• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.26-30
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• 2016

Purpose: Genetic disorders can be prevented by basic public health measures and activities that focus primarily on education and approaches in Primary Health Care. Premarital screening is one such approach that can identify asymptomatic carriers of hemoglobinopathies and provide genetic counseling to couples for a healthy reproductive life. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of beta thalassemia and sickle cell disorders in the adult population screened as a part of the United Arab Emirates Premarital Screening Program and to measure the effectiveness of the program in decreasing high-risk marriages in Ras Al Khaimah (RAK). Materials and Methods: A retrospective, population-based study was conducted at the RAK Primary Health Care Center, where the National Premarital Screening Program is implemented. The study included data collected from the premarital screening records of all couples who had applied for a marriage license during 2008-2015. Results: Of the 17,826 individuals screened during the studied period, 4.02% (717) were diagnosed as positive for hemoglobinopathies. The prevalence of beta thalassemia and sickle cell disorders among the total study population was 2.98% and 1.05%, respectively. The hemoglobinopathy trait was more prevalent than the disease. Among these 8,913 couples who were issued certificates for compatibility based on screening tests, 28 (0.31%) couples were declared high-risk (unmatched). Seventy percent of these unmatched couples reported consanguineous marriages. Conclusion: The program was successful in achieving its objective of identifying high-risk marriages. In spite of the counseling, however, all of the high-risk couples still married each other.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.37-49
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of competition between Public Health Centers (PHCs) and private clinics (PCs) by examining the number of patients that used PHCs vs. PCs, estimating the total amount of revenue generated from outpatient services at both PHCs and PCs, thereby analyzing the financial impacts on PCs derived from the PHCs. We utilized 2011 National Inpatient Sample data (NIS). Using the 20 table containing general information on each individual claims, we integrate it with the 40 table which contains all the diagnostic codes for each claim. Then, we disaggregate the bundled claims into the original individual claims. Overall, 3.1% of outpatient visits are made at PHCs while the rest was made at the PCs (96.9%). Among the total claim costs of 6.34 billion USD (as of 2011), PHCs occupy 2.0% (124 million USD), and 98.0% are contributed to PCs (6.21 billion USD). The estimated economic losses of PCs due to PHCs are summarized as follow; the maximum potential loss is estimated at 198 million USD in total and 7,099 USD per clinic when we include all patient types; the minimum loss is estimated at 71 million USD in total and 2,540 USD per clinic where Medical Aid recipients and the elderly (aged 65 and over) are excluded. Our results confirm the potential economic effect on PCs due to PHCs providing outpatient services. PCs and PHCs are the most important players providing primary care in Korea. Unnecessary competition between PCs and PHCs is not desirable. Health authorities should carefully examine the healthcare services currently provided by PHCs and their impacts on PCs.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.15-24
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• 1992

This study was conducted to follow the patient referral system operated from the primary health care facilities to the hospital in a rural area of Korea. The subject for this study was sampled from a community health development project carried out by the Korea University in Yeoju Kun, Kyonggi Province. The data of referred patients from primary health care facilities were collected during the period from January 1989 to December 1989. The data was sorted out by a computer system using Database package. The results of this study were summarized as follows: 1. Characteristics of the referred patients were: males $32.0\%$. and females $68.0\%$. The more elderly of the patients visited to the hospital after having been referred there by CHPs or public physicians, $25.9\%$ has been to hospital on at least one previous occasion as against $74.1\%$ for whom it was there first visit. 2. The majority of patients who were referred to a hospital where: medicine $44.3\%$ and orthopedics$16.4\%$, major diseases were : diseases of digestive system $(21.3\%)$ ; symptoms and ill defined conditions $(17.3\%)$ ; diseases of the muscular skeletal system and connective tissue$(14.2\%)$. chronic illness was $82.0\%$ and acute illlness was $18.0\%$. 3. From Community health practitioners more patients referred than the public physicians. Categoris of diseases of the referred patients were different between community health practitioners and public physicians. Due to the. respective differences between the medical restrictions put on the nursing staffs at the community health practitioners and public physicians. From this study it was recommended to define the reason of differences between ~he two groups in futher study. Study as to 1) why one group should be referring more for hospital treatment than the other. And 2) why the two agencies should be referring different diseases.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.187-199
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• 2015

