• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.314-323
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• 2013

This study analyzed the relationship between the level of hospital caseloads and length of stay for the delivery patients. The differences of hospital caseloads were measured by the Internal Herfindahl Index, which measured the concentration of delivery patient in a hospital. And the structure variables of hospitals such as the number of bed, the number of treatment, and the number of doctors and nurses per 100 beds were included as control variables. And average length of stay of delivery patients was used as the dependent variable. Concentration status of delivery patients was measured in two models: (1) first model represents the concentration level of delivery patient in all hospital patients, (2) second model represents the concentration level of delivery patient in all obstetrics and gynecology patients. In regression analysis, patient concentration index was not statistically significant in explaining the variation of average length of stay in two models. But the number of delivery patients and number of beds were statistically significant. The number of delivery patient variable showed negative regression coefficient with average length of stay and the number of beds showed positive coefficient with average length of stay. This study result indicated that the volume of delivery patients in a hospital will play a significant role in reducing the length of stay of delivery patients. Patient volume could contribute in improving the efficiency of patient care in a hospital.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.257-263
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• 2020

This study was conducted to improve the quality of National Health Policy by analysing the effects of sociodemographic characteristics, Medical institutions characteristics and characteristics of Admission-Discharge on the length of stay in hospital for schizophrenic patients from the data of Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service. The subjects were 4,692 patients who were diagnosed with schizophrenia as main diagnosis from the data records of HIRA-NIS 2016. Regression analysis was performed to evaluate the effect on the length of stay. Sociodemographic characteristics, hospital characteristics and characteristics of Admission-Discharge were used as explanatory variables and length of stay in hospital was used as a dependent variable. The result of study showed that female, age, medical aid, the kind of hospital, gangweon-do and with mental disease were found to be the factors that affect the length of stay. The significance of this study is to use the public data for evaluating factors that affect the length of stay in hospital for schizophrenic patients. But this study did not consider disease severity, so further study is needed for evaluation of the effects of factors on the length of stay according to disease severity.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.27 no.4 s.48
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• pp.793-805
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• 1994

Investigating the existence of volume-outcome relationships for specific disease groups relates directly to the policy issue of whether, and how, specific inpatient services should be regionalized. This study examined whether medical costs and lengths of stay as outcomes were affected by changes in volume within hospitals. Based on the claims data obtained from National Federation of Medical Associations, each six disease categories from medical and surgical conditions were selected and 29,720 cases from 1,266 hospitals were analyzed. Main findings of the research can be summarized as follows: 1. Analyzing volume and cost per case relationship, tonsillectomy class 1, hernia procedure class 0, appendectomy and cesarean section class 0,1 in surgical conditions showed negative relationship significantly. In cases of medical conditions, costs per case in respiratory neoplasm class 2, COPD class 1, 2, digestive malignancy were also related to volume negtively. 2. Comparing volume with length of stay per case, lens procedure class 0, hernia procedure class 0, appendectomy class 0,1, cesarean section class 1 in surgical conditions showed negative relationships significantly. In medical conditions, volume of respiratory neoplasm class 2, COPD class 1,2, digestive malignancy class 0 were associated with negatively. 3. Within same disease categories, changes in cost and length of stay per case to volume were more remarkable in severe cases. These results suggested a significant inverse relationship between disease cases and cost, length of stay per case as outcome variables.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.126-131
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• 2012

Purpose: We developed a standardized critical pathway for gastric cancer surgery and then determined the increase of application, which resulted in an improvement in terms of measurable indices, such as hospital stay and cost. Materials and Methods: A critical pathway was revised and used widely from the 2nd quarter of 2009. We collected clinical data, such as length of stay and complication rate, as clinical indices of quality prospectively. The total cost paid at the patient's discharge, as well as the daily hospital income, were calculated and compared by each quarter from January 2008 to December 2009. Results: The application rate of critical pathway was 11.8% and 87.8% in 2008 and 2009, respectively. There were no perioperative deaths. There was no difference in the complication rates between 2008 and 2009 (P=0.45). However, the mean length of stay was significantly different between the 2 years (P<0.05). Although the total cost was not different, the daily hospital income was significantly higher in the latter year (P<0.05). Conclusions: An increase in the application of critical pathway for gastrectomy resulted in significant decreases in length of stay and increases in the daily hospital income without a compromise on the clinical indices.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.39-51
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• 2016

