• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.75-83
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• 2006

Background : Utilization review has been adopted as a vehicle for cost and utilization control of health care services. Its role was further stressed and expanded through the establishment of Health Insurance Review Agency in 2001. This article is to introduce concept, activities, and effect of utilization review based on the experiences of U.S. and to suggest important characteristics for ideal utilization review activities at the national level in Korea. Method : Twenty-five articles related with utilization review were reviewed after being selected through web site search through Med Line and Richis. Result : Utilization review was introduced mainly for health care expenditure control either by insurer, provider or the third parties under the pressure of increasing health care cost. It's activities can be categorized to prospective, concurrent and retrospective review according to the time of service provision. Based on most of studies, utilization review has been effective in controling rising health care cost and utilization. However it's effectiveness assumes a reimbursement structure of managed care like capitation payment. More worse, it is still unknown it's effectiveness on quality of care. Conclusion : Utilization review should be employed to increase the cost effectiveness of medical care by optimizing quality and patient's outcomes while also attempting to reduce the use of resources. So, it should consider outcomes before expenditures, check for both under and over-use, and construct an structure in which consumption is reduced equitably. Aggressive adoption of utilization review in Korean health care setting with fee-for-service reimbursement structure might not be a cost-effective approach before adoption of prospective payment system such as D.R.G. and capitation.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.496-504
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• 2010

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of outpatient cost-sharing on health care utilization by the elderly. Methods: The data in this analysis was the health insurance claims data between July 1999 and December 2008 (114 months). The study group was divided into two age groups, namely 60-64 years old and 65-69 years old. This study evaluated the impact of policy change on office visits, the office visits per person, and the percentage of the copayment-paid visits in total visits. Interrupted time series and segmented regression model were used for statistical analysis. Results: The results showed that outpatient cost-sharing decreased office visits, but it also decreased the percentage of copayment-paid visits, implying that the intensity of care increased. There was little difference in the results between the two age groups. But after the introduction of the coinsurance system for those patients under age 65, office visits and the percentage of copayment-paid visits decreased, and the 60-64 years old group had a larger decrease than the 65-69 years old group. Conclusions: This study evaluated the effects of outpatient cost-sharing on health care utilization by the aged. Cost sharing of the elderly had little effect on controlling health care utilization.

• Korean Management Science Review
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.17-29
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• 2011

The purpose of this paper is to schedule elective surgery patients using a stochastic programming approach and to illustrate how operating room utilization behaves when a decision-maker varies costs associated with utilization. Because of the uncertainty in surgery durations, the underage and overage costs that a decision-maker considers plays an important role in allocating surgery cases into available operating room capacity. We formulate the problem as a stochastic mixed integer programming and propose a sampling-based approximation method for a computational purpose. Newsvendor model is employed to explain the results from numerical experiments that are conducted with the actual data from a hospital. The results show that the operating room utilization is more sensitive when the unit overtime cost is relatively larger than the unit cost for underutilized time.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.325-337
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• 2023

Background: While there are many studies estimating the effects of private health insurance on various types of health care utilization, few have examined how such effects change in conjunction with important policy reforms in national health insurance (NHI). This study examined how the effect of private health insurance (supplemental and fixed cash benefit) on high-cost outpatient imaging test utilization changed following the expansion of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coverage in 2018, which is a key example of the NHI benefit expansion policy in recent years. Methods: Data from the 2017 and 2019 Korea Health Panel Survey, which contained information about healthcare utilization before and after the expansion of MRI coverage in 2018, were used. The incremental effect of private health insurance on high-cost outpatient imaging test utilization for each period were quantified and compared, with special attention given to the type of private health insurance. Results: While people with supplemental private health insurance were more likely to use high-cost outpatient imaging tests than those without, both before and after the expansion of MRI coverage, the incremental effect increased from 1.6% points in 2017 to 2.5% points in 2019. Conclusion: Benefit expansion in NHI does not necessarily reduce disparities in the use of health care between private health insurance subscribers and non-subscribers. The results of our study also suggest that the path through which private health insurance affects healthcare utilization may not be limited to the price mechanism alone but can be more complex.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.7463-7473
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• 2015