Background: Singapore has the stable healthcare system with utilizing pharmacist manpower in proper positions by demand of populations' health among Asian countries. Objective: This study aims to systematically review (1) the pharmacists' role and (2) the pharmacy education system of Singapore in comparison with Korea. Method: We searched for information about academic, medical and governmental institutions related to professional pharmacists' practice in Singapore by primarily using database such as DBpia, KISS, Google Scholar and ProQuest and the official website of the Singapore Ministry of Health. We contacted and arranged the visit schedules with National University of Singapore, National Health Group's polyclinics, Agency for Integrated Care, National University Hospital, and community chain pharmacies. During onsite visits, we interviewed pharmacists working in each institution and obtained additional documents and materials relevant to this manuscript work. Results: To become a registered pharmacist in Singapore, the pharmacy curriculum requires four full-time academic years and six additional months allotted for pre-registration training. Pharm.D. course is offered for pharmacy graduate students with additional two full-time years of study. Team teaching and inter professional education program seem the most significant method in pharmacy education. Pharmacists working at hospitals, polyclinics, and community pharmacies in Singapore take broader roles and offer more cognitive services such as smoking cessation program and medication reconciliation. Especially, pharmacists in Agency for Integrated Care fill the role of primary care providers for the continuing care of the community through the governmental support toward the patients-centered integrated care. Conclusion: Singaporean pharmacists take significant and active roles in collaboration with other healthcare providers. Efforts such as interprofessional pharmacy education and governmental endorsement of the systematic and interactive care between pharmacists and other medical providers in Singapore are needed to be urgently applied to Korea healthcare system for the promotion of population health.

• Korean Journal of Hospice Care
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.182-192
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• 2002

Childhood Cancer Foundation of ROC(CCFROC) has been founded since 1982. Its goal is to provide comprehensive care for cancer children and their families. And in turn, under the provision of good and complete care, they can be back to the school and society. To achieve this goal, it needs to get every body's effort of the society together. The foundation has been founder under this concept and tried to fulfil this task. The first step is to educate the public to know that childhood cancer can be cured and the process of treatment is long and expensive. In order to reach this life-saving procedure, campaigns for raising money is most important thing. Then, pediatric hematologists / oncologists try to organize study group, named Taiwan Pediatric Qncology Goupp(TPOG), to make treatment protocols for childhood cancers. Its primary purpose is to increase the cure rate to prove the earlier the diagnosis and treatment, the better the prognosis. The second step is to provide full support of medical expenses and further to give help for emergent need to living. Through the varieties of active exercises of cancer children or families, foundation provides opportunities for them to share the experience during the different periods of diseases. The third step is to extend the scope of training activities for many kinds of personnel who devote to the care for cancer children. On the other hand, it promotes the cooperation or communication with international organizations and sets up recreation playing ground in the communities. The aim is to provide a comprehensive and integrated care for cancer children during their education, breeding and even accomplishment period. Besides the financial support of medical care, it provides social services to give psychological support for children and their families, to strengthen doctor-patients or doctor-families relationship. The foundation provides the mourning religious activities to cherish the memory of their children who passed away and to comfort their sadness. Since the childhood cancer is curable, its treatment should be active, comprehensive and it needs to provide to all cancer children without exception. Indeed, the work of CCFROC should be changed according to the environment and different time period. But, it needs the full support from the society. We hope the scope and content of the work will be more extended and its achievement will be better than now in the future.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.10-17
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• 2022

