• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.49 no.9
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• pp.511-518
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• 2011

Policy of for-profit hospitals permission has provoked debate on how to enhance health care system and medical service industry. The government says that for-profit hospitals could help improve the quality of medical care and develop medical tourism. On the other hand, Medical care related NGO insist that for-profit hospitals will not fix the existing medical problems in Korea, only create new ones. Recently, a type of for-profit hospitals emerged in dentistry and caused much trouble. Accordingly, We try to carefully look at for-profit hospitals related policy and debate.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.173-178
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• 2016

In this paper many discussions are raised regarding the outside director system in order to establish the position of the outside director within institutional organizations and to review ways to activate the outside director system in for-Profit Hospital. it seems to be more desirable in Korea for each company to establish an efficient system by itself in accordance with suggested guidelines suitable for each for-Profit Hospital management circumstances rather than to apply a unilateral outside director system to for-Profit Hospital through legalization. In this regard, while keeping the current outside director system for the time being, it is necessary to review and improve the management status of companies and the usefulness of the system, and various recommendations from lawyer associations, Hospital business associations, and academia should be allowed rather than just for-Profit Hospital recommendation by the government.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.148-169
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• 2008

As the Korean Government began to perceive healthcare as one of foundational industries for national dynamics, there has been mounting advocacy for the introduction of for-profit hospitals with a view to bringing efficiency in healthcare services industries and improvement of their international competitiveness. The Government is now considering the issue from all angles in favor of permitting for-profit hospitals. However, There have been few precedent studies on this subject to provide helpful data for the discussion and in the health policy making. This study used private hospitals - for-profit and nonprofit - in Florida, USA as study subjects to accumulate basic data that may be utilized for those involved in debates and health policy making relating to the introduction of for-profit hospitals in Korea. Among all the private general hospitals in Florida, those surveyed by AHA(American Hospital Association) for four consecutive years from 2001 and 2004 and others reported about to MCR(Medicare Cost Report) included in the collected data for analysis. In total 139 private general hospitals consisting of 73 for-profit hospitals and 66 nonprofit hospitals were included in the collected analysis data. Results of analysis revealed no significant difference between for-profit hospitals and nonprofit hospitals in the usage aspects of healthcare services including the average length of stay and the ratio of Medicare vs Medicaid patients. However, financial performances indicated by such factors. as the pre-tax return on assets and the pre-tax operating margin showed to be significantly higher in for-profit hospitals compared with nonprofit hospitals. And the ratio of personnel expenses and the turn period of total assets showed to be significantly lower in for-profit hospitals. Based on the hypothesis that arguments about the introduction of for-profit hospitals have considerably different viewpoints depending on the size of hospital represented by the number of bed, these two hospital types were compared again using the number of beds as a controlled factor, but the results were similar. We, therefore, could conclude that the for-profit hospitals in Florida included in this study could, in their for-profit operation, improve their financial performance by pursuing cost reduction and effectively utilizing their assets without limiting the amount and the range of their services or avoiding less medically protected groups such as Medicare and Medicaid patients.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.118-142
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• 2003

This study is aimed at evaluating the financial structure of hospitals before and after the separation of prescription and drug dispensing policy started to be implemented in July 2000 and at making a suitable hospital managerial strategy through the verification of the factors which have effect on their profitability. This study investigated the hospitals which have passed the accredition review to be designated as a accredited training hospital each year for three years from 1999 to 2001. Those hospitals were selected from members of the Korea Hospital Association. 106 hospitals were targeted for analysis except for the hospitals whose financial statements and managerial performance were not reported faithfully. The financial indicators used in this study were stability indicators(liability to total assets, ratio of debt to fund balance, fixed ratio), liquidity indicators(current ratio, quick ratio), activity indicators(total assets turnover, fixed assets turnover), profitability indicators(net profit to total assets, net profit to net worth, operating margin), and operating expenses to patient revenues indicators(drug and supplies costs/payroll/overhead expenses). The result of this study are as follows: First, the analysis of the increase of loss-making hospitals before and after. The separation of prescription and drug dispensing policy shows that the number of loss-making hospitals increase after the separation(22.6% before the separation; 31.1% after the separation). However, there was no significant statistical difference. Second, the analysis of operating expenses to patient revenues indicators showed that the ratio of drug and supplies cost became lower in all hospitals but the ratio of payroll/overhead expenses became higher. Additionally, the factor which have the greatest effect on profitability was operating expenses to patient revenues indicators (drug and supplies costs/payroll/overhead expenses). Third, the analysis of managerial performance by four types of loss-loss, loss-profit, profit-loss and profit-profit compared the results before the separation with those after the separation revealed as follows : Reliance on liability to total assets became higher in the profit-loss type($56.2%{\rightarrow}66.4%$), lower in the loss-profit type($82.7%{\rightarrow}74.5%$). Total assets turnover became higher in the profit-profit type($1.3{\rightarrow}1.5$), but lower in the loss-profit type($0.8{\rightarrow}0.7$). Operating margin decreased to minus 5.9% from 4.3% in the profit-loss type, but increased to 7.2% from minus 7.8% in the loss-profit type. Forth, operating expenses to revenues indicators showed that the increase of payroll was the biggest in the profit-loss type($39.2%{\rightarrow}49.9%$) and that overhead cost decreased in the loss-profit type but that rather increased in other types.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.1-20
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• 1999

