• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.457-478
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• 2023

Background: This study aims to contribute to the adjustment of the appropriate doctor manpower by analyzing the distribution, supply and demand, and estimation of the doctor manpower. Methods: This study utilized the medical personnel data of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, population trend data of the National Statistical Office, and health insurance benefit performance data of the National Health Insurance Service. Based on 2021, we compared the number of doctors in actual supply and the number of doctors in demand according to the amount of medical use by gender and age for 250 regions. Logistic regression analysis and scenario analysis were performed to estimate the future medical workforce by considering the demand for doctors according to the future demographic structure, the size of the quota in medical schools, and the retirement rate. Results: There were 186 regions in which the supply of doctors was below average, and the average ratio of the number of doctors in supply to demand in the region was 62.1%. Conclusion: In order to increase the number of active doctors nationwide to at least 80%, 7,756 people must be allocated. The number of doctors in demand is estimated to decrease after increasing to 1.492 times in 2059. The future projected number of doctors is expected to increase to 1.349 times in 2050 and then decrease taking into account the doctor quota and the retirement rate.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.701-711
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• 2013

Purpose: The plan proposed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2012 did not reflect the position of nurses and focused only on how to increase the number of nurses. There is a need for coming up with a specific and viable alternative plan considering the qualitative aspect of nursing, delegation of nursing tasks, the in-death analysis of the reasons for leaving the nursing profession, and the legal standards based on varying nursing tasks. Methods: Drawing on a review of existing literature, this report was written to examine policy directions and the factors that influence the institutional environment that regulates the supply and demand of the nursing workforce in Korea. Results: Implementing the government's plan for introducing a new type of nurse, the registered practical nurse, which generally requires a two-year associate's degree, must be reconsidered. Also, a concrete plan to make use of unemployed nurses and to close the salary gap between nurses working at hospitals in cities and those working at hospitals in rural areas must be prepared. Furthermore, there is a need for introducing a new rating system aimed at boosting the quality of nursing care in small-and medium-sized hospitals, thereby increasing the number of nursing professionals who provide high quality care. Conclusion: In preparation for expected poor quality of care and looming unemployment crisis due to the increase in the number of nursing professionals, a practical and concrete plan for the supply and demand of the nursing workforce should be made. The Korean Nurses Association should mount a profession-wide campaign to make the government formulate a new and viable policy on the supply and demand of the nursing workforce.

• Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.175-183
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• 2005

Considering the increasing global burden of disease attributable to nutrition, the demand for national nutrition policies is growing stronger and stronger. The Republic of Korea is beginning to respond to this growing demand and there have been numerous recent achievements in the area of nutrition. The purpose of this paper is two fold. In the first part of the paper, an overview is provided about existing nutrition action in Korea. In the second part, information is elicited from Korean experts in the field of public health and nutrition. A structured questionnaire was sent directly to renowned Korean experts and was disseminated through the list serve of the Korean Nutrition Society. It asked about existing nutrition related policies, obstacles to nutrition policies in Korea, which professions are 'responsible' for the prevention of nutrition-related diseases and for example about existing nutrition programs within settings. Twenty-two questionnaires were returned. Based on the results, the following actions were considered crucial to develop and implement a nutrition policy in Korea: having a clear advocacy strategy for nutrition to raise awareness about the importance of nutrition, increase transparency of nutrition-related action and make the information easily accessible for all stakeholders, ensure the enforcement of regulations regarding misleading and incorrect food advertisements, strengthening the (public health) nutrition workforce, strengthen the settings-based approach and build and maintain partnerships, and last not least: educate and empower the citizens and ensure that healthy choices are 'easy choices'! Acknowledging the past and ongoing efforts in Korea, it is pivotal that the nutrition workforce grows stronger and the voice of nutritionists even louder, in order to promote and ensure the health and quality of life of the country's citizens. (J Community Nutrition 7(4) : $175\∼183$, 2005)

