• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.517-520
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• 2009

Healthcare application system has been actively researched to apply WSN technology to healthcare area with a mobile sensor node of low cost, low power, and small size. Sensor node has the problem for transmission range of RF power and time delay of the wireless routing connectivity between sensor nodes. In this paper, we proposes a new method utilizing mobile sensor nodes with relay sensor nodes for quick network routing changing using query technique in healthcare system. A query processor to control and manage the routing changing of sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network was designed and implemented. The user's PC transmits the beacon message which will change the quick link routing according to activity status of patient in wireless sensor network. We describe the implementation for query protocol that is very effective of power saving between sensor nodes.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.68-76
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• 2021

Foodborne outbreaks frequently occur worldwide and result in huge economic losses. It is the therefore important to estimate the costs associated with foodborne diseases to minimize the economic damage. At the same time, it is difficult to accurately estimate the economic loss from foodborne disease due to a wide variety of cost components. In Korea, there are a limited number of analytical studies attempting to estimate such costs. In this study we investigated the components of economic cost used in foreign countries to better estimate the cost of foodborne disease in Korea. Seven recent studies investigated the cost components used to estimate the cost of foodborne disease in humans. This study categorized the economic loss into four types of cost: direct costs, indirect costs, food business costs, and government administration costs. The healthcare costs most often included were medical (outpatient) and hospital costs (inpatient). However, these cost components should be selected according to the systems and budgets of medical services by country. For non-healthcare costs, several other studies considered transportation costs to the hospital as an exception to the cost of inpatient care. So, further discussion is needed on whether to consider inpatient care costs. Among the indirect costs, premature mortality, lost productivity, lost leisure time, and lost quality of life/pain, grief and suffering costs were considered, but the opportunity costs for hospital visits were not considered in any of the above studies. As with healthcare costs, government administration costs should also be considered appropriate cost components due to the difference in government budget systems, for example. Our findings will provide fundamental information for economic analysis associated with foodborne diseases to improve food safety policy in Korea.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.175-209
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• 2019

The bundled discounting which the dominant undertakings engage in is problematic in terms of competition restraint. Bundled discounts generally benefit not only buyers but also sellers. Specifically, bundled discounts usually costs a firm less to sell multiple products. In addition, Bundled discounts always provide some immediate consumer benefit in the form of lower prices. Therefore, competition authorities and courts should not be too quick to condemn bundled discounts and apply the neutral and objective standard in bundled discounting cases. Cascade Health v. Peacehealth decision starts ruling from this prerequisite. This decision pointed out that the dominant undertaking can exclude rivals through bundled discounting without pricing its products below its cost when rivals do not sell as great a number of product lines. So bundled discounting may have the anticompetitive impact by excluding less diversified but more efficient producers. This decision did not adopt Lepage case's standard which does not require the court to consider whether the competitor was at least as efficient of a producer as the bundled discounter. Instead of that, based on cost based approach, this decision said that the exclusionary element can not be satisfied unless the discounts result in prices that are below an appropriate measures of the defendant's costs. By adopting a discount attribution standard, this decision said that the full amount of the discounts should be allocated to the competitive products. As the seller can easily ascertain its own prices and costs of production and calculate whether its discounting practices exclude competitors, not the competitor's costs but the dominant undertaking's costs should be considered in applying discount attribution standard. This case deals with bundled discounting practice of multiple healthcare services by the dominant undertaking in healthcare market. Under the Korean healthcare system and public health insurance system, the price competition primarily exists in non-medical care benefits because public healthcare insurance in Korea is in combination with the compulsory medical care institution system. The cases that Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Law deals with, such as cartel and the abuse of monopoly power, also mainly exist in non-medical care benefits. The dominant undertaking's exclusionary bundled discounting in Korean healthcare markets may be practiced in the contracts between the dominant undertaking and private insurance companies with regards to non-medical care benefits.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2003

Among the countless elements for healing environment in healthcare facility, 'privacy' has been rather neglected in general hospital designs in Korea. The fact may be due either to present situation of excessively crowded patients or to cultural origin which more stresses on the mass than on individuals. However, as patient amenity has increasingly become important, privacy should be viewed as one of the key elements in the general hospital design, in order to improve the quality of patient service as well as to compete with other hospitals. Also it is very important that those methods for privacy improvement should be not only theoretically correct but also practical enough to be compatible with medical efficiency, space availability or construction cost within a particular hospital. The purpose of this case study is to present an actual examples to improve patients' privacy adopted in the schematic design of the Seoul Asan Hospital renovation project, along with comparisons with other hospital cases.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 2013

Health information technology (HIT) is one of the most familiar tools to healthcare providers. It is used in routine practice to reduce cost, to improve clinical performance, and to improve patient safety. Patient safety is the driving force of recent expansion of HIT industry. But there are many evidences that it can be harmful to patient safety. Role of HIT and HIT-related error became big issues because more and more healthcare providers and healthcare organizations are willing to adopt it. Adoption rate of HIT in Korea is higher than that of United States. But researches of HIT regarding patient safety are rare. In this article, types of HIT, their mechanisms of improving patient safety and HIT-related errors were reviewed. Status of HIT in terms of patient safety in Korea was also reviewed. Knowledge of how HIT can improve patient safety, its' limitation, and how to make it safer is crucial to whom have to use it to improve patient safety. Impact of HIT on patient safety must be evaluated actively in Korea. HIT which was proven to improve patient safety must be widely adopted. Government must prepare a strategic plan to improve HIT quality, support hospitals financially and institutionally to introduce qualified HIT, and develop HIT infrastructures and standard designed for patient safety.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.9 no.9
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• pp.35-44
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• 2018

