• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.400-403
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: By the year 2050, thirty-eight percent of the Korean population will be over the age of 65. Health care costs for Koreans over age 65 reached 15.4 trillion Korean won in 2011, accounting for a third of the total health care costs for the population. Chronic degenerative diseases, including coronary heart disease (CHD), drive long-term health care costs at an alarming annual rate. In the elderly population, loss of independence is one of the main reasons for this increase in health care costs. Korean heath policies place a high priority on the prevention of CHD because it is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This evidence-based study aims to the estimate potential health care cost savings resulting from the daily intake of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation. Potential cost savings associated with a reduced risk of CHD and the medical costs potentially avoided through risk reduction, including hospitalizations and physician services, were estimated using a Congressional Budget Office cost accounting methodology. RESULTS: The estimate of the seven-year (2005-2011) net savings in medical costs resulting from a reduction in the incidence of CHD among the elderly population through the daily use of omega-3 fatty acids was approximately 210 billion Korean won. Approximately 92,997 hospitalizations due to CHD could be avoided over the seven years. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that omega-3 supplementation in older individuals may yield substantial cost-savings by reducing the risk of CHD. It should be noted that additional health and cost benefits need to be revisited and re-evaluated as more is known about possible data sources or as new data become available.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.235-246
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• 2003

Due to major disasters Korea has been damaged, and they caused lots of casualties: for last ten years natural disasters caused 1288 deaths including missing people; human disasters including industrial disasters brought as many as 4,512.148 casual ties (126,372 deaths with 4,385,400 injuries); and they cost 44.1 trillion property damage. However, even though major disasters have brought about tremendous human loss and property damage, Koreas National Disaster Medical System to rescue casualties is insufficient, and it has not been activated. Fortunately, through major disaster management process, the National Disaster Management System has been developed, increasing its own efficiency, and resulting in to organize an Office of Firefighting and Prevention of Disasters under the central government. Considering the value of human lives, the disaster medical part, in the U.S.A. as well as in Korea, must have an independent organization in the government, not as one sector of the government department. It will have its own organizational structure, such as disaster planning, operation, and logistics, and interact with central and local government or between local government agencies. So each agency will cooperate and supply resources interchangeably. Also, with the system of disaster management and restoration, the disaster medical system must be advanced in keeping step. Its role must be extended due to the possibility of biological terror or SARS around the world, resulting in severe casualties. Korea has the Emergency Medical Service System based on the regulation of emergency medical care, yet it is a part of the National Disaster Management System. It must be managed independently apart from it. As we see the emergency medical technicians playing as the backbone in disaster medical care in the US, we should have legal foundations for Koreas emergency medical technicians, emergency medical providers, to participate in rescue operation actively. At the same time, we need to have a national register system to classify disaster medical resources, and a total plan to place resources according to the impact of disaster, and how to organize teams. We also need to draw up a scheme to activate civil disaster medical resources, as integrating public and private or voluntary organizations.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.100-129
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• 1993