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.398-404
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• 2010

Purpose: Concerns had been voiced about an oversupply of optometrists in Korea. So, this study aimed to forecast the supply and demand for opticians for policy implications. Methods: Baseline Projection model combined with demographic method was adopted as the supply forecasting method and so was a ratio method using the number of physician and population using weight of healthcare utilization. Results: Under the 'physician to optician ratio', there would be a surplus of 83~700 opticians in 2010 and an undersupply of 15 to surplus of 6,118 opticians in 2025. Under the 'population to optician ratio', there would be a surplus of 1,055 opticians in 2010 and surplus of 9,376 opticians in 2025. Conclusions: We concluded that there would be oversupply for opticians until 2025, although the shortage and surplus of opticians might depend on the ratio's criteria. Hence, policies would need to be developed that could solve the imbalance in requirements and supply for opticians.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.103-113
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• 2018

Objectives: The study aimed to compare the indicators of infrastructure of the whole country with those of Busan through National Medical Care Psychiatric (hospital level) Quality Assesment and to provide the basic evidence for presenting vision and strategies of mental health policy. Methods: National Medical Care Psychiatric (hospital level) Quality Assesment Data was used from 2011 to 2015. A total of 8 indicators were analyzed including facility and workforce. Results: The median value of the capacity per ward was decreasing with years both whole country and Busan. The number of beds out of total inpatient occupancy was improved over the years. There was no clear change in the number of inpatients per toilet in the hospitalized ward, but the indicator was decreasing obviously. Therefore, the median value of whole country and Busan was same with 10.2 in 2015. Conclusions: We confirmed that indicators for infrastructure were improving in a generally positive change over the years. The infrastructure is related to the patient-centered treatment environment, and the workforce is related to the quality of care. Therefore, the structural area should be continuously evaluated and improved.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.8
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• pp.2141-2149
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• 2009

This research is based upon the nursing statistical data published by the Institute of Nursing Policy in 2007, on behalf of Korea nursing association. We analyzed the problems on the healthcare human resources supply in Korea. We suggest that a solution is to adopt immigration policy for foreign workforce employment. The result of the research shows that more than 1,000 nurses are registrated every year except for 2004, according to the yearly status of healthcare jobs. The variance of doctors' registration was quite significant. Compared to 750 registrations in 2004, 4000 doctors were registered in 2002. The healthcare accounts for the property of citizens in terms, which represents the health and lives of everyone, so the country must take all measures to supply the healthcare services in need. Focusing on the underdeveloped region where it is difficult to approach the medical services, the foreign workforce could be added into the healthcare profession field. We conclude that employing foreign healthcare professionals will contribute to the improvement of lives in those people living in underdeveloped region, as well as unity of the local community.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.304-310
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• 2021

Background: Healthcare settings have been recognized among the most hazardous places to work. Based on the five categories of occupational hazards that were identified by the ILO and WHO, this study aimed to analyze policy framework relevant to occupational health protection of health workers (HWs) in public health service in China, then discussed how to share the experience of the National Health Service (NHS) England for improvement. Methods: Based on policy learning theories, policy analysis and qualitative interview were used in this study. Results: In the Chinese public health service, at least five laws related to the regulation of occupational health protection for HWs; however, enforcement of relevant laws was separated and multi-centered; the national monitoring system, which targeted to occupational hazards and health outcome for HWs in China, had yet to be developed; the top three priorities were workplace violence, bloodborne pathogens, and musculoskeletal disorders; national strategies included Security Hospital, and Healthy China 2030. In NHS England, three laws were fundamental; several monitoring systems had been set up, including NHS Staff Survey, Commissioning for Quality and Innovation incentive scheme; mental health, musculoskeletal problem, and nutrition disorder and overweight were raised great concern; Health and Safety, and NHS Healthy Workforce Program were critical nationwide strategies. Conclusion: There were several similarities as well as differences between the Chinese public health system and NHS England, which laid foundation of learning by China. Recommendations of improving occupational health policies in China were provided, based on the lessons learned from the NHS England.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.195-214
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• 2012

