• Health Policy and Management
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.179-193
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• 1992

This paper attempts to explain why the prescribing-dispensing services are not seperated in Korea. The main reason why physicians and pharmacists do not compromise, even though the two parties support the seperation policy in public, is contended to be that both parties would lose their interests if the policy were implemented. Physicians' loss from giving up their vested rights to dispensing would be larger than their gain from an increase in the number of prescriptions. Pharmacists' loww from being forced not to to sell medicines without prescriptions would also be larger than their gain from prohibiting physicians from dispensing. The net ganier form the seperation policy would be the patients. Therefore, the seperation policy would not be implemented unless political pressure from general public surpasses that from physicians and pharmacists.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.99-111
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• 2002

This paper draws the determinants of National Health Expenditures(min) and collectivizes OECD countries which are positioned by same conditions using the decision tree analysis. Major findings are summarized as follows. We find that the power of influence of income level on NHE has been 58.35% in 1985, 65.37% in 1990, 66.90% in 1995, and 66.47% in 1997. The power of influence of public share in NHE has been on the increase during that period: 19.50% in 1985, 19.91% in 1990, 22.81% in 1995 and 26.88% in 1997. The two factors(income level, public share) tells for the most part of NHE: 77.85% in 1985, 85.28% in 1990, 89.71% in 1995, 93.35% in 1997. Our results support the hypothesis that NHE could be explained mostly by the income level and show that public share is negatively correlated with the growth of NHE.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1997.10b
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• pp.251-252
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• 1997

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1995.10a
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• pp.241-242
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• 1995

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.35-47
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• 2018

Background: The purpose of this study is to elucidate the context of medical experience and the perception of unmet healthcare of elderly people with chronic diseases based on in-depth interview data. Methods: We carried out in-depth interviews with 10 elderly people with chronic diseases using semi-structured questionnaires based on literature review. The in-depth interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis; one qualitative research methodology, three core meaning categories, and four attributes associated with unmet healthcare were ultimately derived. Results: The context of the medical experience were based on the following three categories: (1) discomfort due to diseases and high medical needs, (2) the poor community medical environment and difficulties in accessing to metropolitan medical institutions, and (3) inconvenience caused by long waiting time and side effects of medicine. In addition, the elderly with chronic disease realized the unmet healthcare as (1) the availability related to the desired medical institutions at the right time, (2) the affordability related to their economic capacity, (3) the effectiveness of the medical services they experienced, and (4) the appropriateness related to receiving medical services in a pleasant environment. Conclusion: The perception of unmet healthcare among the elderly with chronic disease is the result of interaction of multi-level and multi-dimensional factors related with their medical experience.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.237-248
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• 2013

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine and explain the extent of income-related inequity in health care utilization and expenditures to compare the extent in 2005 and 2010 in Korea. Methods: We employed the concentration indices and the horizontal inequity index proposed by Wagstaff and van Doorslaer based on one- and two-part models. This study was conducted using data from the 2005 and 2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We examined health care utilization and expenditures for different types of health care providers, including health centers, physician clinics, hospitals, general hospitals, dental care, and licensed traditional medical practitioners. Results: The results show the equitable distribution of overall health care utilization with pro-poor tendencies and modest pro-rich inequity in the amount of medical expenditures in 2010. For the decomposition analysis, non-need variables such as income, education, private insurance, and occupational status have contributed considerably to pro-rich inequality in health care over the period between 2005 and 2010. Conclusions: We found that health care utilization in Korea in 2010 was fairly equitable, but the poor still have some barriers to accessing primary care and continuing to receive medical care.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2002