This study aims to analyze the effect of long-term care utilization on health care utilization of the national health insurance elderly. This study is a secondary data analysis of the long-term care insurance data that comprised of total 21,213 long-term care insurance with the level 1 elders who received either service or non-service. This study evaluated the impact of long-term care service on the probability of health care utilization experience and costs of health care utilization. The total medical cost, geriatric hospital's medical cost, inpatient day and geriatric hospital's inpatient day by 2007-2009 were significant factor influencing the long-term care utilization. This study suggests long term care system should proper medical service linkage system. The current long-term care insurance system should more resource allocation on long-term care utilization to increase the efficiency of insurance system.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 1979

This survey was carried out to grasp the actual condition of a power tiller utilization . Now, the power tiller has become the leading machinery in the field of agriculture throughout the country . Two hundred farm houses, located in the provincial districts of Kimcheon and kum0rung, hav etaken part in the survey from October 1, 1976 to September 30, 1977. The results are summarized as follows . 1. The average size of cultivated land of a farm household in the districts surveyed was 1.77ha which was bigger than that of whole country. And the average age of power tiller drivers was analyzed in which only 105 of total drivers was on their 30's. 2. Distribution of a power tiller utilization was appeared to be 34.4% for transporting , 24% for tilling , 23% for pumping , 11.5% for threshing and 6.6% for spraying. 3. Frequency of a power tiller utilization was high during the month of June, July and October while it was low during February and December . 4. Distribution of repairing cost was 8.5% for trailer, 7.1% for throttle lever and 6.7% for casket, respectively. The annual cost for repairing was 5,290 won.5. The annual cost for using a power tiller was composed of 51.5% of fixed cost and 48.5% of operating cost. 6. Economic analysis showed that it was not economically practical for individual ownership of a power tiller on the farm surveyed. Therefore, custom operation and joint ownership by a few farmers were recommended.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.61-76
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• 2016

Objectives : This study was designed to clarify population-social characteristics that influence the utilization patterns of hospitalized patients in a traditional korean hospital, thereby providing clinical data which would help further improvements of traditional korean medical service in particular the Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Methods : We investigated population-social characteristics and annual utilization patterns of all patients who were hospitalized for more than 24 hours in a Korean Medical Hospital from January 2005 to December 2014. The obtained data were recorded in the EMR chart and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 21.0. Additionally, data from the patients admitted to the department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion were analyzed separately. Results : 1. All inpatients had a significant annual difference in age, gender, hospitalized department, and disease code annually but not in re-hospitalization number. Inpatients of the department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion also varied in their age, gender, and disease code annually, but not in re-hospitalization number. 2. Pearson correlation analysis on all inpatients showed that the mean days of hospital treatments had a negative correlation with all variables except medical care insurance. Total cost, cost per day per person and recuperation cost had a positive correlation with all variables except medical care insurance. There was no meaningful relationship between nonrecuperation cost and the variables. 3. Stepwise multiple regression analysis on all inpatients showed that the mean days of hospital treatments had a negative correlation with all variables except automobile insurance. The total hospitalization costs had a positive correlation with both general insurance and medical care insurance. Cost per day per person and recuperation cost had a positive correlation with the females. There was no meaningful relationship between non-recuperation cost and the variables. 4. Pearson correlation analysis on inpatients of the department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion inpatients showed that the mean days of hospital treatments had a positive correlation with all variables except general insurance and automobile insurance. Total cost and recuperation cost had a positive correlation with all variables except medical care insurance, and cost per day per person had a positive correlation with females and general insurance. There was no meaningful relationship between non-recuperation cost and the variables. 5. Stepwise multiple regression analysis on inpatients of the department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion inpatients, the mean days of hospital treatments, total cost, cost per day per person and recuperation cost had a positive correlation with general insurance. There was no meaningful relationship between non-recuperation cost and the variables. Conclusion : Population-social characteristics of inpatients annually varies, and the change influences the utilization pattern.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.78-96
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to analyze the emergency health care utilization using status according to income class. The target was the 2011 data out Korea Health Panel's raw data. 2011 data composed of total 17,035 people from total 5,741 households. This study set total 1,101 adults over full-20-years old having used an emergency health care utilization as its analysis target. In order to find out the number of emergency health care utilization use according to income class and the influential factors on emergency health care utilization cost, this study conducted the multiple regression analysis. And in order to more accurately analyze the emergency health care utilization use status depending on the income class and the features of emergency health care utilization use status, this study developed Models. As the result, this study found following findings. First, as the income class was lower, the gender was male, the age was lower, and the user has spouse, the user was not a business owner or a paid worker, the user is a house owner, the emergency medical facility type was a clinic, the means of transportation was others rather than 119 ambulance, the reason visiting emergency medical facility was belonged to others rather than accidents or poisoning, then the number of emergency was increased. Second, as the user was in higher income class, received the health insurance benefits, the using medical facility was general hospital, used 119 ambulance more often, stay days in emergency was shorter, then health care utilization cost was increased. In this study investigating the data out of Korea Health Panel, it was found that while the number of emergency health care utilization use was increased in the lower income class, but the emergency health care utilization cost was increased for higher income class. It is considered that this finding was caused from the facts that lower income class was more often exposed to dangers for physical health, so the number of emergency health care utilization use was increased, but their health care utilization cost was decreased because of their economic burdens against various examinations and their difficulties to pay such costs, comparing to that of higher income class. Therefore, in order to solve unequal problem of emergency health care utilization use between lower and higher income classs, it is required to set suitable solutions like the disease prevention effort by facilitating national health check-up programs, the enhancement of public health services in quantity and quality, the emergency health care utilization securing policy at using medical facilities, the promotional, educational activities about emergency health care utilization delivery system, the enhanced accessibility of emergency health care utilizations and emergency medical facilities.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.75-83
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• 2015

