• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.188-194
• /
• 2015

Objectives: The goal of this study was to identify association between the continuity of ambulatory care of diabetes patients in South Korea (hereafter Korea) and the incidence of macrovascular complications of diabetes, using claims data compiled by the National Health Insurance Services of Korea. Methods: This study was conducted retrospectively. The subjects of the study were 43 002 patients diagnosed with diabetes in 2007, who were over 30 years of age, and had insurance claim data from 2008. The macrovascular complications of diabetes mellitus were limited to ischemic heart disease and ischemic stroke. We compared the characteristics of the patients in whom macrovascular complications occurred from 2009 to 2012 to the characteristics of the patients who had no such complications. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the effects of continuity of ambulatory care on diabetic macrovascular complications. The continuity of ambulatory diabetes care was estimated by metrics such as the medication possession ratio, the quarterly continuity of care and the number of clinics that were visited. Results: Patients with macrovascular complications showed statistically significant differences regarding sex, age, comorbidities, hypertension, dyslipidemia and continuity of ambulatory diabetes care. Visiting a lower number of clinics reduced the odds ratio for macrovascular complications of diabetes. A medication possession ratio below 80% was associated with an increased odds ratio for macrovascular complications, but this result was of borderline statistical significance. Conclusions: Diabetes care by regular health care providers was found to be associated with a lower occurrence of diabetic macrovascular complications. This result has policy implications for the Korean health care system, in which the delivery system does not work properly.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.423-433
• /
• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the health care experiences among patients with Parkinson's disease. Methods: Of the qualitative research methods, Colaizzi's phenomenological method was used in this study. A total of nine patients, who were diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and receiving outpatient treatment, were selected as the subjects of this study. Subsequently, data were collected through individual in-depth interview. Results: The four categories obtained as a result were 'strenuous efforts to control my own body,' 'subject of health that no one can replace,' 'focus on the current while expecting a breakthrough in health management,' and 'human dignity that cannot be lost to the end.' Conclusion: The study results are expected to help health care providers deeply understand the experiences in health care among patients with Parkinson's disease and to provide source data for nursing intervention development that can be helpful in managing the health status of patients with Parkinson's disease.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.383-402
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting family caregiver financial burden of out-of pocket expenses for the nursing home service under Long-term Care Insurance System. We conducted a national cross-sectional descriptive survey from July to September 2010 to collect data based on the long-term care benefits cost specification. Total 1,016 family caregivers completed questionnaires. 185 subjects of total were excluded from the data analysis due to being answered by user(18 cases), or caregivers not to pay for services expenditures(122 cases), having a missing data on family caregivers characteristics(45 cases). Finally, 831 subjects were included in the study. The average financial burden was 3.18(${\pm}0.71$). We divided subjects into two groups by level of burden, high-burden group and low-burden group. In the result of the multiple logistic regression analysis, family caregiver financial burden was significantly higher in family caregivers with ages 40 to 49 compared to less than 40, lower educational level, unsatisfaction for long-term care service, high percentage(more than 50%) of cost-sharing and high total out-of pocket expenses(more than 300,000 won) for long-term care services. Also, Family caregivers who are spouse felt higher financial burden compared to son. This study is meaningful as the first attempt to measure family caregiver financial burden for long-term care service and to identify factors affecting the financial burden. Family caregivers felt financial burden of out-of pocket expenses for the nursing home service. The policy makers, the insurer, and the providers need to pay attention to ease family caregiver financial burden.

• IE interfaces
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.426-439
• /
• 2004

This research discusses knowledge contents needed to build an OLAP system for medical sector, OLAP functionalities from past studies, and a medical intelligence system which is a kind of OLAP. The knowledge requirements which consist of nine contents and OLAP fundamental functionalities are applied to the system. Most past studies have focused on developing a medical data warehouse rather than OLAP. The medical intelligence system supplies health care providers (i.e., doctors, clinicians, researchers and nurses) and non-providers (i.e., managers and business analysts) with multidimensional OLAP functionalities. The system can be used to gain a deeper understanding of specific medical issues. In this research, we focus not on medical data warehouse, but on the technical challenges of designing and implementing an effective medical intelligence system for health care information. An architecture is applied to developing the medical intelligence system for a medical center in order to illustrate its practical usage. Six packages in the developed system are discussed in this research: Explorer, Analyzer, Reporter, Statistician, Visualizer, and Meta Administrator packages. Evaluation of the system and ongoing research directions conclude the research.

