• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.231-237
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• 2010

Computed tomography (CT) has been established as an important diagnostic tool in clinical medicine and has become a major source of medical exposure. A nationwide survey regarding CT examinations was carried out in 2007. Thanks to the appeasement policy regulating the import of CT scanners, there are 1,825 CT scanners across the country as of the end of March 2010, which means that we have 36.8 CT scanners per one million people. The annual number of examinations was 3.29 million, the number of examinations per 1000 population was 68. The most part of examinations was abdomen and pelvis. and the collective effective dose was in these parts. The effective dose per one population was evaluated as 0.952 mSv.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.93-105
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• 2005

Climatological characteristics in the variation of soil temperatures in Korea were investigated using Korea Meterological Administration's observation data. And the impacts of soil moisture on the variation of soil temperature were examined using observed precipitation data. The climatological averages of soil temperatures are ranged from 14.4 to $15.0^{\circ}C$ regardless of depths. And they showed an latitudinal gradient with a warm temperature at the southern region and 'U' shape as in the air temperature with a high value along the coastal region. The relatively higher heat capacity and low conductivity of soil compared to those of the air resulted in the significant delay of the maximum and minimum date with depth. As a results, soil acts as a heat source during winter while a heat sink during summer. Global warming and urban heat island have increased the soil temperatures with an average rate $0.3\~0.5^{\circ}C/10-year$ as in the air temperature during last 30 years $(1973\~2002)$. However, the warming rate is maximized during spring contrary to the winter in the air temperature. The temporal variation of soil temperatures is strongly affected by that of soil moisture through an modification of the heat capacity and heat convection. In general, the increased soil moisture clearly decreased the temporal variations and increased the deep layer soil temperatures during cold season.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2017

Background: This study purposed to analyze the effects of metabolic syndrome on the total medical charge of patients. Methods: 2013 National Health Insurance Service sample research database (eligibility database, medical database, and health examination database) was used for this study. Gamma regression was applied to analyze the effects of metabolic syndrome on the total medical charge and logistic regression was used to determine the probability of medical charge which was higher than the third quartile. Sociodemographic characteristics (age and household income), health behavior factors (smoking, drinking, exercise, and body mass index), and disease related factors (family history and metabolic syndrome) were included as the independent variables. Results: people who had metabolic syndrome spent more medical expenses than those without metabolic syndrome both in man and woman group. The standard regression coefficient was 0.09 (p< 0.001) in man with metabolic syndrome and 0.16 (p< 0.001) in woman. In addition, woman with metabolic syndrome spent more than the third quartile of medical charge. The odds ratios was 1.04 (p= 0.16) for man with metabolic syndrome and 1.18 (p= 0.013) for woman. Conclusion: people with metabolic syndrome spent more medical charge, so it will need to consider policy interventions for preventing the incidence and management of metabolic syndrome in Korean people.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.37
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• pp.307-326
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• 1999

The primary purpose of this study is to analyze changes, if any, in the financial status and the intensity of health care service utilization of the regional health insurance societies following the 1995 merger of some rural and urban regional health insurance societies. Ultimately, this study is aiming at providing an empirical basis for predicting the impact of the 1998 merger of the Regional Health Insurance Program and the Health Insurance Program for Government Employees and Teachers and, further, predicting the impact of the merger of the entire health insurance programs scheduled for the year 2000. The study results did not suggest that the 1995 merger had brought about notable changes in the rate of increase in the total expenditures or the insurance payment of the merged regional insurance societies in comparison to non-merged ones. Neither did it show that the merger had resulted in significant changes in the intensity of the use of health services. The study, however, found that the 1995 merger had reduced the rate of increase in the management and operational cost of the merged insurance societies. Based on these findings, some policy implications are discussed, and suggestions are made for the total merger plan scheduled for the year 2000.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.83-90
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• 2010

objectives: This study was conducted to estimate medical expenditure attributable to overweight and obesity in adults with ischemic heart disease and stroke using Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination survey data and Korea National Health Corporation data. methods : The medical expenditure of ischemic heart disease and stroke related to overweight and obesity were composed of inpatient care costs, outpatient care costs and medication costs. The population attributable risk (PAR) of overweight and obesity was calculated from national representative data of Korea such as the National Health Insurance Corporation cohort data and 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination survey data. results: The medical expenditure attributable to overweight and obesity of ischemic heart disease were 97.4 billion won(74.1-122 billion won). and stroke were 64.6 billion won(33.1-98.1 billion won). Consequently, these costs corresponded to 11.4% of total medical expenditure due to ischemic heart disease and stroke. conclusion: We conclude that overweight and obesity have increased medical expenditure from ischemic heart disease and stroke in Korea. These findings provide important support for implementing overweight and obesity management strategies in Korea.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.212-218
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• 2022

This study aims to understand health care consumer's information searching behavior according to their presence of chronic diseases. For this purpose, 240 patients' data of university hospital located in Seoul were collected by surveys from 9 February to 11 February 2016. For statistical analysis, we used SPSS Ver. 26.0. The main results of this study are as follows: First, Chi-square test showed that chronic patients used expert information sources and experiential information sources more than those without chronic diseases. Second, chronic patients were found to search nutrition management, exercise management, and patient case. Lastly, in the case of hospital-related searches, patients with chronic diseases searched more waiting time and medical expenses than those without chronic diseases. The significance of this study is to provide basic data for efficient information provision and establishment of marketing strategies reflecting information needs of health care consumers.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.154-163
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• 2017