Purpose - In endless competition, companies pursue cost reduction and work efficiency. So, entrepreneurs try to increase job intensity, which may lead to job stress and high turnovers because of job burnout. But, Information systems are acknowledged as a work support tool that secures work convenience and the productivity of employees. In this study, we aimed to confirm the effects of information systems in reduing the work overload of employees in a human resource intensive industry. Research design, data and methodology - This is based on the job demands-resources model, conducting an empirical analysis of surveys given to hospital employees working in a human resource intensive industry. Results - The research revealed that information systems reduced the work overload of employees in a human resource intensive industry. Conclusion - This study confirmed the effects of information systems as a job resource based on JD-R theory, and presentation of empirical results indicated that information systems alleviate employee job overload and increases job satisfaction in the medical services industry. In the medical services industry, using electronic health record system decreases in work overload, which results in employees gaining time for self-development and time management, reducing job stress, and leading to job satisfaction.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.387-394
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• 2014

Objective: The purpose of this study is to survey trend and the real state of ageing population in UK, and its charge organizations, relevant policies and studies. Background: As in other countries, UK population is ageing and people aged 65 or over account for about 17% of population in UK. Considering this ageing population, there are varying basic studies and policies for older people in UK. Method: First, the author consulted ageing and its policies in UK with some faculties in an UK university. Next, based on the results of consultation, wide literature survey was conducted, which includes papers in relevant academic journals, publications and website surfing. Results: A number of basic studies for surveying status and characteristics of older people as well as simple population trend for them have been conducted in UK. Healthcare services are free for all UK residents, and varying social care services including equipment, home and residential cares, financial support, etc., are provided by local governments. Cost of social cares is means-tested and is not free for everyone. There are a number of governmental or non-profit organizations dedicated to help older people access social care services or to financially fund research projects older people. Conclusion: There are more basic studies, and healthcare and social care services for older people in UK, compared to Korea. Application: It would be useful as basic data for establishing effective polices for old people in Korea.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.1229-1248
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• 2016

With the feature of convenience and low cost, remote healthcare monitoring (RHM) has been extensively used in modern disease management to improve the quality of life. Due to the privacy of health data, it is of great importance to implement RHM based on a secure and dependable network. However, the network connectivity of existing RHM systems is unreliable in disaster area because of the unforeseeable damage to the communication infrastructure. To design a secure RHM system in disaster area, this paper presents a Secure VANET-Assisted Remote Healthcare Monitoring System (SVC) by utilizing the unique "store-carry-forward" transmission mode of vehicular ad hoc network (VANET). To improve the network performance, the VANET in SVC is designed to be a two-level network consisting of two kinds of vehicles. Specially, an innovative two-level key management model by mixing certificate-based cryptography and ID-based cryptography is customized to manage the trust of vehicles. In addition, the strong privacy of the health information including context privacy is taken into account in our scheme by combining searchable public-key encryption and broadcast techniques. Finally, comprehensive security and performance analysis demonstrate the scheme is secure and efficient.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5607-5611
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• 2015

Thousands of people die each year from cancer due to occupational causes. To reduce cancer in workers, preventive strategies should be used in the high-risk workplace. The effective prevention of occupational cancer requires knowledge of carcinogen agents. Like other areas of healthcare industry, occupational health has been affected by information technology solutions to improve prevention, early detection, treatment and finally the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the healthcare system. Information technology solutions are thus an important issue in the healthcare field. Information about occupational cancer in information systems is important for policy makers, managers, physicians, patients and researchers; because examples that include high quality data about occupational cancer patients and occupational cancer causes are able to determine the worker groups which require special attention. As a result exposed workers who are vulnerable can undergo screening and be considered for preventive interventions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.365-368
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• 2008

This paper presents a new concept of IP-based wireless sensor networks and also introduces a routing protocol that is based on clustering for global healthcare information system. Low-power wireless personal area networks (LoWPANs) conform the standard by IEEE 802.15.4-2003 to IPv6 that makes 6lowpan. It characterized by low bit rate, low power, and low cost as well as protocol for wireless connections. The 6lowpan node with biomedical sensor devices fixed on the patient body area network that should be connected to the gateway in personal area network. Each 6lowpan nodes have IP-addresses that would be directly connected to the internet. With the help of IP-address service provider can recognize or analysis patient biomedical data from anywhere on globe by internet service provider equipments such as cell phone, PDA, note book. The system has been evaluated by technical verification, clinical test, user survey and current status of patient. We used NS-2.33 simulator for our prototype and also simulate the routing protocols. The result shows the performance of biomedical data packets in multi-hope routing as well as represents the topology of the networks.