• Women's Health Nursing
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.133-145
• /
• 1999

The purposesof the study are to analyze the community nursing center in U.S.A and to develop the model of nursing care system based on nurse-midwifery clinic in community for women's health in Korea. 1. In America nursing center is defined as nurse-anchored system of primary care delivery or neighborhood health center. Nursing centers are identified the following four types: (1) community outreach centers, which are similar to traditional public health clinics: (2) institutional-based centers following the mission of a large institution, such as a hospital or university: (3) wellness/health promotion centers, which offer screening, education, counseling, triage, and health maintenance services: and (4) independent practice. Nursing centers are a concept of services provided by nurses in practice arrangements in a community. Nursing centers offer a variety of services, ranging from primary care provided by advanced practice nurses with medical acute management and nursing care to the more traditional education, health promotion, screening wellness and coordination services. Some services, such as the care provided by advanced practice nurses are reimbursed under various insurance plan in some instances and states, where as others, such as preventive and educational services, are not. Thus, lack of reimbursement has threatened the survival of some centers. Licensing of nursing centers varies by state and program and accreditation of nursing centers is also limited. 52% of centers are affiliated with another facility and 48% are freestanding centers. The number of registered nurse at the nursing centers ranges from just one to 115, with a mean of eight RNs peragency and a median of three. Nursing centers avail ability varies: 14% are open 24 hours, 27% have variable short hours, 23% are open 6-7 days per week, and 36% are open Monday- Friday. As the result of my visiting three health centers in Seattle and San Francisco, the women's primary care nurse practitioners focus on a systematic and comprehensive assessment of the health status of women and diagnosis and management of common physical and psychosocial health concerns of women in ambulatory settings. Therapeutic nursing strategies are directed toward self-care, risk reoduction, health surveillance, stress reduction, healthy nutrition, social support, healthy coping, psychological well-being, and pharmacological therapy. They function as primary care providers for the well ness and illness care of women from adolescence through the older adult years and pregnant families. 2. In Korea a nurse-midwife practices independently for pregnant women's health including childbearing family at her own clinic in community. Her services are reimbursed under national health insurance but they are not paid on a fee-for-service schedule covering items. Analyzing the nursing centers in America, I suggest that nurse-midwifery clinics offer primary care for women and home care for chronic ill patients. The health law and health insurance policy should be reovised in order to expand nurse-midwife's and home care nurse's roles at nurse-midwifery clinic.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.3-18
• /
• 2013

This paper investigates the possibility of expanding pay-for-performance (P4P) program as a provider payment system, in terms of financial, economical, and political sustainability. In order to expand the sustainable P4P, P4P should have usefulness in terms of economic value as well as efficiency in the financial aspects of health care. More importantly, the P4P would be politically sustainable only when both providers and consumers can accept. Korea's healthcare system seems to have logical ground for the P4P program financially and economically. However, how well the P4P can work remains to be proven in its implementation. After 43 tertiary hospitals applied the P4P program for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and C-section in 2007, the number of hospitals adopting the P4P program for AMI and C-section has increased to 316 in 2011, and an incentive for hospitals applying the P4P has risen to 2% from 1% of health insurance benefits. This shows that the P4P program introduced by Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service is quite successful. In addition, people are aware of the need for improved P4P program and policy alternatives have been already made. Therefore, it is very important to come up with politically supportable strategies that can make providers and consumers accept the P4P program while maintaining the governance of the existing health insurance policy. To this end, there are some tasks to be considered. First, the expansion of the P4P program should be placed on the agenda of the Health Insurance Policy Review Committee, the highest decision-making body, and a separate agency for P4P planning should be established. Second, for more efficient P4P program, the processes of review and assessment, currently carried out separately, should be integrated into a single process. Third, infrastructure to measure the quality of medical services should be sharply expanded. Fourth, the current paradigm for the assessment should be changed. Lastly, a P4P program for consumers should be considered. Given that the consumers in Korea can use medical services freely, the National Health Insurance Corporation could initiate the P4P program for consumers as a means of controlling excessive use of medical services and adjusting consumer's moral hazard.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.48 no.6
• /
• pp.731-742
• /
• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesis explaining direct and indirect relationships among the factors affecting self-care behaviors of kidney transplant patients, based on self-determination theory. Methods: Data were collected from 222 outpatients with kidney transplantation. The endogenous and exogenous variables of the hypothetical model consisted of healthcare provider's autonomy support, duration after kidney transplantation, basic psychological need satisfaction, autonomous and controlled motivation, depression, and self-care behaviors. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 24.0 and AMOS 24.0. Results: The hypothetical model demonstrated a good fit: RMSEA=.06, SRMR=.04, TLI=.94, CFI=.97. Statistically significant explanatory variables for the self-care behaviors of kidney transplant patients were duration after transplantation and basic psychological need satisfaction. Healthcare provider's autonomy support was indirectly significant, while autonomous motivation, controlled motivation and depression were not statistically significant for self-care behaviors. The variables accounted for 59.5% of the self-care behaviors of kidney transplant patients. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop an autonomy support program for healthcare providers to enhance the self-care behaviors of kidney transplant patients. Preventing the deterioration of self-care behaviors will be possible by conducting this program at one year and six years post-transplantation. In addition, the results suggest the need to developing personalized autonomy support programs for healthcare providers that can meet the basic psychological need satisfaction of kidney transplant patients.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
• /
• v.9 no.12
• /
• pp.7-14
• /
• 2018