This study was aimed to estimate the total application cost and utilization of Turf grass VFS application through the field experiment. The experimental plots were constructed in an upland field of Iksan city within the Saemangeum watershed. Turf grass was transplanted at the down-slope edge of the pollution source area in each of the treated plots. Three rainfall events were monitored during the experiment period, and the rainfall-runoff relationships and NPS pollution reduction effects of the VFS systems were assessed. As results, the reduction ratio of runoff volume ranged 14.1~64.0 %, while the NPS pollution reduction ratio ranged 9.8~73.9 % for SS, 24.0~84.2 % for T-N, 31.6~80.9 % for T-P respectively. The total cost of VFS application was estimated by considering purchase cost of Turf grass sods and construction and maintenance costs of VFS system as well as the loss caused by giving up crop cultivation for the area needed to construct the VFS. The total cost of the VFS was estimated to be approximately \3,379,000/ha/year for the first year of application, and this cost could be decreased to \1,899,000/ha/year from the second year as the construction cost of VFS could no longer need to be counted afterwards. Apart from the NPS pollution reduction effects, the possible utilization of VFS was examined by detaching Turf grass within 40 % of VFS area for sale during spring time when the VFS systems fully covered. The benefit of selling the detached Turf grass sods was estimated as \1,260,000/ha/year, and also found that the VFS area successfully recovered by the time of the summer period. This benefit could attract farmers to adopt the VFS technique to manage agricultural NPS pollution.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2017

This paper deals with the after-tax economic feasibility analysis of the hydrogen fueling station considering dynamic utilization. We selected an off-site hydrogen station in which the hydrogen is supplied by a central by-product hydrogen plant as a case study. Also, we made some sensitivity analysis by changing input factors such as the discount rate, the hydrogen station construction cost, the hydrogen demand and the hydrogen sale price. As a result, the hydrogen station will not be economical in 2020 due to the relatively high price of the hydrogen station construction cost and the low price of hydrogen sale price. In order to realize the economic feasibility of the hydrogen station in the early stage of the hydrogen economy, the subsidies on the annual operating cost as well as the construction cost are needed.