• Health Policy and Management
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.265-270
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• 2016

Public health system for more prevention-oriented health promotion rather than hospital-based curative service, focusing population rather than individual, and comprehensive health management in the local community strongly needs to be constructed to solve major issues on efficiencies and equity problems which Korean healthcare system is facing nowadays. Public health promotes and protects the health of people and the communities where they live, learn, work, and play. Medical care tries to cure those who have diseases, but public health tries not to become ill and not to be injured. Debates on how we build or rebuild public health system, which is contrasted with medical care system, are needed in Korea, focusing how needs for healthy community and right to health are fulfilled. Public health specialists for practising population health at local community level should be systematically recruited, the function of public health centers should be strengthened, and new government organization should be established for place-based health management.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• no.40
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• pp.102-108
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• 2003

Currently, there is no facility standard for a city public health center. The facility standard of rural public health center is referred to architectural plan of city public health center. This study is about architectural plan of the city public health center and have been in 7 public health centers in Daegu investigated. Conclusions can be summarized as follows: 1) The Mother and child hygienic section, area ratio which is presented by the facility standard of rural public health center must be increased in case of city public health center since function-reinforcement of the mother and child hygienic section is required. 2) Business section, the area ratio which is presented by the facility standard of rural public health center must be diminished for city public health center because it has been excessively allocated.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.409-418
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the costs and benefits of home nursing care services between public health centers (PHC) and private hospitals. Method: Participants were 105 patients who had received home nursing care services from a private hospital or public health center. From a societal perspective, the researcher identified the costs and benefits of the services using performance data and calculated the net benefit and benefit/cost ratio. Result: The net benefit of the home nursing care service based in the PHC was 165.9 million won and benefit/cost ratio was 2.0, while the net benefit of the home nursing care services by the private hospital was 141.1 million won and benefit/cost ratio was 1.7. Both types of programs were economically validated. Conclusion: Home nursing care services were basically efficient as the results showed a positive net benefit. A cost-benefit analysis indicated that the PHC-based home nursing care services were more efficient than that of the private hospital. With limited human resources and management standards in public health centers, results suggest the need for a more systematic management of the home nursing care service to improve the health of this vulnerable community population.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.455-464
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• 2020

Objectives: The distribution of hospitals in Korea is unbalanced in terms of accessibility. Many local public health centers (PHCs) exempt out-of-pocket payments (OOPs) based on local government laws to increase coverage. However, this varies across administrative regions, as many make this exemption for the elderly, while others do not. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the OOP exemption at local PHCs among elderly individuals. Methods: This study used online data on Korean national law to gather information on individual local governments' regulations regarding OOP exemptions. Individual-level data were gathered from the 2018 Community Health Survey and regional-level data from public online sources. Results: The study analyzed 132 regions and 44 918 elderly people. A statistical analysis of rate differences and 2-level multiple logistic regression were carried out. The rate difference according to whether elderly individuals resided in areas with the OOP exemption was 1.97%p (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07 to 2.88) for PHC utilization, 1.37%p (95% CI, 0.67 to 2.08) for hypertension treatment, and 2.19%p (95% CI, 0.63 to 3.74) for diabetes treatment. The regression analysis showed that OOP exemption had an effect on hypertension treatment, with a fixed-effect odds ratio of 1.25 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.48). Conclusions: The OOP exemption at PHCs can affect medical utilization in Korea, especially for hypertension treatment. The OOP exemption should be expanded to improve healthcare utilization in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.122-131
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to assess the needs for nutrition programs in the public health centers by general characteristics and body mass index (BMI) of community residents. Information of general characteristics of study participants including age, education, income, marital status, residence, and job, and resident's interest in nutrition programs, the preferred educational methods and the willingness to participate in nutrition programs were collected by an interview. Weight and height were measured and were used to calculate the BMI. The program that resident's were most interested in was 'diet therapy for chronic disease and counseling' ($28.5\%$), followed by 'nutritional management for the elderly' ($21.1\%$), and 'obesity and weight control' ($17.1\%$). 'Education and counseling by nutrition professionals' was the most preferred educational method. Among the programs that the subjects would participate in, if they were offered in public health centers, $65.8\%$ subjects would participate in 'diet therapy for chronic disease and counseling' programs, $64.9\%$ would participate in 'nutritional management for the elderly' programs and $52.2\%$ would participate in 'obesity and weight control' programs. The contents of programs that the subjects were interested in, the preferred methods and their willingness to participate nutrition programs differed significantly by age, income, education, marital status, and body mass index. The results imply that the planning of nutrition interventions in the public health centers must be tailored and targeted group specific by taking the participants general characteristics and body mass index into consideration. This would surely increase the nutrition program's effectiveness

