• 보건행정학회지
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.37-49
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• 2020

Background: Unmet healthcare needs have many advantages for measuring inequalities in healthcare use. However, the existing indicator is difficult to capture the reality of unmet healthcare needs sufficiently and is not quite appropriate in comparing regional inequality. The purpose of this study is to critically analyze the utilization of the unmet healthcare need indicator for regional healthcare inequalities research. Methods: We used the level of healthcare accessibility and healthcare need to categorize the regions that are known to cause differences in healthcare utilization between regions and verified how existing unmet healthcare need indicator is distributed at the regional level. Results: Four types of regions were classified according to the high and low levels of healthcare needs and accessibility. The hypothesis about the regional type expected to have the highest unmet healthcare need was not proved. The hypothesis about the lowest expected regional type was proved, but the difference in the average rate of unmet healthcare needs among regional types was not significant. The standard deviation of the rate of unmet healthcare needs among regions within the same type was also higher than the overall regional variation, which also disproved the whole frame of hypothesis. Conclusion: Failure to prove the hypothesis means the gap between the supposed meaning of the indicator and the reality. In order to understand the current state of healthcare utilization of people in various regions of Korea and to resolve inequality, fundamental research on the in-depth structure and mechanisms of healthcare utilization is needed.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.43-54
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• 2005

This study is a second paper of the re-structuring strategies of healthcare facilities in Kwang-ju and Jeon-nam province for it's competition power in the emerging global health care market. Kwang-Ju city and Jeon-nam province have had difficulties in building a balanced healthcare system because of rapidly declining population, weakened healthcare infra-structure and geographical problems of healthcare supply by numerous islands. This paper presents the new approaching process for re-building healthcare network in the regional healthcare facilities planning. In addition, it analyzes health planning index, healthcare system, the concept of health care networking, etc. Finally, this presents the case study of regional healthcare facilities planning in Kwang-ju city and Jeon-nam Province.

• 보건행정학회지
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• 제33권3호
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• pp.273-294
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• 2023

Background: Most developed countries are working to improve their universal health coverage systems. This study investigates regional disparities in unmet healthcare needs and their causes in South Korea. Additionally, it compares the unmet healthcare needs rate in South Korea with that of 33 European countries. Methods: The analysis incorporates information from 13,359 adults aged 19 or older, using data from the Korea Health Panel. The dependent variables encompass the experience of unmet healthcare needs and the three causes of occurrence: "burden of medical expenses," "time constraints," and "lack of care." The primary variable of interest is the region of residence, while control variables encompass 14 socio-demographic, health, and functional characteristics. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis, accounting for the sampling design, is conducted. Results: The rate of unmet healthcare needs in Korea is 11.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 11.0%-13.3%), which is approximately 30 times higher than that of Austria (0.4%). The causes of unmet healthcare needs, ranked in descending order, are "lack of care," "time constraints," and "burden of medical expenses." Predictive probabilities for experiencing unmet healthcare needs and each cause differ significantly between regions. For instance, the probability of experiencing unmet healthcare needs due to "lack of care" is approximately 10 times higher in Gangwon-do (13.5%; 95% CI, 13.0%-14.1%) than in Busan (1.3%; 95% CI, 1.3%-1.4%). The probability due to "burden of medical expenses" is approximately 14 times higher in Seoul (4.1%; 95% CI, 3.6%-4.6%) compared to Jeollanam-do (0.3%; 95% CI, 0.2%-0.4%). Conclusion: Amid rapid sociodemographic transitions, South Korea must make significant efforts to alleviate unmet healthcare needs and the associated regional disparities. To effectively achieve this, it is recommended that South Korea involves the National Assembly in healthcare policy-making, while maintaining a centralized financing model and delegating healthcare planning and implementation to regional authorities for their local residents-similar to the approaches of the United Kingdom and France.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.57-67
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• 2015

Purpose: As the concerns for the environment are gradually prioritized, increasing interests of environment-friendly buildings are drawn. Numerous researches about healthcare buildings have been performed however, they were mainly focused on convenience or healing condition for medical treatments. The hospitals consume energy and generate $CO_2$ as twice as the residential or commercial buildings do. Various green building certification systems are globally arranged. But, it isn't easy to find certification criteria for the green hospital besides the US and UK's ones which are specially designed to evaluate environment-friendly medical buildings(Lim&Yoo, 2010). Methods: In this study, we investigates current conditions of Tokyo Regional hospitals in environment-friendly standpoint and also investigates the foreign certification criteria and systems for the green healthcare building and finds the possibility to apply them to Korean one. Results: Through this study, we found that the Tokyo regional hospitals can be environmentally improved by management plans and programs. Implications: Based on this analysis, Korean Green Building Certification for healthcare facilities will be developed in near future.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.37-45
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• 2014

