• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.413-459
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• 2008

The Law has intervened to define rare circumstances in which a person should choose continuing life in United States. On the one hand, the law has traditionally acted to preservelife and to respect the sanctity of life. On the other hand, one's control over one's own body, and the right to determine what kind of medical care one will receive, is equally well respected and historically grounded. The competent patients have the right to forgo life-sustaining treatment, courts in United States have left many unanswered questions about the nature of that right. The right to choose to forgo life-sustaining treatment is a manifestation of a patient's autonomy interest. In United States, The Karen Quilan case gave rise to legislative activity in the host of state capitals, and several states had adopted statutes that formally recognized some forms of written directives describing some circumstances in which certain kinds of medical care could be terminated. These statues were sometimes dominated 'living will' acts, sometimes 'right to die' acts and ocasionally 'natural death' acts. Today virtually every state has produced a living will statue. In Korea, courts do not permit a terminally ill person to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment. Living wills apply in case of terminal illness owing to a defect in legislation. Now In Korea, these lively dispute of legal policy on the preconditions and concrete procedure of living will act and natural death act. Through the legislation of living will act and natural death act, we should prepare some circumstances to respect patient's autonomy on the right to die. We should frame the cultural standard to make a decision of forgoing life-sustainin1g treatment under the discreet procedure.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.232-243
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• 2001

Background : the hospitals in Korea are in a situation of a severe competition than the past. This situation was resulted from the increase in the number of hospitals and also from the government policy controlling the medical insurance fee. Moreover, consumer's desire for the high quality medical service g\has been significantly increased. Many programs to improve the quality of medical services are being performed in hospitals since the middle of 1990's. Studies up to now reported that more than 10 programs are being performed per hospital in Korea. So far studies have been performed to measure only the number of such programs in a hospital. The purposes of this study are to examine a specific area involved in the programs designed to improve the medical service quality and to suggest a future direction of the such programs. In addition, we hope that the results from this study could assist the programs for the medical service quality. Methods : A mailed questionnaire survey of the QI staffs at hospitals with 400 beds or more was conducted between September 15 and October 30, 2000. Of the 108 hospitals eligible for inclusion in our study, 69 participated, yielding a response rate of 63.9%. Excluding 7 hospital which are not responsed about activities of hospital then 62 hospitals were used for the analysis. Result : The total number of programs was 1,081 from the 62 hospitals participated in the survey. The highest number (24.8 programs) was found in the hospital having more than 800 beds and performing the programs more than 5 years. The 1,081 programs were consisted of 445 from the medical examination area, 343 from the medical examination support area, and 296 from the management area. Conclusion : This study showed the present situation of hospitals in Korea regarding to the quality improvement programs. The results from this study suggest that the pattern of the program for the medical service improvement is being changed to service process and result-centered programs from the structural area.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.6 no.1_2
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• pp.136-149
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• 1999

Background : Although a number of studies are related to QA improvement, there are few studies applied various method of QA tools. This study reviewed the availability of general quality assurance(QA) tools according to ten steps in performing quality improvement activities at emergency room of a tertiary teaching hospital which has more than 1,000 beds. Methods : All patients in emergency room from 15th Oct. 1997 to 5th Sep. 1998 were surveyed. The survey data based on the patient's records of emergency room were evaluated according to length of stay, and we tried to identify problems with management of emergency room. To solve the problems, our team applied general QA tools(brainstorming, flow chart, nominal group technique, benchmarking, cause-and-effect diagram, run chart, control chart) to quality improvement activities and discussed the availability of the tools. Results : After the activities such as changes of staffing, the establishment of local area network and chest pain clinic, application of triage and so on, the percentage of patient who had stayed more than six hours was reduced from 56.0% to 46.8%. The mean number of patients per day in emergency room was increased from 49 to 62. But the reporting time for laboratory test was not changed after these activities. Conclusion : Each QA tool has unique benefit and limitation, but we can implement and evaluate the quality improvement activities more scientifically and systematically by applying these tools to practice according to QA ten steps.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.244-261
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• 2000