Objectives : This study investigated the health care utilization patterns of workers' compensation insurance(WCI) pneumoconiosis patients with excessively long hospital stays. Methods : The discharge summary data of 3,094 WCI pneumoconiosis patients were analyzed. The study sample was divided into 3 groups based on the length of stay(LOS). Health care utilization patterns were compared among the groups with logistic regression analysis, and the LOS determinants were identified with linear regression analysis. Results : The average LOS of the 222 long stay group patients was 1,448 days. Patients in this group tended to use private general hospitals, were admitted through the emergency room and discharged without the consent of a doctor. Conclusions : Many of the long LOS patients will maintain their inpatient status for the rest of their lives. For quality of life and efficient use of health care resources, policy makers need to establish a policy that enables patients to receive outpatient care in appropriate living conditions outside the hospital.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.18-29
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• 2000

Back injury is frequent in industry workers and is a common cause of productivity loss. It has been reported that the insured of industrial accident insurance tend to stay in hospital longer than that of other types of insurance. The purpose of this study was to identify factors affecting the length of hospital stay for the treatment of back injury in the workers under industrial accident insurance. The results of this study help insurers develop reasonable industrial accident insurance policy for back injury claims and prevention strategies of work-related back injury. A total of 2,949 patients whose industrial accident insurance claim has been approved for the treatment of work-related back injury from January to December 1999 were included in this study. Relationship between the length of hospital stay and characteristics of patient, work place, back injury, and hospital were assessed using ANOVA, t-test, simple linear regression and multiple resgression. The major findings of this study are as follows : 1. The average length of hospital stay(LOS) was 91.82 days, respectively. 2. Characteristics of Patient LOS of male patients was longer than that of female patients, there was positive correlation between age and LOS and between average wage and LOS. Working period was negatively correlated with LOS. Distance from resident to hospital was positively correlated with LOS and LOS was significantly different dependign on type of duty. 3. Characteristics of Work Place LOS was significantly different depending on types of industry and geographical region of work place. Size of work place was positively correlated with LOS. 4. Characteristics of Back Injury Occupational back pain required shorter LOS compared with back injury due to electric shock. Number of concomitant illnesses and severity of disability were positively correlated with LOS. 5. Characteristics of Hospital Patients treated in community hospitals required significantly longer LOS. Treatment in hospitals with rehabilitation program required decreased LOS. This was more prominent as number of physicians specialized in rehabilitation. 6. Multiple regression analysis revealed that distance form resident to hospital, geographical region of work place, size of work place, number of concomitant illnesses, severity of disability, and type of hospital were factors affecting LOS.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.137-143
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• 2023

