• International Journal of Contents
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2013

This research explores the convergence of health care expenditure in Korea with different income groups and the world level by applying different concepts of convergence, including growth rates, trends, differences as well as rationality and statistical variation of health care expenditure. The empirical evidence shows that, in general, the health care expenditure in Korea seems to be on the right track in terms of both level and difference, given the fact that convergence exists with the expenditures of the high income group and the world level. It is also worth mentioning that the Korean public health care system has been performing much better than its private health care counterpart. Such a result suggests that the private health care system has to be more elaborately and systematically managed through the establishment of an operational policy to stimulate an increase in private health care expenditure.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.21-47
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• 2004

There is general agreement that the Korean health care delivery system has two basic structural problems. One is the limited capacity and role of public hospitals, and the other is the absence of functional differentiation and referral arrangement between the clinics and hospitals of various technological sophistication levels. This study is intended to make an empirical observation of the system's growth process from the viewpoint of the population ecology model of organizations so as to understand the background of these problems and to find out ways of approaching them. As predicted from the population ecology model of organizations, all the types of medical care facilities have expanded in response to the environmental changes for the past three decades or so, and the differences in the extent and pattern of expansion among the types are related to what have taken place in the environment. These findings suggest that the efforts for reforming the health care delivery system should be directed not only to medical care institutions but also to the environmental context under which they function. It is believed that the usefulness of the population ecology perspective on organizations for studying the health care delivery system has been demonstrated. Thus further studies along this line based upon more strict design would improve systematic understanding of the system that is needed for developing policy approaches needed to increase its effectiveness.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.2693-2698
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• 2013

As our country is currently facing "aging society," people demands for qualitively and quantitatively better social welfare services. In particular, the abruptly rapid increase in the elderly population requires various welfare services and medical care related to the elderly. It is urgent to resolve these demands. Also, IT technology in Korea is developing rapidly, and U-Health, a part of the Ubiquitous field is under the actively ongoing researches. In this paper, we studied the Elderly care system model suing U-Health technology. We designed the care system of the residential environment designed specific for the elderly. Additionally, based on that design, we studied the elderly care system using the ubiquitous technology. Since this elderly care system combines the existing community-based model and IT technology in conjunction with other mobile devices, we may supply a new care service application, thus solving the problems of the existing care and medical services.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.27-38
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of tooth-brushing oral care on oral health and ventilator-associated pneumonia of patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Methods: A total of 74 participants were recruited from a medical, surgical, or neurosurgical ICU at S Hospital in Seoul, Korea, from September of 2010 to January of 2011. An experimental group (n= 36) received oral care with tooth-brushing while a control group (n=38) received oral care with cotton ball and gauze. In both group, the oral care was done three times a day at least one minute for 7 days. Oral health was examined by the Modified Oral Assessment Guide before the intervention and each night. Results: There is no difference between the groups in aspect of passage of time (p = .603), interaction between time and intervention (p =.300), the performance intervention (p = .766), and the incidence of VAP (p = .486). Conclusion: The effect of oral care with tooth-brushing on oral health and VAP was not different from that of usual oral care in ICU. However, further study is necessary due to high attrition in this study.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.253-264
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• 2019

The aim of this review is to present a German system of an outpatient care center under the German Health Insurance Act and home care (integration of medical care, basic care, bathing) under the Long-Term Care Insurance Act. This idea of a German integrated home care system should contribute to the development of a Korean home care model. Prior the introduction of long-term care insurance (1995), and with the of the health insurance law (1989), German outpatient care centers already provided medical and basic care services for patients with acute and chronic symptoms. Since 1995, patients with acute symptoms and rehabilitation periods under the Health Insurance Act have been eligible for home care. The Long-Term Care Insurance Act is intended for all citizens who are unable to carry out their daily activities for more than six months. In 2017, 13,657 (97%) of 14,050 outpatient care centers provided home care services after long-term care and health insurance. In other words, patients in Germany can use home care in both the acute and chronic phase at the same home care center, or 'integrated home-care center'.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.113-122
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• 2011

Purpose: This study was conducted to develop and evaluate an oral care protocol for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Methods: The participants in this study were cancer patients in Severance hospital in Seoul. A total of 31 patients were assigned to the experimental group, and 29 patients to the control group. Data were collected from August 1 to October 5, 2010. The protocol included definition and symptom of oral mucositis, self-check method of oral status, prophylactic method of oral mucositis (oral care, eating habits, and gargling) and management of oral mucositis. Oral Assessment Guide (OAG) was used as the measurement tool of oral mucositis in this study, Oral Care Performance Scale was used as the measurement tool of oral care performance status. Data were analyzed with a $x^2-test$ and t-test, and repeated measures ANOVA, using SPSS/WIN 18.0 program. Results: Patients in the experimental group receiving the oral care protocol had a significant difference (t=-2.938, p=.005) in the oral care performance compared to the control group. However, there was no significant difference (F=1.255, p=.274) in the oral mucositis status between two groups. Conclusion: This study showed that the oral care protocol could improve oral care performance status for the patients under chemotherapy.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.731-742
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• 2003