Background : In order to cope with changes in the management environment at hospitals, increased interests are drawn in patient foodservice system on Continuous Quality Improvement Activity as the method of approaching a quality food service and effective management. Thus, as a part of this activity, this study was conducted to evaluate job flow improvement that was already performed and the results of that process at the dietetic department of a university hospital, focusing on improving management. Method : On February 15 of 1998. the dietetic department formed a job flow-improvement to decide on the priority of job flow improvement, and prepared specific action strategies and schedule of the priority: after a 5 month process period, job improvement achieved on June 15. 1998. Also, economic achievement of the task was evaluated through labor productivity analysis and cost-benefit analysis. Results : The patient food service system which was managed decentralized at the present hospital was centralized, some steps of the food service process were integrated, and quality of patient food was improved. Also, as a solution of the problems expected when conducting job flow improvement was made on food service equipments and utensils. The result of evaluating the job flow improvement that labor productivity improved by 18.2% compared to before the improvement and the result of the analysis of cost-benefit showed that Benefit-Cost (B/C) ratio was 2.22. showing financial merit on the investment. Conclusions : Continuous Quality Improvement Activity needs to be initiated and conducted in the future in various areas of hospital foodservice system in order to actively adopt to ever changing hospital management environment. In order to achieve this goal, many researches and more efforts need to be put in by people in charge of hospital food service management, and interests and support are needed from hospital policy makers.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.144-153
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• 2003

1) Background: The hospitals of modem society, like any other business entities, have to constantly strive to secure their survival from aggressive changes and competition outside. In this unstable environment, effective leadership is one of the most effective strategies for securing organization's growth as well as stability. This study investigated types of leadership (transformational or transactional) that is dominant in medical record departments and compared it's effects on organizational commitment and job satisfaction of their organizational members by types. 2) Method: A questionnaire was developed and mailed to all medical record administrators working at general hospitals throughout the country except department directors (N=450). Of these, 150 useable questionnaires were returned and analyzed by t-test, multiple regression analysis using SPSS. 3) Results: The organizational commitment and job satisfaction were a little bit higher than moderate level, and that of leadership perceived by medical record administrators was also in moderate level throughout types. Significant characteristics (positively) related to organizational commitment and job satisfaction by univariate analysis were marital status (married), position (middle management) and both type of leadership. However transformational leadership was the only significant factor in leadership styles after considering all the factors related to organizational commitment and job satisfaction together by multivariate analysis. 4) Conclusion: The average organizational commitment and job satisfaction of medical record administrators was just in moderate level. Efforts should be made to increase them by improving leadership capacity of medical record directors, primarily by using transformational leadership approach.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.23-27
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• 2020

In South Korea, female individuals in their forties show a high rate of incidence, with approximately 13% of the patients being <40 years. This statistic is more than twice as high as that in Western countries. It is therefore necessary to identify the risk factors for breast cancer incidence by age and economic activity participation status. Women aged 30 to 59-whether breast cancer patients or those in the control group and having no breast cancer-were appraised from the sample cohort database. The data were analyzed using the statistical software R36.2. To identify the factors affecting breast cancer incidence, the degree of association was determined with HR and 95% CI by means of cox regression analysis. As for the socio-demographic variables, the older the individual, the higher the risk of breast cancer incidence becomes. As for the economic activity variables, those who were dependents (unemployed) and who had higher income (medium and high) were at higher risk of breast cancer incidence, which was statistically significant. The income-adjusted HR (model 1) for breast cancer development associated with the economic activity was 1.452 (95% CI, 1.19-1.77). The body mass index and alcohol intake-adjusted HR (model 2) was 1.431 (95% CI, 1.18-1.74). One needs to pay attention to policy plans regarding women's quality of life, as well as to the risk of breast cancer incidence by their economic activity. In other words, policies need to give post care, instead of focus on early detection and cancer treatment.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.45-61
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• 2017