This study is designed to find out some intra-clinic factors affecting the content of practice provided by primary care physicians in Korea, and proposed factors in this study are characteristcs of each private clinc --- physician-related variables(age, sex, specialty), bfed-related variables for inpatient care, laboratory-related variables for precise diagnosis. We have tried to estimate the difference of disease entities cared by each primary care physician according to above factors by analyzin gdisease data claimed during one month(April, 1992) to National Federation of Medical Insurance. The diagnosis codes by ICD-9 in the research disease data were reclassified to 'diagnosis clusters' by virtue of clinical similarities for effective analyses. We have converted frequent-tsing ICD-9 codes to 86 diagnosis clusters, which incorporated 97.4 percents of all ambulatory visits to private clinics. This result means proposed diagnosis-cluster method is effective tool for analysis of the content of ambulatory medical care carried out by primary care physicians. Comparisons and analyses of multiple diagnosis-clusters made on the basis of presented factors were done and the results were as follows; - Major factors affecting the difference between diagnosis-cluster pattern by each variables were phyusician's age, sex, specialty and bed counts of each private clinic for inpatient care and the size of laboratories of each clinic. - Middle aged(30th to 40th) group physicians are providing more comprehensive care than 20th or above 50th aged groups. Male physicians are more adequate for comprehensive care than female physicians, because woman-doctors are providing narrow-spectrum care. The content of practice of obstetricians and gynecologists shows much difference from primary medical practice, and they cannot be included in primary care physician, this study suggested. Pediatricians are also providing short-spectum acre, and nearly all visits to pediatricians were incorporated only 2-3 diagnosis-clusters. General surgeons' practices are very similar to general practioners' or family physicians' practices, the means they are providing primary care rather than special surgical care. And small number of beds(under 5 beds) and only basic(2-3 sorts of)diagnostic apparatuses are sufficient for primary physicians' clinic to carry out primary care. In conclusion, to reinforce primary care department in Korea, there must be support with health policy to expand office-based primary care practice-- with small number of beds for inpatient care and only basic laboratories-- provided by general practitioner of family physician.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.125-148
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• 1998

Accurate vital statistics are essential for a national health planning and evaluation. Among various vital statistics, birth and death rates, and infant and matemal mortality rates together with the causes of death are the very basic ones for above purposes as well as for the maternal and child health management. These statistics are based on the birth and death reports. It is required by law to report every birth and death within one month after its occurrence. However, in case of a neonatal death occurring prior to the birth report, most of the birth and death are not reported. Thus accurate infant and maternal mortality rates are not available yet in Korea. The main objective of this study is to develop a birth and infant death reporting system via computer network. We designed a new birth report form based on the current form and data from the analysis of medical record forms of 14 hospitals. A new form is basically addition of essential medical information to the current birth report form. Since a revision of the rules and regulations related wtih the birth report is necessary to use a new form, we kept the current from intact to make it acceptable to the government office for a field trial. We also developed computer programs for data input for birth and death reports at a medical faciltiy, data processing for production of maternal and child health indices at a health center, and management of maternal and child health services including immunization and postantal care at health center. The birth certificate and birth report can be printed out at a medical facility. The computer packages were programmed by Borland Delphi 3.0 and can be run under Windows 95 system. We proposed a new birth and death reporting system via computer network after a field trial for data input, transmission, and processing. The medical and demographic data o birth and death at medical facilities will be sent to health centers directly via computer network. The health center will retain the medical data for analysis and forward only the data for birth and death reports required by current regulations to the Dong, Up, or Myun Office. Once the birth or death is reported via computer network to the Dong Office, then the Dong Office will notify the baby's mother of the birth report and request to submit the baby's name by mail. When the baby's name its submitted. the Dong Office will forward the birth reports to the Common Court and Statistics Agency in the same way as the current system, Upon the completion of birth registration of the Common Court, the court will issue the birth certificate to mother which will be used in lieu of the family record. The advantages of proposed birth and death reporting system via computer network ar as follows ; I) The accuracy, timing, and completeness of reporting will be improved and more accurate maternal and child health indices can be obtained, ii) The maternal and child health services of health center will be obtained, iii) Epidemiologic data for pregnancy and birth can be obtained, iv) Manpower for birth and death reporting will be saved.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.41-69
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• 2005

Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate the outcomes of the home care nursing program conducted jointly by thirty two catholic churches and C hospital in Seoul. Method: The subjects included 173 patients who registered for the program during a 4 month-period from November 1, 2004 to February 28, 2005 and received home care services for more than 4 times and 32 professional nurses participating in the program. Using the concept of medical outcome study (MOS), the structure, process, outcome elements were analyzed. Result: 1) A Catholic homecare nursing center and nurses of the C hospital played a central role in providing nursing care, and each church operated its own vehicle from its own office. Home care nurse's job satisfaction was 2.8 out of total score of 4. The major illness was cerebrovascular disease including stroke followed by skeletomuscular disease including degenerative arthritis cancer, and diabetes. Among reasons for accessing the home care nursing program, hypertension management was most prevalent. More than half of the registration was done through catholic churches. Most people who referred the patient to the program was through the church. Most patients received home care nursing 1-2 times a week for 30 to 60 minutes in average and the most frequent type of service provided was basic nursing. 3) The most frequent reason for terminating home care services was death. The change in PPS(Palliative Performance Scale) level from the time of registration and after 4 visits was the same in 45%, decreased in 30%, and improved in 25%. Patient satisfaction was very high, showing 3.4 out of total score of 4. Conclusion: These results proved that the home care nursing program was highly appreciated by subjects and nurses were providing professional care. Thus the two parties involved in the program were actively supporting the program to fulfill their mission. However, several areas needed to be improved such as relating with local community, relating with family doctor, and issue of improving the working conditions for home care nurses.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.451-460
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine occupational risk factors that affect the mental health (depression, anxiety, anger, insomnia, self-esteem, trauma) of hospital facility workers. Methods: A survey was conducted from November 17, 2020 to December 1, 2020 for 700 non-medical workers (Temporary and contract workers: cleaning, security, information, office workers, etc.) working at a general hospital in Seoul. Results: As a result of the study, the risk of musculoskeletal disorders was found to have a significant effect on depression, anxiety, insomnia, and trauma. Noise had a significant effect on depression and anger, dust hazard had an effect on depression and self-esteem, and high temperature had a significant effect on anxiety and insomnia. Conclusions: Based on these results, it is necessary to examine the influence of occupational risk factors to improve the mental health of non-medical hospital facility workers.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.1-15
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• 2020

Objectives : The objectives of this study were to investigate why and how China used traditional Chinese medicine as a response to COVID-19 and how its performance was achieved, and to explore ways to utilize traditional Korean medicine in Korea. Methods : We examined the information through government data and media articles. China's COVID-19 progress and policy response were reviewed and compared with Korea. Based on this, the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine response in China were identified. Results : Based on legal basis, China makes the overall use of traditional Chinese medicines to respond to COVID-19. Traditional Chinese medicine has been applied to health insurance, the licensing regulations have been eased, and traditional Chinese medical specialists were dispatched. The medical care guidelines were developed and R&D were carried out. In addition, policies related to traditional Chinese medicine included policies for preventive treatment, the combination of Chinese and Western medicine, and telemedicine. Conclusions : Traditional Chinese medicine response to COVID-19 was included within the overall national quarantine policy, providing medical services for the mild stage. In addition, R&D was conducted to establish a basis for the utilization of traditional Chinese medicines. Traditional Korean medicine also needs to be prepared so that it can be used as a complement to the response of communicable diseases.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.293-301
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• 2020

Consultation with the patient and doctor is very important in the examination. However, if the consultation cannot be done directly, such as corona virus, it is difficult for the doctor to determine the patient's condition more accurately. Recently, an image counseling system has been developed based on the Internet, but in the case of heart disease, remote medical counseling cannot be performed because it is not possible to stethoscope the heart sounds remotely. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to develop an interactive mobile robot capable of remote medical consultation, and a doctor and a patient should be able to set a planting sound during consultation and transmit it in real time. In this paper, we developed a robot that can remotely control a medical counseling robot to move to a hospital room where patients are hospitalized, and to consult a patient in the room remotely from a doctor's office. A remote medical imaging stethoscope system for real-time heart sound transmission is presented. The proposed system is a kind of P2P communication that transmits video information, audio information, and control signal independently through webRTC platform, so that there is no data loss. Consults and sees doctors in real time and finds it more effective than traditional methods for patient security. The system implemented in this paper will be able to perform remote medical care in the place where the spread of diseases between humans like the recent corona 19 as well as the remote medical care of heart disease patients in the future.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.41-69
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• 2012

