• The Journal of the Korean dental association
• /
• v.48 no.1
• /
• pp.6-11
• /
• 2010

Amid the rapid transitions in both local and international markets, the Korean dental industry is facing more challenges than at any time in its history. This paper tried to address some of the key issues faced by the industry as well as the policy issues and I direction of implementation that the Korean Dental Association (KDA) is expected to tackle. First, the direction of reforming the country's health insurance system was examined with emphasis on the expected changes in and improvement of the fee-for-service reimbursement system (FFSRS) and medical reimbursement system (MRS). With FFSRS, the most urgent issue would be ameliorating the current lop-sided, unreasonable reimbursement system that prevents suppliers from voicing their opinions. To help achieve that goal, the limited authority and responsibility of the president of National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) as one of the contract-making parties must be clarified. In addition, the functions of NHIC's Health Insurance Finance Committee must be restricted; at the same time, the panel organization of the Health Insurance Policy Review Committee needs to be reformed to embrace greater democracy. As with MRS, the government is considering a block budget bill to help promote efficiency in employing and managing the health insurance fund. Policymakers must understand that the implementation of such proposal could exacerbate an already dire situation. Improving MRS requires meeting the following preconditions: (a) the structurally vicious cycle of small charge-small salary needs to be resolved, and a certain percentage of fee raise must be guaranteed on a yearly basis to help adjust the fee system to a more realistic level; (b) the supply-and-demand balance in producing health care professionals must be improved including the prevention of oversupply of doctors, nurses, etc., and; (c) institutional strategies must be provided to enhance the quality of medical care and ensure academic advancement in health care disciplines.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.531-538
• /
• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate recognition and adequacy of dental service providers regarding dental prosthodontic treatment covered by dental auto insurance system. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 320 dentists and dental hygienists in Seoul, Gyeonggido, and Incheon from February 22 to March 21, 2016. The questionnaire consisted of recognition and needs of auto insurance (4 items), and recognition of prosthodontic treatment covered by dental auto insurance system. Likert five point scale was used in the questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS 21.0 program. Cronbach's alpha was 0.856 in the study. Results: The average of recognition was 2.62 and that of adequacy of auto insurance coverage was 1.98. The reasonable price of crown treatment was from 400,000 to 500,000 Korean Won in 67.9 percent of the dentists. But 49.8 percent of the dental hygienists answered that the reasonable price of crown was 300,000 to 400,000 Korean Won. The dentists preferred to treatment fee covered by dental auto insurance. The dental hygienists had a preference to combination of dental auto insurance and medical insurance fee. Conclusions: The opinion of the dental care providers should be considered and the adequate coverage of insurance would improve the dental health care.

• Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.23-36
• /
• 2018

This research has been conducted from June 1, 2017 to August 25, 2017 for the dental hygienists working in Busan and Gyeongnam area, to provide necessary basic data for the purpose of revision of the relating laws from the analysis of their understanding and perspective on such laws through 262 subjects' questionnaire. Its analysis of their perspectives are as follows. 1. The common characteristics of the subjects are that 40.1% of them are under 25, and their working period was under three years with the 38.9%, and as for their marital status, 70.2% were single, the final education of 80.2% were associated degrees. Their working areas are centered in Gyeongsangnam-do province with 91.2%, the workplace type is for the dental clinic with 80.2%. 2. The comparison of the view point of the medical(technician) law according to the characteristics of the research subjects differed only whether or not the completion of the education, and as a result of the comparison according to the characteristics of those subjects understanding the details of the medical(technician) law, there was a significant difference saying "the current law has clear job description" depending on the working area or "the job duty is definite" depending on the job experience and job details. As for those saying "the job duty is definite", there was also significant difference depending upon marital status, final education and work details. There was no significant difference in all characteristics from findings of the necessity of legal system according to the subjects not understanding the medical(technician) law. 3. As a result of comparing the necessity of the medical(technician) law according to the characteristics of the research subjects, it was found that all the subjects accepted the necessity of the medical law revision including the dental hygienist in the medical person. The "necessity of the professional dental hygienist system" showed a significant difference depending upon the final education and medical institution type. Among the triggering factors in its amendment, there showed significant difference in the "cooperation of other organizations" and "solution of medical law problems" only in the final education. 4. As a result of comparison of the needs of the medical(technician) law revision according to the characteristics of the research subjects, it was found that the significant traits related to the age and job details showed "Legal responsibility would be increased" when the medical law is revised, in case that "it will help broaden the job extension", there showed a significant difference in career, final education, and working institution, and job details. "Legal protection is possible" showed significant difference except the age group and working area, and "it help the system settlement" showed in the final education. There was a significant difference in career, final education, and job details that "I can regulate the education and field practice", and the same in "my status will be improved" depending upon the final education, work area, and job details. Accordingly, in this research, for the establishment of more professional and comprehensive dental health service as suggested from the demand and necessity toward the medical(technician) Law by the dental hygienists.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
• /
• v.15 no.3 s.56
• /
• pp.126-135
• /
• 2006

