• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.55-64
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• 2023

Background: Despite the various activities of the regional public hospitals, discussions are being made as to whether or not to continue due to the issue of financial deficit. Therefore, the main factors affecting the fiscal deficit were analyzed with 10-year data. Methods: This study is a panel analysis that analyzed the characteristics of 34 regional public hospitals and influencing factors on medical benefits for 10 years from 2010 to 2019. First, we analyze the determinants of medically vulnerable areas set by the government, analyze the trend of medical profit per 100 beds and medical profit rate from 2010 to 2019, and identify the factors that affect them. Results: Differences in medical profit per 100 beds and medical profit-to-medical profit rate were caused by market share representing regional characteristics, and both indicators improved as the number of outpatients increased. The important influencing variables are the number of doctors and nurses, and both indicators improve when there are specialists, but medical benefits decrease as the number of doctors increases when judged by the number of people per 100 beds. In addition, the number of nurses per 100 beds does not contribute to medical profit and has a negative effect on the medical profit ratio. Conclusion: As only regional characteristics were taken into account for medically vulnerable areas, operational characteristics need to be considered. The greatest impact on the finances of local medical centers is the proper staffing of doctors and nurses, and their efficient arrangement is the most important factor in financial stability.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.11-21
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• 2015

Background: The objective of this research is to investigate and provide analysis of the economic participatory change affecting the unmet needs of health care in Korean adults. Methods: We used Korea health panel 4th and 5th data of 10,261 adults. The method of investigation is threefold. First, We identified the regional factors affecting unmet needs of health care. Second, we analyzed the effect of economic participatory change as it affects the unmet needs of health care. Third, we also investigated whether there were discernable differences between the age subgroups. Results: It was determined that influencing factors included sex, education, economic level, and health status. And after the subgroup analysis of age, we found that the economic participatory change was associated with the economical unmet needs of health care especially for those over 40 years of age. Also the population are facing unemployment enduring particular economic hardship in meeting their medical needs. Conclusion: This study finds that there are some policy recommendations for the sake of medical service equality. Medical welfare policy for those 40 years of age and older has been identified as an area that needs improvement. And considering that those 40 years of age and older are facing unemployment enduring particular economic hardship in meeting their medical needs, this study finds a need for government sponsored medical stipends or subsidizing of medical premiums, co-payment, and other fees.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.132-144
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• 2013

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the medical expense change and influencing factors after introducing longterm care insurance system. The study period was 2 years before and after introduction of the system. Methods: We analyzed data collected from two divided group lived in Incheon. Four hundred and eighty-five elderly who received long-term care wage for one year were selected for experimental group. For control group, 1,940 elderly were selected by gender and age stratified random sampling. Difference-In-difference analyses was used for evaluating policy effectiveness. Also multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify the factors associated with total medical expenditures. The control variables were demographic variables, economic status, diseases, and medical examination variables. Results: Difference-in-difference analyses showed that total average medical expenses among long-term patients has decreased by 61.85%. Of these, the hospitalization expenses have decreased by 91.63% and the drug expenses have increased by 31.85%. Multiple regression analyses results showed that total average medical expenses among long-term patients have significantly decreased by 46.5% after introducing the long-term care insurance. The hospitalization expenses have significantly decreased by 148.5%, whereas the drug expenses have increased by 53.6%. And outpatient expenses have increased by 10.4%, but the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results showed that total medical expenses and hospitalization expenses have decreased after introducing the long-term care insurance. These results could support the opinion that the health insurance spending among long-term patients will be reduced gradually by long-term care insurance through changing medical demand.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.373-381
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• 2016

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcomes of clinical education program for nurses in regional public hospital, utilizing the Kirkpatrick's model. Methods: Kirkpatrik's 4-level model was applied to this study. Trainees were asked to fill out questionnaires in the middle and at the end of the program. Also administrators of excellent trainees were asked to fill out the questionnaires regarding nursing management performance after 1-2 months from the end of the training course. Results: All trainees had positive reactions to the clinical education program. Not only the results of individual level (satisfaction and achievement scores, academic achievement scores, practical application rate, and educational transition factors) but also the scores of organization level (nursing management performance scores) are improved. Conclusion: By showing a correlation between the effectiveness factors we need to verify the relationship between these factors in a future study. In addition, development of quantitative and qualitative performance indicators are needed. To establish a long-term education system, it is required to applying the excellent trainee's successful experiences.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.493-504
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• 2020

Background: There have been many studies on the associations between body mass index (BMI) and cognitive function. However, no study has ever compared the associations across the methods of categorizing BMI. In this study, we aimed to fill the gap in the previous studies and examine whether the obesity paradox is valid in the risk of cognitive function. Methods: Of the 10,254 people aged 45 and older from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing from 2006 to 2016, 8,970 people were finalized as the study population. The dependent variable was whether a person has a normal cognitive function or not, and the independent variables of interest were BMI categorized by the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office (WHO-WPRO) method, the WHO method, and a 10-group method. Covariates included sociodemographic factors, health behavior factors, and health status factors. A generalized linear mixed model analysis with a logit link was used. Results: In the adjusted model with all covariates, first, in the case of BMI categories of the WHO-WPRO method, underweight (odds ratio [OR], 1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-1.17), overweight (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.35-1.36), and obese (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.33-1.34) groups were more likely to have a normal cognitive function than a normal-weight group. Next, in the case of BMI categories of the WHO method, compared to a normal-weight group, underweight (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.14-1.16) and overweight (OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.06-1.07) groups were more likely to have a normal cognitive function; however, obese (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.61-0.63) group was less likely to have it. Lastly, in the case of the 10-group method, as BMI increased, the likelihood to have a normal cognitive function changed like a wave, reaching a global top at group-7 (26.5 kg/㎡ ≤ BMI <28.0 kg/㎡). Conclusion: The associations between BMI and cognitive function differed according to how BMI was categorized among people aged 45 and older in Korea, which suggests that cognitive function may be positively associated with BMI in some categories of BMI but negatively in its other categories. Health policies to reduce cognitive impairment need to consider this association between BMI and cognitive function.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.179-194
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• 2011

