• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.197-202
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• 2010

Purpose: Recently, many hospitals have been tried to increase the satisfaction of the outpatients through blood-gathering, exam, result notice and process in a day. Each laboratory has been used the automatic equipment for the rapid requests of the result notice and the increase of the reliability and efficiency. Current automatic equipments that have been limited short TAT(Turn-Around Time)because of the restricted batch lists and 1 tip-5 detectors. The Gamma Pro which is made in Korea to improve the shortcomings of existing automation equipment, complemented with capacity to perform a wide range of domestic automation equipment. In this study, we evaluated the usefulness and reliability of short TAT by comparing Gamma Pro with current automatic equipment. Materials and Methods: We studied the correlation between Gamma Pro and RIA-mat 280 using the respective 100 specimens of low or high density to the patients who were requested the thyroid hormone test (Total T3, TSH and Free T4) in Samsung Medical Center Sep. 2009. To evaluate the split-level Gamma Pro, First, we measured accuracy and carry over on the tips. Second, the condition of optimal incubation was measured by the RPM (Revolution Per Minute) and revolution axis diameter on the incubator. For the analysis for the speed of the specimen-processing, TAT was investigated with the results in a certain time. Result: The correlation coefficients (R2) between the Gamma Pro and RIA-mat 280 showed a good correlation as T3 (0.98), TSH (0.99), FT4 (0.92). The coefficient of variation (C.V) and accuracy was 0.38 % and 98.3 % at tip 1 and 0.39 % and 98.6 % at tip 2. Carry over showed 0.80 % and 1.04% at tip 1 and tip 2, respectively. These results indicate that tips had no effect on carry over contamination. At the incubator condition, we found that the optimal condition was 1.0mm of diameter at 600RPM in 1.0mm and 1.5mm of at 500RPM or 1.0mm and 1.5 mm of diameter at 600 RPM. the Gamma Pro showed that the number of exam times were increased as maximum 20 times/day comparing to 6 times/day by current automatic equipment. These results also led to the short TAT from 4.20 hour to 2.19 hours in whole processing. Conclusion: The correlation of between the Gamma Pro and RIA-mat 280 was good and has not carry over contamination in tips. The domestic automation equipment (Gamma Pro) decreases the TAT in whole test comparing to RIA-280. These results demonstrate that Gamma Pro has a good efficiency, reliability and practical usefulness, which may contribute to the excellent skill to process the large scale specimens.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.497-501
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• 2009

Background: Prolonged air leakage and pleural fluid drainage from a chest tube may delay removing the chest tube after a patient undergoes video-assisted thoracoscopic wedge resection and the patient is otherwise ready for discharge. We reviewed 37 outpatients patients who were being managed with a postoperative chest tube (a Panda Pneumothorax set with a Heimlich valve). Material and Method: From January 2005 to December 2007, 294 patients underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic wedge resections & pleurodesis. Of them, 37 patients met the criteria for outpatient chest drainage management with using a Panda Pneumothorax set with a Heimlich valve. The patients received written instructions, and they demonstrated competence with using the Panda system. The patients returned for chest tube removal after satisfactory resolution of their air leak and pleural fluid drainage. Result: The patients discharged with a Panda pneumothorax set had a longer duration of hospital stay (mean: 10.3$\pm$1.7 days, range: 11 to 17 days) as compared with the patients without a Panda pneumothorax set (mean: 6.2$\pm$1.5 days, range: 4 to 7 days). The chest tube was removed successfully from the patients with a Panda pneumothorax set at an average of 9.8$\pm$1.6 days (range: 9$\sim$18 days) after discharge. There were no major complications. Four patients experienced minor complications. Thirty six patients (97.3%) experienced uneventful and successful outpatient chest tube management. Conclusion: Successful postoperative outpatient chest tube management with using the Panda set was accomplished in 36 selected patients. This program resulted in a substantially reduced hospital cost and enhanced patient satisfaction by allowing earlier discharge.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.48-58
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• 2024

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between external medical service use and the characteristics of Chungcheongnam-do patients. We aimed to provide evidence of external medical service use enhance the healthcare delivery system in Chungcheongnam-do. Methods: We used the Health Insurance Cohort DB 2.0 of 2016-2019, and 2,570,439 patients were included in the study. Multivariate logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression were used to identify the association between external medical service use and each patient characteristic. Generalized linear model was used to identify the association between medical costs and external medical service use area. Results: During the study period, 32.2% of inpatients and 12.5% of outpatients had external medical service use in Chungcheongnam-do. In comparison to patients living in Cheonan and Asan, the odds ratio (OR) for external medical services use was higher across all regions. Specifically, hospitalized patients from Gyeryong, Nonsan, and Geumsan (OR, 116.817) and Gongju, Buyeo, and Cheongyang (OR, 72.931) demonstrated extremely high likelihood of external medical service use in the Daejeon area. Furthermore, compared to medical expenses incurred within Chungcheongnam-do, patients with external medical service use in the capitol area (outpatient=17.01%, inpatients=22.11%) and Daejeon area (outpatient=16.63%, inpatients=15.41%) spent more on healthcare services. Conclusion: This study found the evidence of external medical service use among Chungcheongnam-do patients. Further study should be conducted taking into account variables including satisfaction of local medical services, different types of patient diseases, and others. The study's findings may serve as a foundation for policy proposals aimed at ensuring the financial stability of our health insurance system, ensuring the efficient delivery of medical care, and localization of medical care.