Purpose: This ethnography is aimed at describing the health care seeking behavior of elderly details in their socio-cultural context. The research question is 'under what conditions did elderly informants decide to use certain professional health care services and how do they make use of all the available resources?' Method: 10 sessions of fieldwork were conducted in the two agricultural villages between Sep. 1999 and Oct. 2002. The data for this paper came from participant observation with 14 informants. In the process of analysis I used proxemic and taxonomic techniques. Result: Informants decided to use a certain health care system according to their folk definition of illness. They prefer to use the health services where they felt more comfortable and free. They wished to be care from intuitive and holistic healers. Social network and having health resources was also important factor. Conclusion: We need more comprehensive research model to reach a plausible explanation. Combined qualitative-quantitative research is needed to get practical data to develop effective health care systems for the elderly.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2021

With the introduction of national health insurance, the burden of health care costs decreased and choices of medical services widened. However, because of the rapid expansion of non-covered medical services by health insurance, financial security for health care expenditure is still low. This gives patients barriers to choose medical services especially for non-covered medical services, and it becomes narrower. Compared to Korea, Japan has high financial protection in health care utilization, but there exists a limitation using covered and non-covered medical services both together. This is called a prohibition of mixed treatment in health care. This study reviews the Japanese health care system that limits choosing medical services and the burden of health care costs. The prohibition of mixed treatment can alleviate the out-of-pocket burden in the non-benefit sector, but it can be found that it has a huge limitation in that it places restrictions on choices for both healthcare professionals and patients.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.58-66
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• 2007

Purpose: A national long-term care system for elderly and the disabled has its unique evolution in each country. Japan, Germany and the United States may be the typical examples of respective social insurance system. This paper reviews the counterpart examples of Japan, Germany and the United States and looks at their accumulated long-term care system experiences and personal care system under workers' compensation. Methods: Literature review and website searching were conducted. Key words as 'workers' compensation insurance', 'personal care benefit' and 'long term care' were used in searching the related literatures. Results: Though the personal care benefit under current Workers'Compensation in Korea is very similar to Japan's, the long-term care system of Korea is not as well established. Germany and the United States have the provision of personal care benefit for injured workers within long term care system. Conclusions: We recommend some key issues to take into account for improving personal care benefit system in workers' compensation in Korea as follows: providing a comprehensive coverage through the linkage of long term care, introducing an assessment & evaluation system for the appropriate benefits, establishing insurer's role for quality management of personal care service, and developing a policy for family caregivers.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.5-14
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• 2003

Recently, there has been an increasing need for long-term care and comprehensive health care services in community settings. The Ministry of Health and Welfare introduced the Hospital-Based Home Nursing Care Program in 2000. Before this initiative, there was a Home Nursing Demonstration Center, affiliated with the Seoul Nurse Association, had offered home nursing services with the financial support from the local government. since 1993, the Center's nursing staff has been engaged in a general hospital in an effort to provide home nursing care services within Korea's health care system. The purpose of this study was to analyze and identify characteristics of community-based home nursing care supplied by a community-based home nursing team engaged in a general hospital. Also. visit nursing care services provided by public health centers were evaluated in terms of accessibility and supply versus demand, to enhance the accessibility of low-income patients living in Seoul to home nursing care services. Data were collected from home nursing insurance reimbursement claims submitted by the community-based home nursing care team from March 1 to October 30 in 2001 and a questionnaire survey on home-visit nursing services of 25 public health centers in Seoul. The subjects consisted of 197 patients and 12 public health centers. The result were as follows. First, medical institution's community-based home nursing care program was better in technical quality than health-center-based home-visit nursing care. In addition. the pattern of the subject patients was similar to that of hospital-based home nursing care program. Second, there was a high demand for community-based home nursing care while only a small number of home-visiting nurses served at public health centers in Seoul. As a result, many patients could not receive adequate care. Finally, we suggest that community-based home nursing care program should be introduced in the national health system to meet the at-home care needs of severely ill low-income patients. Furthermore, to better utilize home nursing and visit-nursing care resources and offer continued care for patients in community settings, an efficient referral network should be built among related institutions. This would require improvement of reimbursement system and amendment of the law related to health insurance system and community-based home nursing care services.