This study aims to investigate the utilization status of dental services by foreign children living in Seoul and their level of satisfaction with the treatments. We developed a structured questionnaire with 35 questions, which comprised 14 questions (demographic characteristics) and 21 questions (oral hygiene and dental experience of the child). In this study, the distribution of nationality of 391 participants differed from the actual statistics in Korea. It consisted of high percentage of participants from African countries (23.6%), as well as North American countries (24.1%). In addition, the education status of most parents was above the level of college graduate. Despite the relatively high socioeconomic status of the participants, they showed minimal dental health knowledge regarding the aspect of oral hygiene. Utilization of dental health services and the types of dental clinics visited by them were similar before and after coming to Korea. The participants showed overall satisfaction with the care, but many of them expressed the need for improvement with regard to treatment fee and communication. In conclusion, foreign children living in Seoul require appropriate dental health education and governmental support to promote regular dental check-ups, to improve their overall oral health, and prevent the incidence of dental caries.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.25-35
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• 2009

Purpose: The characteristics of hospitalized patients in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), including hospitalization costs (HC) and National Health Insurance (NHI) status were studied. Methods: We gathered the following data from 7 hospitals in Korea during 2006: the distribution of patients according to birth weight (BW), and the duration of the hospital stay according to BW and He. Results: The patients who were admitted to the NICU consisted of high-risk neonates, including low birth weight or premature neonates, which comprised 50% of all neonates admitted to the NICU. The duration of hospitalization was 75-90 days for neonates with BW <1,000 g, 45-60 days for neonates with BW between 1,000 and 1,499 g, and approximately 15 days for neonates with BW between 2,000 and 2,499 g. The portion of the HC covered by the NHI was 77.1%, 22.9% of the total HC was not covered by the NHI (19.5% was included in the list, but not covered by the NHI and 3.4% was not listed, but covered by the NHI). The average total HC per person was 4,360,000 won, and the HC covered and not covered by the NHI were 3,677,000 won and 1,007,000 won, respectively. The mean HC were as follows; 35,000,000 won for a BW <500 g, 18,000,000 won for a BW between 500 and 999 g, 16,000,000 won for a BW between 1,000 and 1,499 g, and 4,200,000 won for a BW between 1,500 and 1,999 g. Conclusion: Not only premature, but also ill neonates were under the care of the NICU. The HC increased as the BW decreased and the hospitalization period increased. The proportion of the patient's financial burden is >25% of the total He. For this matter, additional NHI is needed.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.19-35
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• 2001

This study was conducted to investigate the internal changes and the countermeasure for performance improvement by Separation of Prescribing and Dispensing Practice (SPDP) in Health Center. Data were collected from two sources: Performance report before and after SPDP of 25 Health Centers in Kyongsangbuk-do and 6 Health Centers in Daegu-City and self-administerd questionnaire survey of 221 officials at health center. The results of this study were summarized as follows: Twenty-four health centers(77.4%) of 31 health centers took convenience measures for medical treatment of citizens and convenience measures were getting map of pharmacy, improvement of health center interior, introduction of order communication system in order. After the SPDP in health centers, 19.4% of health centers increased doctors and 25.8% decreased pharmacists. 58.1% of health centers showed that number of medical treatments were decreased. 96.4%, 80.6% 80.6% 96.7% of health centers showed that number of prescriptions, total medical treatment expenses, amounts paid by the insureds and the expenses to purchase drugs, respectively, were decreased. More than fifty percent(54.2%) of health centers responded that the relative importance of health works increased compared to medical treatments after the SPDP, and number of patients decreased compared to those in before the SPDP. And there was a drastic reduction in number of prescriptions, total medical treatment expenses, amounts paid by insureds, the expenses to purchase drugs after the SPDP. Above fifty percent(57.6%) of officers at health center responded that the function of medical treatment should be reduced after the SPDP. Fields requested improvement in health centers were 'development of heath works contents'(62.4%), 'rearrangement of health center personnel'(51.6%), 'priority setting for health works'(48.4%), 'restructuring the organization'(36.2%), 'quality impro­vement for medical services'(32.1%), 'replaning the budgets'(23.1%) in order. And to better the image of health centers, health center officers replied that 'health information management'(60.7%), 'public relations for health center'(15.8%), 'kindness of health center officers'(15.3%) were necessary in order. Health center officers suggested that 'vaccination program', 'health promotion', 'maternal and children health', 'communicable disease management', 'community health planning' were relatively important works, in order, performed by health center after SPDP. In the future, medical services in health centers should be cut down with a momentum of the SPDP so that health centers might reestablish their functions and roles as public health organizations, but quality of medical services must be improved. Also health centers should pay attention to residents for improving health through 'vaccination program', 'health promotion', 'mother-children health', 'acute and chronic communicable disease management', 'community health planning', 'oral health', 'chronic degenerative disease management', etc. And there should be a differentiation of relative importance between health promotion services and medical treatment services by character of areas(metropolitan, city, county).

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.3336-3340
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• 2010

This study has been carried out against hospitals with less than 100 beds, which were excluded from the previous study on the discharged patients from January 1 to December 31, 2007. To analyze the discharged patients, the general characteristics of discharged patients, means of payment for medical costs, type of disease and surgery and current status of the use of medical services have been investigated based on the medical records. During the year of 2007, the number of discharged patients from the hospitals with less than 100 beds reached 4,697,095 (9.7% of total population). In other words, 9,693 people were discharged from a hospital per 100,000 populations with 9.8 days in terms of annual mean length of hospitalization. The number of patients who returned home after hospitalization reached 4,538,861 (male: 1,784,041, female: 2,754,821) while 119,378 patients were evacuated to other hospitals. Among them, 8,970 patients were returned back to the original hospital. Based on the results of this study, they could be used in could be used in planning a project which is aimed to reduce public health costs by investigating high-risk groups with particular injuries and preventing damage. In addition, the injury monitoring data which are continuously collected could be useful in monitoring and evaluating the efficiency of an injury prevention program.