The concept of the Hospital run for medical treatment changing to the forms of theme complex hospital with design by the impact of a boutique design. Especially, this design's element emboss with strongly to form a ring around the special hospital as the dentistry, dermatology and plastic surgery, the woman hospital of a lying-in hospital etc. that is the higher value-added industrial among groups of medical, even general hospital that is not depend on the design relatively, the application of the interior design is extending farther. Also, this special hospital shape up become bigger, form a group and competition for admission to medical industry. For dentistry, the more departmentalize and definite service as implant, children dental clinic holding an absolute dominant position about management, and effective environmental exchange can be essential element for the most profits. Accordingly, In this study I would like to see about the space composition of the dentistry that changing with the times, suggest direction from now on the bigger, specialization and a characteristic of a space focused on recently dentistry project.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
• /
• v.23 no.12
• /
• pp.163-170
• /
• 2018

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of noise from dental clinics on workers and to establish a reduction plan. The noise generated by the treatment instrument(Ultrasonic scaler, Hand piece, 3-way syringe, Suction, Compressor) was measured in order to determine the characteristics(level, frequency) of the noise during medical treatment(Oral prophylaxis, Conservation treatment, Prosthesis treatment, Implant Scaling, Tooth eliminating). We also assessed the noise levels in dental clinic using evaluation indicators such as NR-curves and NRN. The results of the analysis showed that the noise generated during the treatment was 85dB(A) ~ 70dB(A) and that the high frequency component was dominant, which would affect the workers working at the dental clinic. The NR-curve analysis showed NR-67 to NR-83 and the high frequency components of 4kHz to 8kHz were predominant and far exceeded noise levels in the workplace. To minimize the noise damage of workers and to provide high quality medical service, it is necessary to establish countermeasures such as wearing a soundproof and periodic hearing tests.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.280-287
• /
• 2018

Dental hygienists are important members of any dental clinic. They are recognized as reflecting the dental clinic's image because they spend a lot of time with patients. The longer the dental hygienist is employed, the better the relationship with the patients and the medical service provided. The purpose of the present study was to develop a scale to measure factors of long-term employment among dental hygienists. The basic questions were constructed by analyzing tools used to measure job embeddedness and satisfaction. Forty-one questions were developed that measured organizational fit (13), interpersonal relationships (8), job satisfaction (7), duty satisfaction (6), recognition (4), and self-esteem (3). A questionnaire survey was conducted, and the responses from 297 dental hygienists in dental clinics, after the exclusion of 20 incomplete surveys, were used for the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. As revealed by exploratory factor analysis, long-term employment intention was composed of 7 factors consisting of 29 items after the exclusion of 12. The subsequent confirmatory factor analysis revealed 4 factors ("organizational fit," "professional identity," "job connectivity," and "interpersonal relationship") consisting of 16 items, after the exclusion of 13. $Cronbach^{\prime}s\;{\alpha}$ were 0806, 0.836, 0.700, and 0.684 for the four factors. This study is meaningful in that it developed a long-term employment factor measurement tool that can be applied to domestic dental hygienists. Future studies will need to focus more on professional identity and job outcomes. The results of this study and future related ones could be used to improve dental hygienist's continuous service.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.235-243
• /
• 2023