This study was conducted to investigate the predictors of hospital bankruptcy in Korea and to examine the predictive power for 3 types of statistical models of hospital bankruptcy. Data on 17 financial and 4 non-financial indicators of 30 bankrupt and 30 profitable hospitals in 1. 2, and 3 years before bankruptcy were obtained from the hospital performance databank of Korea Institute of Health Services Management. Significant variables were identified through mean comparison of each indicator between bankrupt and profitable hospitals, and the predictive power of statistical models of hospital bankruptcy were compared. The major findings are as follows. 1. Nine out of 21 indicators - fixed ratio, quick ratio, operating profit to total assets, operating profit to gross revenue, normal profit to total assets,normal profit to gross revenue, net profit to gross revenue, inventories turnrounds, and added value per adjusted patient - were found to be significantly predictitive variables in Logit and Probit models. 2. The predicdtive power of discriminant model of hospital bankruptcy in 1. 2, and 3 years before bankruptcy were 85.4, 79.0, and 83.8% respectively. With regard to the predictive power of the Logit model of hospital bankruptcy, they were 82.3, 75.8, and 80.6% respectively, and of the Probit model. 87.1. 80.6, and 88.7% respectively. 3. The predictive power of the Probit model of hospital bankruptcy is better than the other two predictive models.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2014

This study was conducted to analyze if there is a difference between the head hospital and branch hospital by comparing the profitability and operating expenses to patient revenue of oriental medicine hospitals affiliated with universities in order to find whether opening branch hospitals is an appropriate method to increase profitability. Profit indices used for the comparison of head hospital and branch hospital include ratio of operating profit on medical revenue, net-income on medical revenue, net profit to total assets, and operating profit to total assets; and cost indices included ratio of labor costs, material costs and administrative costs. In comparison of profit indices of head hospitals and branch hospitals, head hospitals displayed negative(-) in all four profit index averages while branch hospitals displayed positive(+), showing that branch hospitals have higher profitability. In particular, in the case of head hospitals, ratio of net profit to total assets was -13.6%, while that of branch hospitals was 12.9%, which was higher than 3.1%, the average of Korean oriental medicine hospitals in 2011. As a result of difference analysis between groups of head hospitals and branch hospitals, profit indices of ratio of operating profit on medical revenue, net-income on medical revenue, and ratio of net profit to total assets were found to vary by hospitals, but there was no statistically significant difference between head hospitals and branch hospitals(p<0.1). Only the ratio of operating profit to total assets of head hospitals and branch hospitals indicated significant difference between the two groups, showing that ratio of operating profit to total assets of branch hospitals is larger than that of head hospitals. Meanwhile, the cost indices of ratio of labor costs, material costs and administrative costs in the difference test results did not show significant difference between the head hospital and branch hospital(p<0.1). Thus, it cannot be said that a certain oriental medicine hospital's profitability is high or low depending on whether it is head hospital or a branch as profitability varies depending on the management environment of the hospital. Therefore, oriental medicine hospitals affiliated with universities would need to make efforts to increase their profitability as an individual hospital rather than focusing on whether they are head hospital or a branch.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.81-86
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• 2018

