• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.273-282
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• 1998

Background: Twelve years have passed since the Korean Pain Society was organized. Nowadays, there are so many problems to be solved in pain clinics including health insurance, pain education and public information etc. in Korea. The present study was designed to evaluate the current status of pain clinics in Korea. Methods: Eight hundred twenty regular members of Korean Pain Society were surveyed by questionnaire in October 1997. We compared the general characteristics, contents of diseases in pain clinic, treatment Methods, patients satisfaction, pain educations, problems in pain treatments, requests to Korean Pain Society among the 138 respondents. Results: Thirty seven percents of the respondents worked at university hospitals, 39% at non-university hospitals and 24% at private pain clinics. The most common diseases treated in pain clinics was low back pain(32% in university and non-university hospital and 28% in private pain clinic respectively). However, cancer pain was 10% in university and non-university hospital and 0.7% in private pain clinic. Epidural block was the most frequently used procedure in chronic pain treatments. And 74.6% of the respondents were studied and learned in Korea and Japan. And then, current problems in pain management and requests to Korean Pain Society were medical insurance problems, pain education and public information of pain clinics. Conclusions: These results suggest that the Korean Pain Society should make an effort to solve these current problems in order to activate pain medicine and increase the quality of life for those suffering from pain.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.19-30
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• 2005

As the population of the elderly increases drastically year by year in Korea, the more welfare centers for them are greatly needed. There are, however, a small number of public geriatric hospitals currently available. And a limited number of private-founded geriatric centers are under construction throughout the country. And the systematic standards for the spacial composition and departmental area distribution for them are not satisfactorily set up yet. The analytical study of the space composition and area distribution of the hospitals in question shows that publicly-shared spaces, such as day-room and lobby, are much more useful for their communications than private spaces, such as shut-in living rooms. It also shows that in-yards or in-gardens which are located in the center of the wards are very helpful for their comfortable long-term hospitalization. The shared spaces are recommended to be in sight of and within earshot of their caretakers. In relation with out-patient departments, the programs for the local elderly residents, such as the day-care center and recreation facilities are recommended to be prepared for their physical care and emotional treatment at a time by municipal welfare centers rather than by private institutions. The analytic study carried out in terms of departmental area distributions reveals that the areas for the wards are generally wider and areas for out-patient/or diagnosis departments are relatively narrower than those in the general hospitals. These area distributions seem to have come from the considerations of their relatively long-term staying in the centers than general hospitals and their mental stability as well.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.59-64
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• 1981

Korean Medical Insurance Cooperation executed the physical checkup intended for all the members of public officials, school personnel in private schools, and the insured as a national-wide event in 1980. This is the result of a part of Taegu district and its contiguous country this hospital took charge of. Physical checkup method was divided into the first health examination and tile second health examination. The second health examination was executed for those who needed reexamination according to the result of the first health examination. After that, we passed judgement on the result finally. The total number of the first health examination was 10,779; 4,606 in public officials, 2,327 in police constables, 3,976 in school personnel in private schools. The classification of physical checkup is as follows; A group: normal groups B group: those who do not require immediate medical care but require preventive measures or who are doubtful of disease or who had undetermined diagnosis (attention) C group: those who require immediate medical care but who are able to be on duty (simple recuperation) D group: those who require immediate medical treatment and recuperation (suspension from office and recuperation) Total B group to the in the first health examination was 4.73%, that of total C,D groups 2.21%. That of total C,D groups to the total in the first health examination by occupation was 2.30% in public officials, 2.19% in police constables, 2.04% in school personnel. Consequently there was no different among occupations. Total C,D groups of hypertension to the total in the first health examination was 1.68% and hypertension was 76.05% to all disease. These rates mentioned to above were higher than any other rate in disease. Subsequently, being low, the rate of diabetes was 15.54%. From the view point of age, the higher rate appeared in men and women over 35 years old of B group and over 45 years old of C,D groups in three occupations in comparison with other ages and the older men were, the higher men who took a disease were.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.81 no.2
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• pp.156-162
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• 2018