The proportion and role of public sector in health care industry is very small in Korea. Asymmetric distribution of health care resources is one of the major health care concerns. This issue is so important that it raises a question of accessibility, availability, continuity of care and equity of rural area people's health care utilization. To solve these problems and to satisfy the basic demand of oriental medical service in rural areas, the oriental public health doctors were placed in rural health centers since 1998. The main objectives of this study are twofold: to measure the cognition and attitude of health center directors on the strategies for utilizing oriental public health doctors and to provide basic data for improving the health manpower management program. Data have been collected by way of the self-administrative questionnaires. Developing the questionnaire, the literature review on the previous studies and delphi method were carried out. The response rate was 38.7%. The results of this study are summarized as follows; 1. community people respond positively on the oriental medical service activity in health center. 2. In regard to workloads of oriental public health doctor, 'appropriate' was 81.1% and 'burdensome' was 18.2%, respectively. 3. The 94.0% of respondents thought that the oriental medical service will be continued. 4. To activate oriental medical service in health center, the sufficient budget and provision of aid workers is a necessity. 5. The 75.5% of health center directors respond positively on the allocation of oriental public health doctor to health sub-centers. 6. Health center directors agreed that oriental public health doctor should perform the clinical service as well as prevention and health promotion activity. These results recommend that oriental medical service in health center should be continued gradually, and oriental public health doctors working at health center perform their work efficiently. Undoubtedly, their activity should be more focused on health promotion and disease prevention than daily patient care. For achieving this objective, more support of governmental policy is essential for utilizing oriental public health doctor and better health of the rural area community people.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.94-124
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• 2007

This paper critically reviews three decades of research on geographic variations. in health services utilization in the United States, thereby drawing policy and research implications for Korea. The recent renewed interest in variations research in the United States, precipitated by studies on regional variations in Medicare expenditures, stems mainly from the policy implication that a substantial amount of Medicare expenditures could be saved without compromising quality and access. From the research perspective, this policy implication was made tenable by integrating micro- and macro-level analysis of variations in health services utilization. Still, theoretical limitations inherent in the research pose great challenges to developing effective strategies at the health system level. Variations research in the United States can serve as a case study as to how health services research has responded to efficiency and quality issues in an ever expanding health system Considering the current health policy and research environment in Korea, the following implications can be drawn. Variations research will help formulate a national policy agenda for health care quality and also advance the framework of approaches to health policy issues. For such purposes, both relevant descriptive and hypothesis-testing studies are needed. Further advancement in variations research will require interdisciplinary explorations and methodological sophistication. To the extent that Korean health policies will strive to achieve complex goals, variations research will increasingly prove to be useful.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.86-111
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• 2006

Either ways of understanding health care as a commodity or public work are at opposite ends of health care spectrum. These two rival conceptions reflected by viewpoint(ideology) would lead to different directions in policy-making for health care reform. The purpose of this study is to access the value differences of experts' policy views about health care issues by analyzing the extent of consensus among experts in the field of health care. Using primary data obtained through a mail survey of 558 experts in the field of health care, we analyzed the differences of experts' opinions about characteristics of health care market, policy issues and values Gdeology). The study represents from 50-50 split analysis, entropy index, and factor analysis that the wide spread disagreements over health policy, which is a major barriers to effective policy-making, could be caused by the ideological perception differences among experts. This implies that, if values play an important role in policy-making, we should identify the differences in value and seek ways to balance among the diverse values such as efficiency, equity, freedom, and security. For this, the policy issues debated on differences in values should be reconciled for narrowing gaps of experts' perceptions through various ways.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.261-270
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• 2014

Background: This study examined what factors affected a complete examination of infant health checkup. Methods: We used Korean national health insurance claim data of 2,936,650 infants, taking examination in 2012. These claim data included enrollment status of householders and records of infant health checkup from 2008 to 2013. Results: Our results shows that for infant characteristics, the likelihood of complete examination of infant health checkup is significantly lower in female, older aged, and handicapped ones. For householder characteristics, the likelihood of complete examination of infant health checkup is also significantly lower in female, older group and self-employed ones. For household characteristics, the likelihood of complete examination is also significantly lower in single-parent families, multi-cultural families, parent with unexperienced health checkup and lower monthly premiums. Conclusion: It is necessary to support an additional use-guide and follow-up management services to improve incomplete examination of infant health checkup.