheme (SSS) were 77.7%, 18.5% and 8.7% respectively. 10.6% were prescribed Letrozole for the first time. Letrozole were prescribed by oncologists (82.8%). The average number of tablets per prescription was $58{\pm}10$. Calcium supplements were prescribed concomitant with Letrozole for 19.4%. To assess drug use evaluation criteria, 45 prescriptions were excluded because of uncompleted clinical data, 636 prescriptions were evaluated. The study showed 86 prescriptions (13.5%) with inappropriate use including 6 (0.9%) not prescribed for estrogen receptor (ER) and/or progesterone receptor (PR) positive, 31 (4.9%) not prescribed for post-menopausal and 49 (7.7%) not prescribed for an appropriate duration. Appropriate use percentages in different health benefit schemes were similar, 85.7% of CSMBS, 86.4% of SSS and 86.7% of UCS. The relationship between health benefit scheme and appropriate use of Letrozole was not significantly different, ${\chi}^2$ (2, N = 636) = 0.081, p > 0.05. Conclusions: The study showed inappropriate use in breast cancer patients because of non-compliance with duration, menopausal status and hormone receptor requirements. To prescribe appropriate indication did not referred to the appropriate practice along the treatment. Drug use evaluation proved very useful for detecting the sign of inappropriate use and allows immediate feedback to the stakeholder for developing medication policy in the future. Importantly, there was no significantly difference in appropriate use of Letrozole across health benefit schemes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.9
• /
• pp.4289-4294
• /
• 2012

While the incidence of breast cancer (BC) has been relatively low in Asian countries, it has been rising rapidly in Taiwan. Within the last decade, it has replaced cervical cancer as the most diagnosed cancer site for women. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of studies reporting the attitudes and practices of breast cancer screening among Chinese women. The aim of this study is to assess Taiwanese women's knowledge of and attitudes toward BC screening and to identify potential factors that may influence screening behavior. The study population consisted of a sample of 434 Taiwanese women aged 40 and older. Despite access to universal health care for Taiwanese women and the fact that a majority of the women had heard of the breast cancer screening (mammogram, clinical breast exams, etc.), the actual utilization of these screening modalities was relatively low. In the current study, the majority of women had never had mammograms or ultrasound in the past 5 years. The number one most reported barriers were "no time," "forgetfulness," "too cumbersome," and "laziness," followed by the perception of no need to get screened. In addition, the results revealed several areas of misconceptions or incorrect information perceived by study participants. Based on the results from the regression analysis, significant predictors of obtaining repeated screening modalities included age, coverage for screening, barriers, self-efficacy, intention, family/friends diagnosed with breast cancer. The findings from the current study provide the potential to build evidence-based programs to effectively plan and implement policies in order to raise awareness in breast cancer and promote BC screening in order to optimize health outcomes for women affected by this disease.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.54 no.1
• /
• pp.17-21
• /
• 2021

In 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions to global health systems. The Korea has taken full-fledged actions against this novel infectious disease, swiftly implementing a testing-tracing-treatment strategy. New obligations have therefore been given to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) to devote the utmost effort towards tackling this global health crisis. Thanks to the universal national health insurance and state-of-the-art information communications technology (ICT) of the Korea, HIRA has conducted far-reaching countermeasures to detect and treat cases early, prevent the spread of COVID-19, respond quickly to surging demand for the healthcare services, and translate evidence into policy. Three main factors have enabled HIRA to undertake pandemic control preemptively and systematically: nationwide data aggregated from all healthcare providers and patients, pre-existing ICT network systems, and real-time data exchanges. HIRA has maximized the use of data and pre-existing network systems to conduct rapid and responsive measures in a centralized way, both of which have been the most critical tactics and strategies used by the Korean healthcare system. In the face of new obligations, our promise is to strive for a more responsive and resilient health system during this prolonged crisis.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.253-262
• /
• 2020

Background: The public health care system of a country is shaped and driven by its historical background as well as social, economic, and cultural structures. This study sheds light on the unique features, strengths, and weaknesses of the health insurance systems of South Korea (Korea) and Peru. Methods: The capacity mapping tool was used to explore the Korean and Peruvian population and geographical structures; health insurance laws, regulations, and policies; payment systems; eligibility and contribution collection; and long-term care insurance. Results: The study found that the Korean government took the lead in integrating multiple insurers into a single-payer system in an effort to reinforce and stabilize its health insurance system in 2000. Peru has been developed mixed model such based on taxes and contributions, to address a gap between different social classes. Peruvian government developed a two-axis system, one for low-income earners, financed by taxes, and another financed by contributions paid by workers and government officials in the formal sector. Peru has introduced many variations to its fee payment and insurer systems, target population, and coverage scope, and maintains its health insurance system accordingly to this day. Conclusion: The current study provides observation of the Health Insurance System in two different countries and helps to understand possible ways to improve the health insurance system in both countries. Based on this study, Peru will be able to see how its system differs from Korea's and benefit from the related policy implications.