Purpose - The core objective of the research is to explore the quality of services provided by the Nigerian health care sector that lead to know the satisfaction levels of the consumers. Research design, data, and methodology - After a meticulous literature review, the researchers administered a two part questionnaire to know the service gaps and satisfaction levels of the customers. The research carried out with a sample of 400 respondents but received only 150 responses from the residents around Adamawa state. The collected data was edited, coded, and analyzed with the SPSS latest version with the descriptive and inferential statistical tools. Results - Majority of the respondents expressed their discontentment over the responsiveness of the service providers when compared to tangibility and reliability quality variables. There is no relationship between the quality variable tangibility and overall satisfaction. Related to the overall satisfaction, 42 percent of respondents have neutral perspective indicated that they are either satisfied or dissatisfied as against the 43.3 percent of dissatisfied customers. Conclusions - This research proffers invaluable information to the entire Nigerian health-care sector to review their existing delivery of services to improve patient satisfaction. This research is first of its kind concentrated to know the quality of health-care services and customers overall satisfaction in Nigeria.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.279-291
• /
• 2001

Rapid progress in modern medical technology has made it possible to sustain life and/or delay death using 'heroic' treatments. The availability of life-sustaining treatment brings several issues in end-of-life care such as 'dying with dignity' and an radical increase in health care costs. The use of Advance Directives(AD) have been widely heralded by health care providers, gerontologists, and advocacy groups as means of protecting patients' right to accept or refuse life-sustaining treatment in end-of-life care. The use of AD can not only improve patients' autonomy and quality of life but also bring efficiency in distributing health care resources. The proportion of older persons in Korean population has been increasing. Those 65 years of age or over were about 7 percent of the population. Death and dying is not limited to older persons, but it is more prevalent among them. In conjunction with an aging population and the increasing prevalence of death, the issues of death and dying will become crucial in near future in terms of 'dying with dignity', 'autonomy', and 'self-control'. This paper attempts to explode and establish the concept of advance directives (AD) based on literature review. Data sources are computer searches with the MEDLINE database. Due to the lack of prior study on AD for a Korean cases, studies abroad are reviewed. This paper suggests the need for future study on the possibility of the use of AD in Korea.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.457-466
• /
• 2014

This study aimed to investigate the awareness and utilization of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in hypertension or diabetes patients to participate in health class in rural community health center. A total of 177 hypertension or diabetes patients were participated in this study. Data were collected using face-to face interviews and were analyzed using the SPSS WIN 18.0 program. About 56.5% of subjects experienced CAM and 16.0% of subjects told heath care providers about CAM. General awareness of CAM was $3.11{\pm}0.58$ in 5 point, and awareness significantly positively correlated with intention to reuse CAM, recommend CAM, and participate in CAM-related education (r=.604, r=.516, r=.419, p<.001). Health care providers such as doctors and nurses need to be concerned about CAM utilization and awareness in chronic disease patients. These findings can be used in developing effective strategies for health care providers and health policy makers to provide right awareness and utilization of CAM for chronic disease patients and the public.