Objectives: This study compared the number of graduates in each region for the past 6 years and the number of dental hygienists working in dental clinics by region to evaluate the trend of dental hygienists moving to work areas after graduation. Methods: Health care big data open system_medical manpower statistics, resident population and household status data by year, and education statistics service were used to calculate the number of dentists and dental hygienists, admission status by region, number of dental hygienists per 100,000 population, number of dental hygienists per number of dentists, and distribution of dental hygienists by region. Results: Although the number of active dental hygienists increased in the metropolitan area, the ratio of dental hygienists to dentists did not improve significantly. In addition, the number of students enrolled in provincial universities decreased, and there were fewer active dental hygienists than graduates in provincial areas. Conclusions: Although the number of active dental hygienists increased due to increase in the number of dental hygiene departments, it was found that rural areas did not have a significant impact on the availability of dental hygienists as the graduates moved to the metropolitan area.

• Women's Health Nursing
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.299-314
• /
• 2019

Purpose: This study was to identify health behavior, health service use, and health related quality of life of adult women in one-person and multi-person households. Methods: It was used data from the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES VII-2017). Subjects were 2,522 women with age of 19 to 64 years in 2017. Complex sampling design and data analysis were performed using SPSS 20.1. Results: Women in one-person households had higher rates of alcohol drinking (${\chi}^2=13.77$, p=.003), smoking (${\chi}^2=16.07$, p=.001), unmet medical care (${\chi}^2=8.77$, p=.004) and non-practice of cancer screening (${\chi}^2=13.77$, p=.003) compared to women in multi-person households. Health-related quality of life was also lower for women in one-person households (t=-2.46, p=.015). Factors affecting health-related quality of life in one-person households were household income, job status, and unmet dental care, having 32.4% explanatory power. One-person household women with low incomes, no jobs, and unmet dental care showed low health-related quality of life. In comparison, factors affecting health-related quality of life of women in multi-person household women were age, education level, unmet medical care, and unmet dental care, having 10.4% explaining power. Women in multi-person households with age of 60-64, low education level, unmet medical care, and unmet dental care showed low health-related quality of life. Conclusion: Health promotion strategies should be developed based on unique understanding of social, economic, and health of adult women in one-person and multi-person households.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.117-124
• /
• 2022

Objectives: It is crucial to detect and prevent oral problems early. Older adults, in particular, should go for regular dental checkups to maintain a healthy oral environment. This study identified the factors affecting regular dental examinations and unmet dental needs in older adults. Methods: This study analyzed 3,362 older adults aged 65 or over using the data from the 7th Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Frequency analysis was performed on general characteristics. In addition, chi-square tests were done to determine differences in regular dental checkups and unmet dental needs according to general characteristics. Logistic regression analysis was performed on factors influencing regular dental checkups and unmet dental needs. Results: Factors influencing regular dental checkups were statistically significant according to residential areas, level of education, household income, and levels of physical activity (p<0.05). Factors influencing unmet dental needs were statistically significant according to residential areas, level of education, private medical insurance, and levels of dental pain (p<0.05). Conclusions: National level policy strategies should be implemented to improve the oral health of older adults. These strategies should encourage regular dental checkups to effectively lower the rate of unmet dental needs.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.103-115
• /
• 2020

Purpose: This descriptive study investigated the relationship between death awareness and life ethics awareness, according to life stress, among students in the department of paramedics. Methods: General characteristics were identified using means and frequency, and the differences between the two military models were analyzed using the χ²-test and t-test by dividing them into lower and higher groups based on the mean life stress score (99.76 points). Results: Those with high life stress had higher death awareness than those with low life stress at 114.11 points. In contrast, those with low life ethics experienced more severe life stress with a score of 145.61 points (t=-2.609, p=.010)(t=-2.953, p=.003). The death recognition attitude and bioethics according to the degree of living stress-showed a significant correlation between the low and high groups (r=.188, p=.043) (r=.201, p=.042). Conclusion: Paramedic students require education on how to cope with life stress. However, access to education is limited to people living in modern times. As a potential solution to this problem, observing videos on the Internet is recommended. Moreover, we suggest accessing Internet and smart phone applications for advertising/educational purposes.