Purposes: The purpose of this study is to argue that the taxation system for non-for-profit medical institution in Korea should be revised and that the basic direction should be to expand tax exemption like the US. Methods: We analyzed the US context of taxation policy for non-for-profit medical institutions and compared the US and Korean situation. Findings: In the United States, for-profit or non-for-profit medical institutions eternities are the most important criteria for hospital classification. Basically, full tax-exemption has been applied for non-for-profit medical institutions. The reason why many hospitals maintain their status as non-for-profit are following. First, the American society places great importance on the social responsibility and role of non-for-profit hospitals. Second, maintaining the status of non-for profit medical institutions is financially beneficial while maintaining good social reputation. The most powerful financial incentives are tax deductions and tax deductions for donations. Practical Implications: How will the taxation system for medical institutions in Korea be reformed in the future? First, if Korean government do not allow for-profit medical institutions, Korean government should consider implementing a full tax exemption system suitable for non-profit medical institutions like the US. Second, there are many variation in taxation for non-for-profit medical institution according to their legal positions. Therefore, current taxation system should be revised. Third, the reorganization of such taxation system should be in a direction that can finally encourage community benefit activities of medical institutions of nonprofit hospitals.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.38-53
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• 2001

The price of the hospitals' services is regulated by the governmental health insurance reimbursement schedule in Korea. On the other hand, the emphasis on the quality of care of hospitals service is ever increasing. Under the environment, hospitals have to understand the effects of the activities to improve quality of care on efficiency and on financial performance so that they develop a management strategy that allows quality of care, operational efficiency, and financial achievement simultaneously. This study investigates the relationship among the concepts. The sample for the study includes 23 hospitals that have more than 300 beds. The concept of quality of care is measured by the score reported by the Hospital Standardization Survey (HSS) instituted by Korean Hospital Association. Efficiency is measured by the ratio of number of employee to the number of patients served. Financial performance is measured by the financial ratios indicating the profitability of a hospital. An analysis is performed using the multiple regression. The results show significant positive relationships between the HSS score and efficiency indicators, md between the HSS score and profit measures. However, the significant positive relationship between the HSS score and profit measures disappeared when efficiency indicators were introduced to the model. This study concludes that the structural quality of a hospital has a positive effect on efficiency of the hospital and that the structural qualify indirectly affects the financial performance of a hospital through the improvement of efficiency. Based on the findings, the implications on hospital management and health policy are discussed.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.19-38
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• 2008

Financial ratios are key indicators of an organization's financial and business conditions. Among various financial indicators, profitability, financial structure, financial activity and liquidity ratios are frequently used and analyzed. Using the structural equation modeling(SEM) technique, this study examines the structural causal relationships among key financial indicators. Data for this study are taken from complete financial statements from 142 hospitals that passed the standardization audit undertaken by the Korean Hospital Association from 1998 to 2001 for the purpose of accrediting teaching hospitals. In order to improve comparability, ratio values are standardized using the Blom's normal distribution. The final model of the SEM has four latent constructs: financial activity(total asset turnover, fixed asset turnover), liquidity(current ratio, quick ratio, collection period), financial structure(total debt to equity, long-term debt to equity, fixed assets to fund balance), and profitability(return on assets, normal profit to total assets, operating margin to gross revenue, normal profit to gross revenue). While examining several model fit indices(Chi-square (df) = 178.661 (40), likelihood ratio=4.467, RMR=.11, GFI=.849, RMSEA=.157), the final SEM we employed shows a relatively good fit. After examining the path coefficient of the constructs, the financial structure of the hospital affects the hospital's profitability in a statistically significant way. A hospital which utilizes its liabilities, more specifically fixed liabilities, and makes a stable investment decision for fixed assets was found to have a higher profitability than other hospitals. Then, the standard path coefficients were examined to directly compare the influence of variables. It was found that there were no statistically significant path coefficients among constructs. When it comes to variables, however, statistically significant relationships were found. between. financial activity and. fixed. asset turnover, and between profitability and normal profit to gross revenue. These results show that the observed variables of fixed asset turnover and normal profit to gross revenue can be used as indicators representing financial activity and profitability.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.1-15
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• 2018

Purpose: This study is conducted to identify the impacts of tax exemption on community benefit, policy, human resource management, and public benefit. Based on the results of analysis, we explore several avenues to raise public benefit that is central to the value of existence of non-for-profit hospitals in Korea. Methodology: Survey was formulated referring to the US IRS tax exemption criteria, Form990/Schedule H, and Korean public hospital criteria. A total of 182 survey responses were collected and used to verify measurement validity and perform reliability analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and path analysis. Findings: The result of this study showed positive relationships among; i) tax development and planning, ii) planning and human resource management, iii) human resource management and policy, iv) policy and community benefit, v) community benefit and public benefit. Practical Conclusion: Tax exemption affects community benefit and public benefit directly as well as indirectly. This implies that expanding tax exemption is likely to improve public benefit mediating community benefit.