First introduced in 1977, Korean health care system reached to national coverage in short period of time never seen before in any other countries, and rated as successful system protecting the health of the public at relatively low price. However, despite those positive evaluations, some of fraudulent medical organizations or pharmacies are hindering the sound development of the national health care system with meticulous false billing exaggerating the number of patients or the days of their treatment. To prevent aforementioned nursing home fraud and false billing, the misconduct should be punished as subject to the criminal law and severally punished for fines and payments which far exceed the expected amount of illicit gains as it is basically violation of criminal fraud, other than the forced return of illicit gains based on civil laws. Furthermore, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service should strengthen and complement the fraud investigators, the review process, and the professional training to raise the detection rates. It might also want to review ways to implement whistleblower rewarding system and rewards for evidences of healthcare fraud to overcome the limits of external review.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.133-160
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• 1973

1. Introduction Community medicine with the concept of comprehensive medical care and an ideal medical care delivery system not only for an individual or family but for the whole community has emerged. In April 1970, the Presbyterian Medical Center started a hospital based community health service project in order to improve the health of the people in rural areas. Prior to commencing a comprehensive medical care system, a family survey was needed. The major objective of this survey was to obtain information concerning the people and their environment so as to be able to plan and implement a comprehensive medical care program in Soyang-Myun. 2. Survey Method An interview using a family record form was carried out for each household. This family record form was designed to get information about demography, family planning, environmental sanitation and vital statistics. Prior to beginning, the members of the survey team were trained in interviewing techniques for three days. The team consisted of a public health nurse, four nurse-aides, a sanitarian and four health extension workers who are working in our project, The survey was carried out during the period November 1971 to March 1972. 3. Project area 1) Population of Soyang-Myun was 11,668; male, 5,962 and female, 5,706. Sex ratio: 104.5. 2) Households : 1,858 3) Family size: The average household consisted of 6.3 persons. 4) Educational level of householder a. Illiterate 13% b. No schooling but able to read 10% c. Preschool children 19% d. Primary school 47% e. Middle school 7% f. High school 3% g. College or University 1% 5) Occupational distribution of householders a. Farmer 67% b. Laborer 13% c. Office worker 4% d. Merchant 4% e. Industrial worker 2% f. Unemployed 8% g. Miscellaneous 2% 6) Religious affiliation a. No religion 74% b. Buddhist 12% c. Protestant 10% d. Catholic 4% 4. Survey results Living Environment : a. Home ownership 95% b. Kinds of roofing Straw-thatched house 84% Tile-roofed house 10% Slate-roofed house 5% Other 1% c. Floor space Less than 6 pyong 10% 6-10 pyong 53% 11-15 pyong 24% 16-20 pyong 9% More than 20 pyong 4% d. Radio ownership 80% Environmental Sanitation : a. the source of drinking water public well 49% private well 30% drainage water 9% steam water 8% well pump 3% water distribution system 1% b. Distance between well and toilet more than 16meters 38% 6-10 meter 31% 11-15 meters 14% Less than 6 meters 17% c. The status of well management Bad 72% Fair 26% Good 2% d. General sanitary state of house Bad 37% Fair 51% Good 12% e. House drainage system had no house drainage. 77% Family Planning : a. 24% of the people have used contraceptives, but 12% ceased to use them. 76% have never used contraceptives. b. used methods 1oop 68% oral pill 16% vasectomy 4% condom 1% tubal ligation 1% two or more methods 10% Maternal Health : a. The number of conceptions of housewives under 50 years of age. 11 times 26% 6 times 11% 5 times 11% 4 times 9% b. The place of delivery own house 88% hospital 1% others 11% Treatment of general sickness : a. The place of treatment Soyang Health Center 31% Hospital (private or otherwise) 26% Pharmacy 14% Herb medicine 5% Private care 5% No treatment 12% Miscellaneous 7% b. Usual causes of diseases Unknown 46% Tuberculosis 29% Neuralgia 8% CVA 3% Bronchitis 3% Others 11%