• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
• /
• v.9 no.11
• /
• pp.7-15
• /
• 2018

Purpose - This study surveys factors such as lifestyles, nutritional status, physical indicators, and physical fitness levels that affect the health of seniors over the age of 65 and based on the collected data attempts to create a senior health index model that provides health service information, help support seniors' successful aging, and improve their quality of life. Research design, data, and methodology - This paper conducted the development for senior health index model and the cross validity verification to examine the status of senior health level, and aimed at setting the health status evaluation criteria. Seniors 384 usable data were analyzed. Results - As an attempt to segment the senior health service market, I divided the results of this study based on measurability, accessibility, disparity between groups, and the size of the potential client base. I divided the senior market into five subgroups: very healthy, healthy, normal, weak, and very weak. Conclusions - The findings of this study may prove useful in preparing for the forthcoming super-aged society through segmentation of the senior market, understanding differences between groups with different health conditions, and discovering effective marketing strategies that meet the demands of different senior groups.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.11-25
• /
• 2017

The purpose of the study is to analyze the status and trend of less favored condition of fishing village in Korean island regions using the census of agriculture, forestry and fisheries. The less favored condition was measured as the difference in accessibility to major services and in fishery sales and resident infrastructure, applying the difference-in-difference method and propensity score matching method respectively. The result shows that access to major services has improved in island area between 2010 and 2015, implying that related policies such as the island comprehensive development project have been successful to some extent. However, some educational facilities, cultural facilities, and health facilities still have low inaccessibility and fishery sales are also significantly lower than in general area. This suggests that it is necessary to maintain related policies like the direct payment of fisheries.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.252-255
• /
• 2020

This article aims to discuss the barriers hindering cancer patients from receiving early palliative care, which has been demonstrated to be more effective in improving quality of life and controlling symptoms. Specifically, there are barriers in four aspects of delivering early palliative care. First, the difficulty of starting discussions about early palliative care and the lack of adequate appointment time can impede communication between oncologists and patients and their family members. Second, determining the timing of referral and deciding upon and applying a standard for referral can be barriers in the process of referral from oncology to palliative care. Third, palliative care patients and their family members can face difficulties regarding in what format and by whom the services will be delivered. Fourth, biases, misinformation, and inaccurate beliefs can be barriers in the process of patients and their family members accepting care. In order to facilitate early palliative care, research and policy regarding these barriers are necessary, along with efforts made by medical staff.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.6 no.1
• /
• pp.62-84
• /
• 2001

The purpose of the study was to compare patient's satisfaction on the pharmacy services after introducing the new system of separation of dispensing from prescribing medicines, between those filling their prescriptions from the pharmacy nearby hospitals and those from the pharmacy in their resident areas. To measure patient's satisfaction, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 354 outpatients who received prescriptions from any of the three university hospitals located in In-Cheon city. Study results showed that geographic accessibility to pharmacy was a main attribute to select pharmacy. Size of the pharmacy and availability of prescription drugs are the second major reasons for pharmacy selection for the patients from the pharmacy nearby hospital, whereas patronage is the second major reason for those from the pharmacy in resident areas. Overall satisfaction was higher among the patients from the pharmacy in resident areas than those from the pharmacy nearby hospitals, mainly due to better facilities(waiting area, public telephone, etc), kindness, cleanliness, shorter waiting time, and pharmacist's concern about patient's health. On the other hand, the patients of the pharmacy nearby hospitals showed low satisfaction because of long waiting time and the lack of pharmacist's knowledge and information about patients' health status and medication history. Patients visiting the hospital that has pharmacy-hospital cooperation system showed higher satisfaction as compared to those visiting the hospital without such system. This study provided an empirical evidence that it would be more advantageous for patients to receive pharmacy services from pharmacies located in their living areas than from pharmacies nearby hospitals. This implies that there is a strong need for adequate strategies to enhance the role of pharmacies in resident areas under the new system of separation of dispensing from prescribing medications.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.17 no.12
• /
• pp.594-602
• /
• 2016

This study was carried out to suggest hospital referral system improvements based on health insurance subscriber perceptions of the delivery of healthcare. Health insurance subscriber outpatients (n = 207) referred from a stage 1 medical institution to the S university hospital located in Seoul responded to the study survey. The study's item reliability is reliable as the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was greater than 0.7. This study results showed that 5.9% of patients were referred from a higher stage hospital to a same stage hospital. The main factor attracting patients to S university hospital were physician reputation and confidence. The highest factor ($4.40{\pm}.92$) was xxxx. In addition, survey respondents reported that the concentration of patients in extra-large hospitals in Seoul ($4.24{\pm}.97$) was an important issue, and the issue with the highest priority for improvement ($4.05{\pm}1.02$). A positive correlation was detected between the recognition and improvement of delivery of healthcare (p < 0.01). Based on the results, we suggest that improvements in the delivery of healthcare should focus on patients rather than suppliers of national health insurance or other insurers. Keywords: delivery of healthcare, health services accessibility, national health insurance, tertiary care centers, hospital referral.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.315-324
• /
• 2016