Background: Eosinophilia is well recognized in specific conditions. The objective of the present study was to determine clinico-radiologic characteristics of eosinophilia and changes in prevalence over 10 years in recipients of private health screening program at a tertiary hospital in Korea. Methods: Data of private health screening program recipients at the health promotion center of Chung-Ang University Hospital from 2004 to 2013 were collected. Health-related questionnaires and laboratory findings of private health screening program with possible relation with eosinophilia were reviewed. Results of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for parasite, chest computed tomography, and pulmonary function test were also reviewed. Results: The cumulative prevalence of eosinophilia was 4.0% (1,963 of 48,928). Prevalence of eosinophilia showed a decreased trend from 2004 to 2013. Most cases (96.6%) had mild degree of eosinophilia. Eosinophilic subjects were older and male-predominant. They showed lower levels of forced expiratory volume in 1 second ($FEV_1%$), forced vital capacity (FVC%), and $FEV_1/FVC$ than those without eosinophilia. Eosinophilic subjects showed higher positive rate for common parasite in ELISA than those without eosinophilia. On radiologic findings, consolidation and ground glass opacities were positively associated with the degree of eosinophilia. When eosinophil was classified based on severity, statistically significant correlation between the severity of eosinophil and radiologic abnormalities was found. Conclusion: Eosinophilia is uncommon in healthy population. It usually occurs at a mild degree. Eosinophilic patients have more radiologic abnormalities compared to those without eosinophilia. Such radiologic abnormalities are associated with the severity of eosinophilia.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.469-479
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare hospitalized patients in comprehensive nursing care units and general care units as to satisfaction with nursing care and factors influencing their intent to revisit the hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 178 patients who had been hospitalized in a comprehensive nursing care unit and a general care unit in one hospital. Participants completed self-report questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0. Results: There was a significant difference between the comprehensive nursing care unit and general care unit for intent to revisit the hospital (p=.036). Factors influencing intent to revisit the hospital for patients in the comprehensive nursing care unit were 'satisfaction with nursing care' (p<.001) and 'use of additional costs for comprehensive nursing care' (p=.041). The factor influencing intent to revisit hospital for patients in the general care unit was 'satisfaction with nursing care' (p<.001). Conclusion: Findings indicate that comprehensive nursing care service in which all care is provided by nursing staff only, without family or private caregivers, increases intent to revisit the hospital. These results can be used as the foundation of reviewing the operation and expansion of comprehensive nursing care service.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.220-227
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• 2019

Background: Potentially avoidable hospitalizations (PAH) contribute to an increased post-discharge mortality. Methods: To investigate the between-hospital variation and the relationship between all predictors and mortality after discharge among older adults with PAH, we studied 15,186 older patients with PAH in 2,200 hospitals included in the National Health Insurance Service-Senior claims database from 2002 to 2013. Multivariable multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed to analyze the variance at between-hospital for mortality after accounting for differences in patient characteristics. Results: The between-hospital variation in mortality that could be attributed to hospital practice variations were 37.6% at 1-week to 13.9% at 12-month post-discharge, after adjustment for individual patient characteristics and hospital-level factors. Hospital-level factors significantly explained mortality at 3 weeks after discharge. Clinics, compared with general hospitals, demonstrated a 2.75 times higher likelihood of deaths at 3-week post-discharge (p<0.001). Compared with private hospitals, public hospitals exhibited 1.61 times higher odds of 3-week mortality (p=0.01). Conclusion: This study demonstrates considerable between-hospital variations in PAH-related mortality that could be attributed to hospital practices. Monitoring of hospitals to identify practice variations would be warranted to improve the survival of older patients with PAH.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.21-32
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to assess individual decisive factors for distribution of medical specialists in Korea. A data set was constructed using several published data sources. including the Korean Medical Association's physician master file as a principal source for physician information. Linear logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between the location of private specialist clinic for practice with six variables related with individual characteristics: age. sex. location of postgraduate training hospital. location of medical school graduated, size of hospital for training, and specialty. Analysis showed that location of practice. classified into urban and rural areas, was significantly associated with the variables of sex. location of postgraduate training hospital. location of medical school. In addition, significant association was found between the location of practice which was categorized into "near-Seoul area" and others, and sex, location of postgraduate training hospital. and location of medical school. We could conclude that to improve area maldistribution of physicians locations of hospitals for training and medical schools have to have the highest priority in the policymaking.icymaking.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.12
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• pp.553-561
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• 2021

