• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.17-25
• /
• 2012

Objectives: This study was conducted to explore the contemporary perception of traditional Korean medical doctors (TKMDs) on traditional Korean medicine (TKM) policies and issues. Methods: A questionnaire that included traditional medicine policy- and treatment-related issues was sent to 130 TKM medical centers and 4,300 TKM local clinical offices in Korea, and received responses from total 648 TKMDs in 122 TKM medical centers and 465 TKM local clinical offices. Results: Of the responding TKMDs, 40% believed that unification of Western and traditional medicines would benefit both modes of medical treatment, 67.6% were against allowing Chinese doctor certification to be effective in Korea through the Korea-China FTA (Free Trade Agreement), and 57.8% believed that the number of TKMDs should be reduced. We also found that 46.1% of TKMDs believed that more lectures on Western medicine would be needed in schools of TKM. Moreover, 87.5% of respondents regarded medical knowledge as necessary for treatment, and 49.4% believed National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Traditional Medicine (NCCAOM) would be not necessary. TKMDs regarded governmental efforts as more vital than education in schools or individual efforts for enhancement of the traditional medical care market in Korea. To efficiently provide the advantages of complementary CAM, such as cost and safety, detailed research is required when policy is made. Conclusions: The TKM industry must implement policies how the relationship with Western medicine can be better defined under the current dual medical system. On the issue of human resources, more research will be needed on the current policy, which serves to maintain the status quo by blocking the importation of Chinese practitioners and by reducing the number of new practitioners.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 2006

Recently according to the WIPO's policy of preserving traditional knowledge, constructing the database of traditional knowledge is in progress. To maximize the retrieving power of the knowledge resource systems which will be developed later, it is necessary to construct the ontology for the concepts used by traditional knowledge. In order to construct the ontology systematically, a standardized ontology representation method is needed, and OWL(Web Ontology Language) is the recommendation of W3C(World Wide Web Consortium) and is widely used. Ontology tools can be used to ease the construction of OWL ontology, but no research about the comparison of OWL ontology tools exists. This paper compares the tools of OWL by an objective point of view and with that one can make a decision of using the appropriate tool for constructing OWL ontologies.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.101-109
• /
• 2010

The medical and healthy paradigm is changing by various reasons such as improving of life quality, the limit of western medicine, demographic changes and so on. And the demand, interest and market size of traditional medicine(TM) and complementary and alternative medicine(CAM) are increasing continuously and there is a good traditional medicine called TKM(Traditional Korean Medicine) in Korea. TKM have differentiated characteristics like nature-friendly, systematic, preventive and personalized medicine from western medicine. TKM with these characteristics have possibility to increase national competitiveness and contribute to growth of economy. At this time, it is necessary to select key area of TKM R&D to increase competitiveness of TKM and to create new growth engine. In this paper, we suggest key area of TKM R&D through SWOT analysis, the analysis of world traditional medicine and expert's counsel. As a result, 3 key area and 10 specific fields of TKM R&D was selected, which they are 'the standardization for TKM technology and technique', 'the development of generic technology based on TKM' and 'the establishment of infrastructure for TKM information and material'. This study may contribute to make plan for TKM research and policy such as TKM middle and long term plan and TKM promotion plan.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.71-82
• /
• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this study is to present the desirable model for the promotion of care coordination between Korean Medicine and Western Medicine and develope the instrument to measure the level of coordination. Moreover, we verified the validity and reliability of the developed Instrument. Method : In this study, We developed the 16 items regarding care coordination in Korean Medicine and Western Medicine by literature review and expert interviews. In addition, we verified the validity and reliability of the instrument as a methodological research. Results : We developed two factors such as 'Inter-professional activities' and 'Organizational support' as the instrument to measure the level of care coordination, and each of seven, eight total of 15 measurement items are listed. Conclusion : Since the legal permission, the level and type of care coordination and the effects of them are needed to be checked. So, the measurement instrument driven by this study has a political signification in healthcare system specially in these times. In addition, by utilizing this instrument, we propose to perform a variety of future studies on the levels of healthcare coordination and related outcomes.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.239-247
• /
• 2003

Objectives : The objectives of this study were to examine the difference in attitude toward health-specific locus-of-control and medical care among western medical students, oriental Medical students, and non-medical school students. Methods : The subjects of this study were 667 students who agreed to respond the questionnaire :212 western medical school students, 190 oriental medical school students, and 205 non-medical school students. The health-specific locus of control was measured by the structured questionnaire developed by Lau and Ware. The attitude toward western and oriental medicine was also measured by the questionnaire. Results : Western medical students and non-medical school students were more likely than oriental medical students to place high value on 'the provider control over health' and 'the general threat to health' scales (F=20.47, F=19.98). But oriental medical school students ranked 'the self control of health' scale as more important than any other locus of control scale (F=19.34). The health specific locus of control was also different from the grade. When trte grade was increased, 'the provider control over health' scale was slowly decreased, especially in western medical students and non medical school students. However, the 'general threat to health' scale was increased in oriental medical students. Western medical school students expressed more positive attitude toward western medicine. Oriental medical school students put a higher score on oriental medicine. Nevertheless, as the grade was increased, the positive attitude toward oriental medicine slightly decreased in oriental medical school students. Conclusions : There is a difference in health-specific locus of control and attitude toward medicine among western medical students, oriental medical students, and non-medical students. The locus of control and attitude of medical students towards medicine may affect both how they behave towards patients and how they help shape future public policy. Therefore, interdisciplinary educational initiatives may be the best way to handle this issue.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.40-48
• /
• 2010