The New Public Health(NPH) is a comprehensive approach to protecting and promoting the health status of each individual member and society as a whole. NHP is not so much a philosophy to broaden the understanding of public health as it is an action plan to address current public health system. This paper's objectives include increasing public and professional awareness of the significant changes in the national public health systems of developed countries and contributing to more effective delivery of public health services in Korea. This paper reviews articles and documents concerning NPH and the public health system, and outlines of the achievements in developed countries since NPH movement began. These include the change in the definition and function of public health, expansion of public health networks, strengthening of public health policy, reorientation of public health delivery systems, promotion of workforce capacity, and the implementation of evidence-based management. To overcome the challenges facing the public health system of Korea, we must prioritize the value of population-based approach, expand the notion of a public health system to encompass all sectors that can influence health, promote a "Health in All Policies" approach, focus on an evidence-based health policy and program, develop core competencies for public health workers, and establish performance standards for public health organizations based on the core functions of public health.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.370-375
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• 2023

The responsibility to ensure the health rights of detainees, particularly their medical rights, fundamentally lies with the state in all nations. However, in the correctional facilities of the Republic of Korea, these rights are currently not adequately safeguarded. Numerous detainees express dissatisfaction with the medical services provided and show a preference for voluntary external treatment. However, barriers such as prolonged application processes for external treatment and the requirement for detainees to cover their medical expenses present significant challenges. Therefore, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea has advocated for an increased medical budget in correctional facilities and a bolstered professional medical workforce to improve the medical care of detainees. Recommendations for improvements include: (1) establishing dedicated correctional hospitals for detainees, (2) setting up specialized correctional wards, (3) collaborating with military hospitals, (4) launching mobile medical buses for diverse specialties, (5) enhancing collaboration with public and private medical institutions, (6) increasing compensation for partnering external medical institutions, (7) improving the working conditions of medical officers, (8) safeguarding the defense rights of medical staff, (9) improving the working conditions of public health doctors from the Ministry of Justice in correctional facilities, and (10) pre-assigning public health specialists and military doctors to correctional facilities. By implementing these measures, it is anticipated that the quality of medical services in the Republic of Korea's correctional facilities will improve, reducing the demand for external treatments among detainees and ensuring their health and medical rights are realistically upheld.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.149-169
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• 2018

Purpose : This study was to develop a strategy for modeling future workforce projections to serve as a basis for analyzing annual supply of and demand for physical therapists across the South Korea into 2030. Methods : In-and-out movement model was used to project the supply of physical therapists. The demand was projected according to the demand-based method which consists of four-stages such as estimation of the utilization rate of the base year, forecasting of health care utilization of the target years, forecasting of the requirements of clinical physical therapists and non-clinical physical therapists based on the projected physical therapists. Results : Based on the current productivity standards, there will be oversupply of 39,007 to 40,875 physical therapists under the demand scenario of average rate in 2030, undersupply of 44,663 to 49,885 under the demand scenario of logistic model, oversupply of 16,378 to 19,100 under the demand scenario of logarithm, and oversupply of 18,185 to 20,839 under the demand scenario of auto-regressive moving average (ARIMA) model in 2030. Conclusion : The result of this projection suggests that the direction and degree of supply of and demand for physical therapists varied depending on physical therapists productivity and utilization growth scenarios. However, the need for introduction of a professional physical therapist system and the need to provide long-term care rehabilitation services are actively being discussed in entering the aging society. If community rehabilitation programs for rehabilitation of disabled people and the elderly are activated, the demand of physical therapists will increase, especially for elderly people. Therefore, healthcare policy should focus on establishing rehabilitation service infrastructure suitable for an aging society, providing high-quality physical therapy services, and effective utilization of physical therapists.