Health services in developing countries are increasingly focused on satisfying the needs of customers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many patients have anxiety when going to hospitals for medical treatment. The pressures brought by the pandemic have overwhelmed the hospital system in Vietnam. This has caused the quality of service at these hospitals to decrease because they have focused on the goal of preventing the spread of the virus. Therefore, hospitals, especially private hospitals, need many solutions to improve the quality of their services. This study evaluated the impact of these factors on hospital service quality, as well as the influence of customer service quality on patient satisfaction. The survey was conducted from January 2021 to September 2021 and data was collected directly from 539 patients at Van Phuc Hospital 1. The results show that 4 factors affect the service quality of the hospital, as well as the service quality affecting patient satisfaction, in which, the strongest impact on the service quality of the hospital is the service attitude and professional capacity of the medical team. In the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, this study implies that if the hospital service is good, the customers' peace of mind and satisfaction will be enhanced.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.97-111
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• 1998

Do managers in health center perceive red tape in their organizations\ulcorner Most people would think so, but researchers have often found that health center organizations do not necessarily have higher levels of rule intensity than private hospitals. It there are higher levels in health center organizations, what explains their existence\ulcorner In this article, I discuss the results of a survey of health center managers that explored their perceptions of red tape in their organizations. Red Tape can be defined as rule and procedures that occured a excessive regulation. The survey included two dimensions and two hypotheses of red tape in health center managers. The hypotheses included health center and size that claims cause managers to create red tape. 119 managers who working in health center and private hospitals in Chonbuk area, participated in this study which was conducted by direct interview. The results show some support for two hypothses. The results showed some differences between health center and private hospital managers' perceptions about certain aspects of red tape. I also found differences between large size and small size managers' perceptions. The study call for more systematic analysis of red tape, including the use of methods, in support of current reform efforts aimed at reducing red tape.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.173-179
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• 2022

Disabilities can emerge due to traumatic spinal fractures. In terms of sacrococcygeal spine, because of its unique anatomic structure with minimal movement, the possibility for it to have a disability is relatively low. In Korea, unlike most disability criteria, private insurance companies acknowledge angular deformities caused by vertebral fractures as disabilities according to their degree, so there were several cases where patients required compensation, arguing angular deformity caused by sacrococcygeal fracture, which in some cases led to legal conflicts. Except the Act Welfare of Persons with Disabilities which recognizes only severe angular deformity affecting internal organs as disability and the industrial accident disability evaluation which does not recognize coccygeal fracture as disability but rarely recognizes sacral vertebra deformity equivalent to compressive deformation, there is little or no case where angular deformity is recognized as disability. Given the impairment evaluation standards in social insurance, McBride system, American Medical Association (AMA) guides, and newly proposed standards by the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences (KAMS), the most contentious point in the general terms and conditions of private insurance is spinal deformity. To overcome controversy over disability evaluation, the private insurance sector is now applying criteria for axial skeleton to sacrococcygeal vertebrae through revision of standards. Under these circumstances, it is fair to recognize sacrococcygeal fracture as impairment in terms of the pelvis only when the fracture leaves serious deformity and neurological symptoms with clear relevancy. Though it may not be easy to develop accurate disability evaluation standards, improvement is necessary to remove any irrationalities and make the standards as objective as possible.