Purpose: Numerous researches about healthcare buildings have been performed however, they were mainly focused on convenience or healing condition for medical treatments. The hospitals consume energy and generate $CO_2$ as twice as the residential or commercial buildings do(Lim, et al., 2010a:154). The public regional hospitals are especially in serious conditions. They are more than 20 years old in average. Energy efficiency and environmental friendliness in the public regional hospitals are far behind ones in private sectors. Even though the ministry of health & welfare is supporting renovation of the builidngs and enhancement of the facilities every year, it is not integrated including sustainibility. In this study, we investigates current conditions of the regional public hospital in envrionment-friendly standpoint, especially focused on Chungcheong Province area Hospitals. Methods: we investigates current conditions of the regional public hospital in envrionment-friendly standpoint, especially focused on Chungcheong Province area Hospitals. The study was executed by qualitative and quantitative evaluations with site inspection, drawing analysis and interviews. Results: Through this study, we found that the Chungnam regional public hospitals can be environmentally improved by management plans and programs. Implications: Based on this analysis, Korean Green Building Certification for healthcare facilities will be developed in near future.

• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.10-17
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze health promotion programs utilizing forests by reviewing regional healthcare program plans in Korea. Methods: We analyzed 227 regional healthcare program plans from 2011 to 2014; seven health promotion programs of the 16 major healthcare programs were prescribed by public health law. Results: Our analysis revealed that only 35 health promotion programs from 29 sites were utilizing forests. Furthermore, of 21 known categories of health promotion programs, only nine incorporated the use of forests. Atopy-asthma healthcare programs were the most common forest health promotion programs, which also included specialized disease management programs (e.g., for atopy prevention and healing, patients with metabolic syndrome or cancer) and specialized mental health management programs (e.g., for addiction or dementia prevention). Others included programs on the development of forest roads or industrial development using forest products. Conclusion: Health programs using forests in Korea are still very limited and primarily comprise atopy-asthma prevention/management, health behavioral change, and mental health programs. This study provided useful information for developing health policies and forest health promotion programs further in Korea.

• 보건행정학회지
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.491-507
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• 2021

Background: This study aims to measure regional healthcare differences in Korea, and define relatively underserved areas. Methods: We employed position value for relative comparison index (PARC) to measure the healthcare status of 250 areas using 137 indicators in five following domains: healthcare demand, supply, accessibility, service utilization, and outcome. We performed a sensitivity analysis using t-SNE (t-distributed stochastic neighboring embedding). Results: Based on PARC values, 83 areas were defined as relatively underserved areas, 49 of which were categorized as moderate and 34 as severe. The provincial regions with the most underserved areas were Gyeongbuk (16 areas), Gangwon (13), Jeonnam (13), and Gyeongnam (12). Conclusion: This study suggests a relative comparison approach to define relatively underserved areas in healthcare. Further studies incorporating various perspectives and methods are required for policy implications.

• 의료ㆍ복지 건축 : 한국의료복지건축학회 논문집
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.59-65
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• 2016

• 보건행정학회지
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.240-250
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• 2018

By the end of 2017, in a world of 7.6 billion people, there were inequalities in healthcare indices both within and between nations, and this gap continues to increase. Therefore, this study aims to understand the current status of regional inequalities in healthcare indices and to find an action plan to tackle regional health inequality through a geo-economic review in Korea. Since 2008, there was great inequality in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by region in not only metropolitan cities but also districts in Korea. While the community health statistics from 2008-2017 show a continuous increase of inequality during the last 10 years in most healthcare indices related to noncommunicable diseases (except for some, like smoking), the inequality has doubled in 254 districts. Furthermore, health inequality intensified as the gap between urban (metropolitan cities) and rural regions (counties) for rates of obesity (self-reported), sufficient walking practices, and healthy lifestyle practices increased from twofold to fivefold. However, regionalism and uneven development are natural consequences of the spatial perspective caused by state-lead developmentalism as Korea has fixed the accumulation strategy as its model for growth with the background of export-led industrialization in the 1960s and heavy and chemical industrialization in the 1970s, although the Constitution of the Republic of Korea recognizes the legal value of balanced development within the regions by specifying "the balanced development of the state" or "ensuring the balanced development of all regions." In addition, the danger of a 30% decline or extinction of local government nationwide is expected by 2040 as we face not only a decline in general and ageing populations but also the era of the demographic cliff. Thus, the government should continuously operate the "Special Committee on Regional Balanced Development" with a government-wide effort until 2030 to prevent disparities in the health conditions of local residents, which is the responsibility of the nation in terms of strengthening governance. To address the regional inequalities of rural and urban regions, it is necessary to re-adjust the basic subsidy and cost-sharing rates with local governments of current national subsidies based mainly on population scale, financial independence of local government, or distribution of healthcare resources and healthcare indices (showing high inequalities) overall.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• 제47권5호
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• pp.398-402
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• 2021

Mastoid lymph node inflammation is a rare entity. Pathological conditions in the vicinity of the mastoid processes can be challenging for maxillofacial head-neck surgeons to address. We report a case of suppurative mastoid lymphadenitis in an 18-year-old Caucasian male. To our knowledge, there are no publications that highlight the clinical, ultrasonographic, intra-, and postoperative data for any pathologic process that presented as mastoiditis.