Underserved area is a region that has a lack of healthcare resources. In the context of Korea, however, there are not enough detailed criteria for underserved areas. In this study, we aimed to develop indicators for underserved area through Delphi technique. We systematically reviewed the existing measure of underserved area. Sixty indicators were extracted as candidates across four domains in secondary medical care. Four domains are demand, medical resource, quality of care, and health outcome. To develop indicator, two round Delphi survey was conducted among 15 professional experts such as professionals and public administrators. In conclusion, 2 final indicators (accessibility, medical utilization) was determined as an appropriate measure in order to designate underserved area for secondary medical services. Using our criteria from Delphi technique, 36 areas were found as underserved areas for the secondary medical care.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.1371-1376
• /
• 2012

Background: Economic status is known to be directly or indirectly related to cancer incidence since it affects accessibility to health-related social resources, preventive medical checkups, and lifestyle. This study investigates the relationship between cancer incidence and family income in Korea. Methods:Using the Korean National Health Insurance cancer registration data in 2009, the relationship between their family income class and cancer risk was analyzed. The age-standardized incidence rates of the major cancers were calculated for men and women separately. After adjusting for age, residential area, and number of family members, cancer risks for major cancers according to family income class were estimated using a logistic regression model. Results: In men, the risk of stomach cancer for Income Class 5 (lowest) was 1.12 times (95% CI 1.02-1.23) higher than that of Income Class 1 (highest), for lung cancer 1.61 times (95% CI 1.43-1.81) higher, for liver cancer 1.22 times (95% CI 1.08-1.37) higher, and for rectal cancer 1.37 times higher (95% CI 1.18-1.59). In women, the risk of stomach cancer for Income Class 5 was 1.22 times higher (95% CI 1.08-1.37) than that for Income Class 1, while for cervical cancer it was 2.47 times higher (95% CI 2.08-2.94). In contrast, in men, Income Class 1 showed a higher risk of thyroid cancer and prostate cancer than that of Income Class 5, while, in women the same was the case for thyroid cancer. Conclusions: The results show the relationship between family income and cancer risk differs according to type of cancer.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.491-507
• /
• 2021

Background: This study aims to measure regional healthcare differences in Korea, and define relatively underserved areas. Methods: We employed position value for relative comparison index (PARC) to measure the healthcare status of 250 areas using 137 indicators in five following domains: healthcare demand, supply, accessibility, service utilization, and outcome. We performed a sensitivity analysis using t-SNE (t-distributed stochastic neighboring embedding). Results: Based on PARC values, 83 areas were defined as relatively underserved areas, 49 of which were categorized as moderate and 34 as severe. The provincial regions with the most underserved areas were Gyeongbuk (16 areas), Gangwon (13), Jeonnam (13), and Gyeongnam (12). Conclusion: This study suggests a relative comparison approach to define relatively underserved areas in healthcare. Further studies incorporating various perspectives and methods are required for policy implications.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.27-43
• /
• 2010

The present study was conducted to assess relative importance of hospital attributes considered by patients with spinal diseases in choosing specialty or general hospitals. A total of 230 patients hospitalized with spinal diseases in sampled study sites, including 2 specialty and 2 general hospitals, participated in a self-administered questionnaire survey from April 26 through May 8 2007. Patients were asked to rate the degree of agreement on each of the 15 attributes on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 : strongly disagree, 5 : strongly agree) for which they chose the hospital because of that specific attribute. Based on a Factor analysis, the attributes were grouped into 4 : facility and environment, accessibility, interpersonal factor, and credibility. Both patient groups from specialty (mean scale score ; 3.75) and general hospitals (3.62) commonly considered 'credibility' to be the most important attribute, followed by 'facility and environment (3.05 and 3.21).' Logistic regression analysis showed that men(Odds ratio(OR)=0.333) and those with monthly income of $\geq$ 4 million won (OR=0.298) were less likely to choose specialty hospitals. Age groups of 30 to 39 years old (OR=5.140) and $\geq$ 60 years old(OR=4.761), and professionals (OR=5.207) tended to choose specialty hospitals. Patients expressing more importance on 'facility and environment' attribute were less likely to use specialty hospitals (OR=0.571), whereas those emphasizing 'accessibility' were more likely to use specialty hospitals(OR=1.487). The findings of significant difference in patient's demographic characteristics and consideration in hospital attributes would contribute to have a better understanding on patient's choice behaviour and to develop strategy to improve patient's satisfaction.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.20 no.12
• /
• pp.180-197
• /
• 2020

The purpose of this study is to explain intention to use untact medical diagnosis and consultation services. There is a need for untact medical diagnosis and consultation services in order to increase social interests and a global trend for public protection and convenience enhancement. We carry out the analysis of the survey data using Smart PLS 3.0 to test the hypotheses. According to the empirical analysis results, this study confirms that health consciousness have significant effects on the cost saving, quality of telemedicine service and self-efficacy have significant effects on the accessibility, compatibility. cost saving, quality of telemedicine service, accessibility and compatibility have significant effects on Perceived usefulness. Perceived usefulness have significant effects on use Intention of untact medical diagnosis and consultation services. This study has its meaning because it found out that it deals structurally and expansively with use intention through Expected Benefit and usefulness based on individual characteristics for untact medical diagnosis and consultation services. In addition, The results of this study suggest that if the related policies are institutionalized based on the Expected Benefits covered in this study, the perception of untact medical diagnosis and consultation services can be changed progressively.