• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.247-255
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• 2017

Background: South Korea has experienced problems with excessive pharmaceutical expenditures. In 2010, the South Korean government introduced an outpatient prescription incentive program to effectively manage pharmaceutical expenditures. Therefore, we examined the relationship between the outpatient prescription incentive program and pharmaceutical expenditures. Methods: We used data from the Korean National Health Insurance claims database, which included medical claims filed for 22,732 clinics from 2011-2014 to evaluate associated pharmaceutical expenditures. We performed multiple regression analysis and Poisson regression analysis using generalized estimating equation models to examine the associations between outpatient prescription incentives and the outcome variables. Results: The data used in this study consisted of 123,392 cases from 22,372 clinics (average 5.4 periods follow-up). Clinics that had received outpatient prescription incentives in the last period had better cost saving and Outpatient Prescribing Costliness Index (OPCI) (received: proportion of cost saving, ${\beta}=6.8179$; p-value < 0.0001; OPCI, ${\beta}=-0.0227$; p-value < 0.0001; reference = non-received). Moreover, these clinics had higher risk in the provision of outpatient prescription incentive (relative risk, 2.772; 95% confidence interval, 2.720 to 2.824). The associations were higher in clinics that had separate prescribing and dispensing programs, or had professional staff. Conclusion: The introduction of an outpatient prescription incentive program for clinics effectively managed problems with rapid increases of pharmaceutical expenditures in South Korea. However, the pharmaceutical expenditures still increased in spite of the positive impact of the outpatient prescription incentive program. Therefore, healthcare professionals and health policy makers should develop more effective alternatives (i.e., for clinics without separate prescribing and dispensing programs) based on our results.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.238-246
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• 2020

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effect of home visiting care service and to evaluate the effect from the cost-benefit among older people. Methods: The target participants were enrolled in 2007 and they were classified into 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, and 4 years according to their service provision period. We analyzed health insurance claims data and entitlement data from the National Health Insurance Service databases between 2006 and 2010. This study examined the participants' social-economic and health status factors related to total medical expense. Cost-benefit analysis was done using the net benefit and benefit/cost ratio. Results: Based on the use of home visiting service, the effect was reduced by 223,914 won. The cost for 952,109 people aged 65 or older was 39,891,462,882 won and the benefit was 213,190,534,626 won. The net benefit was 173,299,071,744 won and the benefit/cost ratio was 5.34 times, which was very economical. Conclusion: Home visiting health care should continue to expand as a means of economically effective health care for people aged 65 and older and to ensure health equity for vulnerable groups.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.243-256
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• 2000

This study analyses various articles on famology presented in home journals 1980. The articles show rapid growth in quantity and variety of subjects and also show high quality of research analysis methods. However only 13.5% of the articles contribute to social problems. This study claims that various arguments and analyses should be made concerning the prospect of Korean families and the family functions. Educational programs must be made for healthy families and solving family problems and of counseling and therapy. And scholars should take a role in central or local government committees to shape policies for family welfare. They should also go into the local societies for practicing their studies.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.38-48
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to analysis characteristics and changes of epistemic thinking in middle school students on class-argument activities in an argument-based inquiry(ABI) science class. Data was collected from class recording video and activity worksheets of five subjects argument-based inquiry. Results of the analysis of student epistemic cognition characteristics show that experimental data was presented the most as evidence, and depending on the ABI activity, personal experience-based evidence and evidence based on scientific principles were used. As a result of analyzing the changes between claims made before and after class argumentations on five ABI activities in an argument-based inquiry science class, student claim modifications could be classified, according to reasons for the modification, into three types: correcting incorrect claims, clarifying unclear content, and expanding the concept.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.3-21
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• 2007

Arbitration is a private and contractual means of dispute resolution. As a creature of contract, any particular arbitration owes its existence-and attendant limitations-to an arbitral agreement. This means that, in practice, the parties select their own judges, forum, and rules. By agreeing to arbitration, parties hope to achieve several goals. And arbitration has proven to be quicker, cheaper, and more predictable than litigation as a means of resolving many types of claims. As a primary method of conflict resolution, it is now worthwhile to consider carefully any procedural mechanism designed to promote the central aims of this alternative to litigation. It is helpful to frame any particular analysis according to (1) the type of decision for which preclusive effect is sought (arbitral award or court judgment) and (2) the type of subsequent proceeding in which preclusion is sought (an arbitration or a litigation). Res judicata may well bar litigation of that claim between the parties, but non-parties (affiliates or individuals) will not benefit from this bar unless the arbitral tribunal makes findings sufficient to satisfy the elements of collateral estoppel. The final permutation to be considered involves an arbitral award's preclusive effect on a subsequent arbitration. Whether a prior court decision should preclude issues or claims in a subsequent arbitration presents the easiest case for analysis. It is the easiest primarily because there is generally little room to debate whether adequate procedures were followed in a litigation. That is, one can safely assume that the rules of evidence and the rules of civil procedure were followed and that formal records sufficiently memorialize both the proceeding itself and the ultimate decision. Procedural regularity is mentioned not necessarily because it is an analytic tool, but because so many jurists and scholars see it as an impediment to the application of preclusionary doctrines.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.87-104
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• 2015