It is commonly accepted that fathers involve more in child rearing than ever given that dual earner families are increased in South Korea. Present study aims to emphasizes the significance of responsibility and examines the participation in childcare responsibility of fathers by performing survey. Responsibility is illustrated as paternal taking ultimate responsibility for child's welfare and care such as monitoring, planning, concerning, organizing, arranging and doing for childcare. Regarding the concept of responsibility, both twenty questions asking reasonability and twenty questions asking non-responsibility are included in the questionnaire. As a result of statistical analyses, present study shows that fathers are less likely to participate in those twenty items of childcare responsibility, compared to twenty items of childcare non-responsibility. Implications are also provided. Responsibility of paternal involvement particularly needs to be addressed in the sense that childcare has contributed to pertaining inequality for women in both the workplace and domestic life.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and periodontal disease in postmenopausal women using data from the 4th and 5th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A total of 5,482 postmenopausal women aged 45~75 years were included as study subjects in the final analysis. The HRT group comprised 1,035 postmenopausal women who had received HRT for at least one month, and the non-HRT group comprised 4,447 postmenopausal women who did not receive HRT. The chi-square test was used to confirm the bivariate relationship between the variables. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for covariance (age, education, family income, body mass index, age of menopause, alcohol, smoking, dental visit <1 per year, use of oral care products, and frequency of tooth brushing per day). After adjusting for all covariates, HRT was found to be associated with periodontal disease. In particular, the relationship between HRT and periodontal disease was more evident in older women and women younger than 45 years of menopausal age. The relationship between HRT and periodontal disease was stronger in women who brushed their teeth less than 3 times per day, women without regular oral examination, and women who did not use oral hygiene products. The results of this study confirmed the importance of actively considering hormone therapy when determining policy recommendations for postmenopausal women. Especially, health programs such as HRT, regular dental examination, and oral care are needed for older women who have undergone premature menopause.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.63-72
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• 2014

Objectives: The current study reviews the implementation and evaluation of the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) in the United States (U.S.) to illustrate the program's potential contribution to improving health among Korean adults with chronic conditions while saving healthcare costs. Methods: This study examines existing literature on the history, theoretical background, essential elements, and delivery outcomes of CDSMP with special focus on the successes and challenges to be faced in the implementation of CDSMP to Koreans with chronic conditions. Results: CDSMP is designed to empower people with chronic conditions to develop skills necessary for medical, social role, and emotional management of chronic conditions. Recent studies show the utility of CDSMP in achieving the Triple Aim health reform goals (i.e., better care, better health, better value). Lessons learned from the U.S. experience emphasize the importance of establishing evidence-based studies, collaborating with community partners, and diversifying funding sources to make CDSMP more sustainable. Conclusion: The current study demonstrates the replicability of CDSMP and potential for expansion in Korea. More concerted efforts among academia, government, and communities are needed to deliver CDSMP to Korean adults and identify its effectiveness within the Korean context in terms of meeting the Triple Aim goals of better care, better health, and better value.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.178-185
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• 2017

Objective: Because of communication difficulties, the hearing-impaired face many disadvantages throughout their lives. One of those is limited access to health care services, particularly medication service. Though they suffer from problems related to taking medication properly, there have been few studies on their actual condition of medication use in Korea. This study is to investigate any obstacles to properly taking medications and, therefore, to suggest preliminary evidence for policy measures to improve safe medication use among the hearing-impaired. Methods: Study participants consisted of hearing-impaired individuals living in Seoul. We also interviewed two sign language interpreters in order to illuminate health care state of the hearing-impaired. In-depth interview for each study participant was recorded and was translated into a written script for analysis. Results: Study participants were comprised of four women (66.6%) and two men (33.3%). There were one participants in 20's, two participants in 30's, one 40's, and two 50's. Sign language interpreters were all women. One was in her 30's and the other was in her 40's. Communication difficulties have been found to be key barrier to use medication safely. A negative image of pharmacists also hinders safe medication usage, lowering access to local pharmacy and leading discretional self-medication. This article provides pharmacists with solutions to promote adherence in this population. Conclusion: The hearing-impaired had limited access to medication-related information as well as using services in a hospital and local pharmacy due to their disability. Institutional improvement for safe medication usage among the hearing-impaired is necessary.