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.599-609
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• 2020

Objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has rapidly become a global pandemic with over 26.4 million confirmed cases and approximately 871,000 fatalities worldwide as of this writing. In the Republic of Korea, disease clusters frequently occurred in long-term care hospitals where the majority of residents are elderly with underlying medical conditions. Despite the fact that public health authorities and local community health centers have put tremendous efforts into preventing the spread of disease, positive cases have continued to occur. Thus, the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention rapid response team decided to conduct an environmental investigation of a long-term care hospital to identify whether environmental contamination has remained and contributed to the spread of COVID-19. Methods: An environmental investigation was conducted at Hospital A. The characteristics of the facility and its HVAC system were assessed by checking the layout and interviewing the people in charge. A total of 64 surface samples were collected from areas of concern, including patient rooms, toilets, elevators, and nurses' station. These samples were tested by a regional health and environmental research institute using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: All samples from Hospital A were confirmed to be negative. Through interviews with high-level personnel at the regional community health center, we found that extensive disinfection is frequently performed on potentially contaminated areas in Hospital A in accordance with government guidelines. Conclusion: The environmental control measures implemented in Hospital A had been sufficient for mitigating the risk of further infection, suggesting that such measures may also be effective for other long-term health care facilities.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.28-47
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to assess the user's satisfaction of health care service in public health centers in Busan. The study respondents were 212, those who visited health centers for health care service. Data were collected in July 2002 by using SERVQUAL(comprehensive service quality measurement scale) and 3 open questions for more details about service satisfaction and the needs for health care service. SERVQUAL has 5 dimensions； tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The results were as follows ： 1. The users reported more satisfaction at 'just service cost', 'convenient service procedure' and 'clean physical environment' at SERVQUAL. Among them the highest rated item was 'service cost'. And the less satisfaction items were 'understanding and individual concerns about service users', 'medical equipment' and 'health center facilities'. 2. There were no statistical differences by general characteristics except for the kind of services rendered. Those who visited for physical examinations and laboratory tests reported lower satisfaction than any other groups. 3. At the open questions, the respondents expressed that they were satisfied with the low service cost, kindness of employee and clean environment. But they criticized the old facilities and worn medical equipment, in addition to the less than kind attitudes. These strengths and weaknesses of health center's service could be applied for planning of customer­centered health care service.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.163-164
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• 1993

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.65-75
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• 2007

Purpose: This study was conducted to provide fundamental information for policy integration of the home health care system. Methods: Focused review was performed from 8 studies out of 48 literature related to home care needs. Results: Females utilized home care based on hospital and public health centers at a higher rate than males. While there had been more rate of the elderly above 60 year-old at hospital and community based home care, on the other hand below 45 year-old at public health center. The most common disease amongst users in all three types was cerebrovascular disease, the second was cancer based at hospitals, hypertension and arthritis at public health centers. There were more needs for those using artificial respiratory equipment, cancer patients, and puerpera. However, the needs for hospital and community based home care were very similar. Conclusions: Due to similar disease characteristics but varied severity at the three home care based settings, they should be managed with flexibility. Home care curriculum should be developed according to common disease type, and home care services should be strengthened for its expertise.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.91-114
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• 1996

In this research, the Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA) was applied to measure production efficiency of Public Corporation Medical Centers(PCMCs) operating in Korea. The focus of this research is triple. First, identifing convenience and usefulness of DEA to measure the relative efficiency among PCMCs. Second, assessing magnitudes of the relative efficiency for each PCMC. Third, adding insights into some factors resulting inefficiency in PCMCs. Then, in this paper technical efficiency and scale efficiency measured by DEA[introduced by Charnes, Cooper, and Rhoides(1978) and Banker, Charnes, and Cooper(1984)] were analyzed and a new separate variable was introduced which makes it possible to determine whether operations were conducted in regions of increasing, constant or decresing returns to scale(in multiple input and output situations). And a multi-factor Tobit analysis was conducted to see which variables are associated with PCMC's efficiency.