• Journal of Communications and Networks
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.65-74
• /
• 2016

Ship ad-hoc network (SANET) extends the coverage of the maritime communication among ships with the reduced cost. To fulfill the growing demands of real-time services, the SANET requires an efficient clock time synchronization algorithm which has not been carefully investigated under the ad-hoc maritime environment. This is mainly because the conventional algorithms only suggest to decrease the beacon collision probability that diminishes the clock drift among the units. However, the SANET is a very large-scale network in terms of geographic scope, e.g., with 100 km coverage. The key factor to affect the synchronization performance is the signal propagation delay, which has not being carefully considered in the existing algorithms. Therefore, it requires a robust multi-hop synchronization algorithm to support the communication among hundreds of the ships under the maritime environment. The proposed algorithm has to face and overcome several challenges, i.e., physical clock, e.g., coordinated universal time (UTC)/global positioning system (GPS) unavailable due to the atrocious weather, network link stability, and large propagation delay in the SANET. In this paper, we propose a logical clock synchronization algorithm with multi-hop function for the SANET, namely multi-hop clock synchronization for SANET (MCSS). It works in an ad-hoc manner in case of no UTC/GPS being available, and the multi-hop function makes sure the link stability of the network. For the proposed MCSS, the synchronization time reference nodes (STRNs) are efficiently selected by considering the propagation delay, and the beacon collision can be decreased by the combination of adaptive timing synchronization procedure (ATSP) with the proposed STRN selection procedure. Based on the simulation results, we finalize the multi-hop frame structure of the SANET by considering the clock synchronization, where the physical layer parameters are contrived to meet the requirements of target applications.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.96-110
• /
• 2021

Korea is faced with the challenge of adapting to the world's fastest - growing low birthrate, aging society, and low growth with low interest rate era. With low fertility and aging population, the factors of financial income of health insurance are decreasing, and the increase of public interest in health, high cost medical technology and the development of medicine are leading to increase expenditure of health insurance. In this study, I will examine the strengthen protection of health insurance, financial stabilization, and fairness of medical care. First, the present status and limitations of health insurance were identified through domestic policy report, domestic and foreign literature, and precedent research. Second, the foreign health insurance policy measures to stabilize the finances were examined separately. Based on this study, in order to maintain sustainable health insurance through reinforcement and financial stabilization of health insurance, the current financial income structure of health insurance must be renovated. It will be necessary to expand government subsidies and discover new tax revenues. In addition, a policy to save finances by reorganizing the medical bill payment system and medical delivery system will also be needed.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.57 no.1
• /
• pp.65-72
• /
• 2024

Objectives: Protecting people against financial hardship caused by illness stands as a fundamental obligation within healthcare systems and constitutes a pivotal component in achieving universal health coverage. The objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence and determinants of catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) in Iran, over the period of 2013 to 2019. Methods: Data were obtained from 7 annual national surveys conducted between 2013 and 2019 on the income and expenditures of Iranian households. The prevalence of CHE was determined using a threshold of 40% of household capacity to pay for healthcare. A binary logistic regression model was used to identify the determinants influencing CHE. Results: The prevalence of CHE increased from 3.60% in 2013 to 3.95% in 2019. In all the years analyzed, the extent of CHE occurrence among rural populations exceeded that of urban populations. Living in an urban area, having a higher wealth index, possessing health insurance coverage, and having employed family members, an employed household head, and a literate household head are all associated with a reduced likelihood of CHE (p<0.05). Conversely, the use of dental, outpatient, and inpatient care, and the presence of elderly members in the household, are associated with an increased probability of facing CHE (p<0.05). Conclusions: Throughout the study period, CHE consistently exceeded the 1% threshold designated in the national development plan. Continuous monitoring of CHE and its determinants at both household and health system levels is essential for the implementation of effective strategies aimed at enhancing financial protection.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.34-57
• /
• 2004

Universal health insurance normally requires a basic benefit package, whose design intersects with almost all other aspects of the health insurance debate. Despite its central importance, basic benefit package has not received the analysis it deserves in Korea. The issue of how to decide which health services should be delivered and to whom has been a matter for consistent policy debate. Many industrialized countries observed in this study have been dealing explicitly or implicitly with the basic benefit package. The methods vary from having a specific positive list of services (Bismarkian countries) to the use of guidelines (Beveridgian countries). The purpose of this paper is to form the underlying principles and process for determining what is included or left out by getting accurate and representative responses from health-related personnel. Mail survey is used. Economic burden for treatment, seriousness of disease and urgency of treatment are ranked at the first three priorities. Services that had been suspended because of financial crisis in health insurance scheme in 2001 were selected as items which should firstly be expanded into coverage. Diagnostic test against heart disease and vaccination were also selected as items which should additionally belong to the list of covered services.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.133-142
• /
• 2005

The purpose of this study was to evaluate interaction of restorative method according to amount of remaining clinical crown length. For the study, sixty healthy mandibular premolars with no dental caries were chosen. Specimens with clinical crown length of 1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm above the cemento-enamel junction(CEJ) were prepared and root canal treatment was conducted using Ni-Ti rotaty files. Thirty specimens were restored with $LuxaCore^{(R)}$ and thirty were restored with casting posts. All specimens were restored with full coverage crowns and the fracture strength was teseted with the MTS universal testing marchine. The fracture pattern was observed by measuring the distance between CEJ and fracture line. From the results above, the fracture strength seems to be influenced more by amount of remaining clinical crown length than restorative method. Good prognosis could be expected, when more than 2mm of clinical crown length is retained. In the future, the further studies on restorative method, to increase fracture strength of teeth will be necessary.