Although there have been studies regarding the separating policy of dispensary and medical practice, little study have provided a concrete empirical evidence to what extent the policy objectives are achieved. In this paper, we try to provide empirical evidence whether the policy separating dispensary from medical practice achieved the policy objectives, which representatively are reducing the mis-use or over-use of anti-biotic prescriptions and medicines, and decreasing the government spending for the cost of pharmaceutical support. By comparing the average of the rate of change of the number of medicines prescribed, the rate of anti-biotics prescribed, and the government spending for the cost of pharmaceutical support between the areas where the separation policy was implemented and the exceptional areas, we concluded that it is difficult to conclude that the policy separating dispensary and medical practice achieved its policy objects, as it first announced to achieve in the introduction of the policy in 2000. However, the limitation of this study is that the data, that can thoroughly analyze the effect of separating policy of dispensary from medical practice, cannot be collected as expected. Hence, we could not use a parsimonious empirical model to evaluate the effect of the policy introduced in 2000. Rather we used a simple statistical method to extract enough empirical evidence fro m the data available. In the near future, we would expect to see more research that analyze the exact effect of policy separating dispensary and medical practice with concrete empirical model using more sophisticated dataset.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.59-64
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• 2003

The National Nutrition Survey in Japan (NNS-J) started in 1945 and has provided information on dietary intake and health status of Japanese citizens to the public and policymakers for more than half a century. We summarized several relevant issues on the survey in this report : the current framework of the NNS-J in accordance with the Nutrition Improvement Law, utilization of the survey for nutrition and health policy in Japan, the Health Promotion Law recently enacted in 2003, the national plan for health promotion and disease prevention (Health Japan 21), and possible measures to improve the survey systems under the new law. We also mentioned implementation structures of regional health and nutrition surveys, because the Health Promotion Law designates an active role of local governments on promoting health for their citizens, which will enhance the needs for appropriate assessment of health and nutrition conditions in each community as well as the monitoring at the national level. (J Community Nutrition 5(2) : 59-64,2003)

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.226-232
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• 2018

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the current state of governance structure and management of the health system to achieve the goals of the health system in South Korea, and to propose reform plan. This study drew implications from the governance of United Kingdom, Germany, and Netherlands, based on the principle of health system proposed by World Health Organization. The presidency and the health ministry should make macroscopic decision-making. The government has to decentralize the enforcement by municipality to operate public health and national health insurance (NHI), and to distribute the centralized NHI fund by municipality. The front line health centers and community centers should provide integrated health and social services. The government has to establish diversified regulatory bodies to enhance both the patient-centered care and the efficiency and equity of health care, and to provide mechanisms for ensuring autonomy of providers. The governance of the health system should be composed of the centralization of macro decision-making, the decentralization of implementation by municipality, the integration of health and social services on the front line, and the well-balanced regulation and autonomy on both consumers and suppliers.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.77-92
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• 2011

Objectives : This study examined the health policy researchers' needs and their accessibility towards health insurance claim datasets according to their academic capacity. Methods : An online questionnaire to capture relevant proxy variables for academic needs, accessibility, and research capacity was constructed based on previous studies. The survey was delivered to active health policy researchers through three major scholarly associations in South Korea. Seven-hundred and one scholars responded while the survey as open for 12 days (starting on December 20th, 2010). Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were carried out. Results : Regardless of the definition for operational needs, the prevalent needs of survey respondents were not met with the current provision of claim data. Greater research capacity was shown to be correlated with increased demand for claim data along with a positive correlation between attempts to obtain claim datasets and research capacity. A greater research capacity, however, was not necessarily correlated with better accessibility to the claim data. Conclusions : The substantial unmet need for claim data among the healthcare policy research community calls for establishing proactive institutions which could systematically prepare and make available public datasets and provide call-in services to facilitate proper handling of data.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2019

Backgrounds : The market of Complementary Alternative Medicine(CAM) in the United State(U.S.) accounts for a large proportion of the global CAM market and has a high growth rate. The recent introduction of Obama Care has brought the change in the health insurance system for CAM, and we need to analyze it for its implication to Korean system. Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the current status of acupuncture and chiropractic health insurance in the U.S., and to draw implications for expanding the health insurance coverage for Korean traditional medicine through the comparison between the U.S. and Korean health insurance systems. Methods : We examined the data through the literature search and from the websites of both U.S. government departments and related organizations for the health insurance policy. Based on the collected data, we analyzed its CAM health insurance system in Korea. Results : The acupuncture covered by public health insurance in the U.S. has a limit in the number of treatments and a range of applied diseases compared with Korea. In addition, the practice of acupuncture is not subdivided. However, the chiropractic in the U.S. which also has a limited number of coverage and only three categories of practices are similar to that of Korea. Conclusions : Although the use of CAM by public health insurance is not active in the U.S., but the organizations such as Veterans Health Administration in Vermont is already discussing the use of acupuncture to solve the problem of opioid overuse. Thus Korea also needs to discuss to promote the expansion of the insurance system for CAM.