This study was conducted to analyze factors affecting the length of stay in children with injuries by determining relationships between length of stay and characteristics of children(aged 0 to 12) with injuries. 7,804 patients aged 0 to 12 who participated in the Korea Nation Hospital Discharge In-Depth Injury Surveys, got a diagnosis of sequelae of injuries and of other consequences of external causes(S00-T98), and were discharged between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2020 were investigated. A frequency analysis, independent samples t-test, and ANOVA were performed. Also, to identify factors affecting the length of stay, a regression analysis was performed. The average length of stay for the patients investigated in this study was 5.5 days. The length of stay for school-age children(aged 7 to 12) and children who had either public or private coverage was higher than that for preschoolers(aged 0 to 6) and children who didn't have public or private coverage, respectively. The length of stay for children admitted to a hospital in a rural area(Jeolla-do or Gyeongsang-do) was higher than that for children admitted to a hospital in a metropolitan area and the length of stay for children admitted to a hospital that had 100-299 hospital beds was relatively long. However, children who first visited a hospital for outpatient care stayed relatively short in hospital and children who had been burned or injured in traffic crashes stayed relatively long in hospital. Children who got a secondary diagnosis and had a principal procedure or who died after being discharged were in hospital for a long time. The findings of this study shall be useful, as they identified characteristics related to the length of stay for Korean children with injuries and factors that determine the length of stay for those children by analyzing the national dataset, or more specifically, the data from the Korea National Hospital Discharge In-Depth Injury Surveys. The risk of child injuries can be easily reduced by taking actions to prevent them and providing safety education programs. The present study has provided essential baseline data for the provision of aggressive care for child injuries and the establishment of a range of policies for child injury prevention.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.39-50
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• 2016

Background: This study examined patient and hospital factors related to long-stay admissions in long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) among older people in Korea. Methods: We analyzed health insurance claims data, entitlement data, and institutional administrative data from the National Health Insurance Service databases between 2010 and 2012. At the patient level, we compared characteristics of patients staying in LTCHs for over 180 days (the long-stay group) with those staying in LTCHs for less than 90 days during a calendar year. At the hospital level, we examined the general characteristics and staffing levels of the top 10% of hospitals with the highest proportion of patients whose length of stay (LOS) was 180+ days (the hospitals with long-stay patients) and compared them with the top 10% of hospitals with the highest proportions of patients whose LOS was less than 90 days (hospitals with shorter-stay patients). Results: The long-stay group accounted for about 40% of all LTCH patients. People in the group were more likely to be women, aged 80+, living alone, and experiencing more than two health conditions. Compared to the hospitals with shorter-stay patients, those with long-stay patients were more likely to be occupied by patients with behavior problems and/or impaired cognition, owned by corporate or local governments, have more beds and a longer period of operation, and deliver services with lower staffing levels. Conclusion: This study found long-stay older people in LTCHs and those in LTCHs with high proportions of long-stay older patients had several distinct characteristics compared to their counterparts designated in this study. Patient and hospital characteristics need to be considered in policies aiming to resolve long-stay admissions problems in LTCHs.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.340-348
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and provide a standardized nursing intervention program for stroke patients with dysphagia and evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Methods: Data on the number of tube feedings, incidence of aspiration pneumonia and length of stay were collected from 42 patients in the control group and 51 patients in the experimental group over the 6 months of this study. The data were analyzed using $x^2$-test and t-test. Results: The number of tube feedings in the experimental group was significantly lower than control group (p=.002). The incidence of aspiration pneumonia in the experimental group was not significantly lower than the control group (p=.097). Length of stay in the experimental group was significantly shorter than the control group (p<.001). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that a standardized nursing intervention program for stroke patients with dysphagia could be useful to decrease tube feedings and length of stay.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.327-335
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• 2011

Purpose: The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of medical staffing level as bed-to-medical staff ratio on patient outcomes as length of stay (LOS) among hospitals in Korea. Methods: Two hundred and fifty one hospitals participated in the study between January and March 2008. Data for the study was requested by an electronic data interchange from the Health Insurance Review Agency in 2008. In data analysis, SPSS WIN 15.0 program was utilized for descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression. Results: The mean score for length of stay was 13.6 days. The mean of operating bed-to-nurse ratio was 7.93:1. The predicting factors for LOS were bed-to-nurse's aide ratio, bed-to doctor's ratio, severely ill patient rate, and hospital type. These factors explained 28.9% of the variance in patient outcomes. Conclusion: This study results indicate that the relationship between medical staffing level and patient outcomes is important in the improvement of the quality of patient care. Thus, improvements in the quality of the nurse practice environment could improve patient outcomes for hospitalized patients.