Purpose: To assess real-world treatment patterns, health care utilization, costs, and survival among Medicare enrollees with locally advanced/unresectable or metastatic gastric cancer receiving standard first-line chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-Medicare linked database (2000~2009). The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) first diagnosed with locally advanced/unresectable or metastatic gastric cancer between July 1, 2000 and December 31, 2007 (first diagnosis defined the index date); (2) ${\geq}65$ years of age at index; (3) continuously enrolled in Medicare Part A and B from 6 months before index through the end of follow-up, defined by death or the database end date (December 31, 2009), whichever occurred first; and (4) received first-line treatment with fluoropyrimidine and/or a platinum chemotherapy agent. Results: In total, 2,583 patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean age at index was $74.8{\pm}6.0years$. Over 90% of patients died during follow-up, with a median survival of 361 days for the overall post-index period and 167 days for the period after the completion of first-line chemotherapy. The mean total gastric cancer-related cost per patient over the entire post-index follow-up period was United States dollar (USD) $70,808{\pm}56,620$. Following the completion of first-line chemotherapy, patients receiving further cancer-directed treatment had USD 25,216 additional disease-related costs versus patients receiving supportive care only (P<0.001). Conclusions: The economic burden of advanced gastric cancer is substantial. Extrapolating based on published incidence estimates and staging distributions, the estimated total disease-related lifetime cost to Medicare for the roughly 22,200 patients expected to be diagnosed with this disease in 2014 approaches USD 300 millions.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.225-235
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• 2023

Background: This study aimed to analyze the effects of periodontal treatment and individual- and tooth-related factors on tooth extraction in people with disabilities. Methods: The Korea National Health Insurance claims data of individuals with disabilities aged 40~64 years with chronic periodontitis in 2008 were obtained. Of these, data on the disabled who underwent scaling/root plaining, subgingival curettage/periodontal surgery, or non-periodontal treatments, and data on their teeth were selected. The extraction of 716,688 teeth from 39,097 patients was tracked until 2018, and the patient- and tooth-level factors related to tooth loss were identified using a mixed-effect logistic regression analysis. Results: Data from approximately 17% of the teeth were extracted during a follow-up period of approximately 11 years. Among the tooth-level variables, scaling/root planing treatment at baseline and periodontal treatment during the follow-up period were associated with a lower risk of tooth loss (odds ratio=0.692 and 0.769, respectively, p<0.001). Non-vital teeth increased the risk of tooth loss by 3.159 times (p<0.001). Among the patient-level variables, females were less likely to have lost their teeth than males, and those with orthopedic impairment or brain lesions/mental disabilities, a higher age group, lower income level, or residents in medium/small cities or rural areas were more likely to have lost their teeth (p<0.001). Conclusion: Through approximately 11 years of follow-up, scaling or root planing, experience with periodontal treatment at least once, female sex, older age, lower income, smaller residential areas, type of disability, and pulp vitality were found to be associated with tooth loss in individuals with disabilities aged 40~64 years with chronic periodontitis. To prevent tooth loss in individuals with disabilities, it is necessary to establish a dental treatment plan that considers the timing of periodontal treatment and the characteristics of the patient and teeth.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.25-41
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• 2024

Purpose : This study aimed to investigate changes in critical nursing activities from 2009 to 2020 and explore the relationship between nurse staffing and such activities in intensive care units. Methods : A total of 446,445 adult patients admitted to intensive care units in tertiary and general hospitals from 2009 to 2020 were identified using the National Health Insurance claims database. The Critical Nursing Activities Index was calculated based on the following critical nursing activities: ventilator, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT). Trend analysis was performed to analyze changes in critical nursing activities over 12 years and to assess linear trends across different staffing levels. Results : The annual utilization days for ventilators, ECMO, and CRRT, as well as the Critical Nursing Activities Index significantly increased over the study period (p-for-trend<.001) in tertiary and general hospitals, except for ventilator use in general hospitals. Ventilator, ECMO, and CRRT utilization exhibited a significant upward trend with higher nurse staffing levels (Bonferroni adjusted p-for-trend<.001). The Critical Nursing Activities Index was significantly higher in hospitals with higher staffing levels compared to those with lower staffing levels (Bonferroni adjusted p <.05). Conclusion : The findings underscore the need for improved nurse staffing levels in intensive care units. Government policies should ensure that staffing levels align with critical nursing activities among critically ill patients to uphold the quality of care.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute Of Construction Engineering and Management
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• autumn
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• pp.438-441
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• 2003

Construction delays are a common occurrence of most construction projects and difficult to analyze. there are some techniques to analyze delays, such as using CPM, Bar Chart but they are not enough to analyze concurrent and productivity lost delays. Productivity lost delays are different to interruption delays in computing the number of delays and analyzing concurrent delay. This paper describes the delay analysis method considering productivity including concurrent delay analysis.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.21-34
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• 2013

How do mixed legislative systems shape voter behavior and public perceptions? Through an analysis of the electoral systems in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, this paper evaluates the extent to which the public in these three countries understand their mixed systems and whether claims of voter ignorance translate into irrational voting behavior based on the institutional effects of mixed systems. Through a multi-method approach including data from outside of East Asia, this analysis seeks to determine whether these three cases exhibit patterns consistent with other mixed systems. Empirical analysis affirms levels of strategic voting consistent with comprehension of electoral rules. Furthermore, this analysis suggests a disconnect between practical knowledge and electoral expectations.