1. Objectives Herbal Extracts are used in Korean Oriental Medicine clinics. The sixty eight kinds of single herbal extracts and fifty six kinds of mixed herbal extracts has been using since the first year of execution of Korean medicine national insurance policy in 1987. This paper was performed to make a guideline of using herbal extracts. Single herbal extracts and mixed herbal extracts were discussed and classified according to Sasang constition. 2. Methods The sixty eight single herbal extracts were classified into four categories according to Sasang Constitution and fifty six mixed herbal extracts were classified by six Korean oriental medical doctors. Mixed herbal extracts were considered in terms of drug roles[sovereign, minister, assistant and courier(君臣佐使)] or most included ingredient herb. 3. Results Sasang constitutions which were suitable for fifty six mixed herbal extracts were Soeumin(46.4%), mixed constitution(39.2%) and Soyangin(8.9%), Taeeumin(5.3%). Sasang constitutions which were suitable for sixty eight single herbal extracts were Soeumin(47.1%), Soyangin(32.4%) and Taeeumin(20.6%). 4. Conclusions The rate of Soeumin herbal extracts was the most highest among all constitutions. It is regarded that warming and enforcing herb medicine were most used in all prescriptions.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.36-47
• /
• 2002

Over thousands of years oriental traditional medicine has developed a theoretical and practical approach to treat and prevent diseases and to promote people's health in China and Korea. In China, the integration of traditional Chinese medicine into the national healthcare system began in the late 1950s. This was in response to national planning needs to provide comprehensive healthcare services. On contrary to China, South Korea established the parallel operation of two independent medical systems in 1952. Hence there has been a political conflict between oriental and modern medicine over issues of fee, the ability to sell and prescribe herbal medicines, and the licensing of practitioners in traditional medicines. Given this background. This study is to compare peoples' attitudes and opinions for oriental traditional medicine by ethnicity (Chinese, Korean-Chinese and Korean). Chinese and Korean-Chinese were more used and satisfied with traditional medicine treatment and traditional practitioners compared with Koreans. The proportion of Koreans who reported the cost of traditional treatments was expensive was higher than those of Chinese and Korean Chinese. Most of Chinese, Korean-Chinese, and Koreans reported that they would use traditional medicine: 1) when they would have some disease to be treated best through traditional medicine; and 2) when traditional practitioner had a reputation and lots of experiences for those diseases. Most Korean people reported that oriental and western practitioners should cooperate each other to improve the quality of care. Therefore, policy framework including integration of traditional and western medicine, regulation, etc. is needed. In addition, research is needed to determine which diseases is treated best through traditional medicine.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.115-125
• /
• 2011

Objectives : The aim of this study is to investigate the relevant factors which determine the use of oriental healthcare services among subjects with chronic illnesses. Method : This study utilized the data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2005. Out of all the participants of the survey, 11,665 individuals who are older than 19 years old and have one or more chronic diseases were included in this study. Results : The factors that affect utilization of oriental healthcare services were significantly associated with gender, educational level, job, personal income, the number of chronic illnesses, experiences of nontreatment or delayed treatment and admission experiences for the last one year(p<.001). Although some of these factors need further studies, the determining factors for the use of oriental healthcare services are the presence of chronic illness and the number of chronic disease. That is, the chronically ill are more likely to seek oriental healthcare services. And the more chronic diseases the clients have the higher probability of seeking oriental healthcare services was found. Conclusions : The results suggest that the national integrated care services should be established for diverse development of policy regarding the quality of care of chronic illness and cost-effectiveness.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.145-155
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this paper is to review the profitability of sixteen university hospitals of oriental medicine during 2007~2009. Data was collected from 16 hospitals that reveal financial statements to the public and the hospitals were classified into 7 groups. Net sales and COGS per 100 beds of the 7 groups were analyzed to measure profitability and as a percentage of net sales, the rates of personnel expenses, maintenance costs, and material costs were evaluated. The results showed that six groups had consecutively recorded net loss in medical services and differences in profitability among 7 groups were substantial. The analysis showed the profitability was significant for medium-sized hospitals. The rates of personnel expenses in net sales were above 50% in 6 groups with net loss and one group with net profit was 45%. This result indicate the rate of personnel expenses in net sales could be the main factor affecting profitability and further studies are recommended to analyze the determinants of profitability in oriental medical hospitals.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.344-354
• /
• 2021

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of national health insurance coverage of Chuna therapy in April 2019 on the costs and service uses in automobile insurance. Methods: This study used the claim data from Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. A total of 189,912 inpatients and 1,550,497 outpatients who received Chuna therapy covered by automobile insurance in oriental medical institutions were included. The analysis period was from July 2018 to December 2019, and a total of 18 months before and after April 2019, when Chuna therapy was covered by national health insurance. Interrupted time series analysis was applied to analyze the impact on the costs and service uses of Chuna therapy in automobile insurance before and after April 2019. Results: From July 2018 to December 2019, for 189,912 inpatients the cost and the number of times for Chuna therapy per capita were increased by 22.0% and decreased by 7.3% respectively right after the implementation of the policy. In the case of 1,550,497 outpatients, the cost of Chuna therapy per capita tends to be increased by 0.4% in overall study periods and increased 28.4% immediately after the implementation of the policy. Meanwhile, the number of times and visits for Chuna therapy per capita tends to be increased by 0.4% in overall study periods but decreased by 0.4% after the implementation of the policy. Conclusion: Results suggest that if the national health insurance coverage of oriental medicine services increases according to the policy stance for benefit expansion in national health insurance, the criteria for providing national health insurance benefits should be considered with the comprehensive impacts on the costs and service uses of automobile insurance.