South Korea is not a wasteland of publicly funded health care-instead, it has a good medical social security system known as the national health insurance (NHI). The NHI of Korea has three unique features; (1) low premiums, low insurance fees, and low coverage; (2) obligatory designation of medical institutions; (3) and allowance of non-benefit services. These features have made hospitals and doctors interested in profit-seeking. However, the commercialization of medical institutions has taken place in both private- and public-established sectors. A basic problem of commercialization is the co-existence of the obligatory designation of medical institutions and non-benefit services. The problem became worse in the Kim Dae-Jung government because it officially permitted non-benefit services. Since 2000, the Korean government has consistently pursued benefit extension policies, but the coverage rates of the NHI have stagnated. In addition, premiums and current medical expenses have markedly increased because policy-makers have emphasized accessibility to the NHI, while ignoring important principles of medical social security such as a needs-based approach and patient-referral system. In order to resolve the commercialization problem, the obligatory designation of medical institutions to the NHI should be changed to a contract system, and non-benefit services should be prohibited at NHI institutions. We must re-establish the patient-referral system via a needs-based approach. We also need to build a primary healthcare system and public health policies. We should make a long-term plan for healthcare reform.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.244-250
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• 2006

Splenic abscess is a rare clinical condition with a reported incidence of 0.14 % to 0.70 % in various autopsy series. Primary tuberculosis of the spleen as a cause of splenic abscess is even rarer, especially in the antitubercular era. Infants and children have a higher predisposition to extra-pulmonary tuberculosis than adults and tend to develop severe extra-pulmonary disease such as miliary tuberculosis and meningitis. The diagnosis of tuberculosis in infants and children can be difficult because of nonspecific symptoms and clinical findings. Computed tomography establishes the diagnosis of splenic abscess and demonstrates the number and location of abscesses. Splenectomy is the standard of care in most clinical setting. We present a 4-year-old girl who had multiple tuberculosis splenic abscesses and was treated successfully with splenectomy.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.54-61
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• 2002

Background: Tracheal stenosis is an urgent but uncommon disease. Therefore, primary care clinicians have limited clinical experience. Animal models of a tracheal stenosis can be used conveniently for the learning, teaching, and developing new diagnostic and therapeutic modalities for tracheal stenosis. Recently, a canine model of a tracheal stenosis was developed using a Nd-YAG laser. To describe the methods and results of developed animal model, we performed this study. Methods : Six Mongrel dogs were generally anesthetized and the anterior 180 degree of tracheal cartilage of the animal was photo-coagulated using a Nd-YAG laser. The animals were bronchoscopically evaluated every week for 4 weeks and a pathologic evaluation was also made. Results : Two weeks after the laser coagulation, the trachea began to stenose and the stenosis progressed through 4 weeks. All animals suffered from shortness of breath, wheezing, and weight loss in the 3 weeks after the laser treatment, and two died of respiratory failure just before the fourth week. The gross pathologic findings showed the loss of cartilage and a dense fibrosis, which resulted in a fibrous stricture of the trachea. Microscopy also showed that the fibrous granulation tissue replaced destroyed cartilage. Conclusion : The canine model can assist in the understanding and development of new diagnostic and therapeutic modalities for tracheal stenosis.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.113-121
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• 1992

In order to estimate the pattern of medical care utilization and recognition for health factor among the inhabitants in Wan-do district which is located off the southern seashore from mainland Korea, household interview survey was performed from January 15 to 30, 1990 in Wan-do Gun area. The results observed were following: 1. Among the users of medical facilities 40.8% used public health facility as first contact facility. Lower the income level was and longer the residency duration was, the utilization rate of public health facilities was higher. By age groups and medical security status the utilization pattern was likely to disperse to local clinic and secondary contact medical resources. 2. Medical expense and access time were significantly different between primary contact and secondary contact medical resources. 3. Public health facility was recognized as the favoured institute having advantage of geographic and economic accessibility. 4. Statistically significant determinants in public health facility utilization among total medical service were the region, the medical expense, and the access time.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.56-66
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• 2022

Background: Because the etiologies of bronchiectasis and related diseases vary significantly among different regions and ethnicities, this study aimed to develop a diagnostic bundle for bronchiectasis in South Korea. Methods: A modified Delphi method was used to develop expert consensus statements on a diagnostic bundle for bronchiectasis in South Korea. Initial statements proposed by a core panel, based on international bronchiectasis guidelines, were discussed in an online meeting and two email surveys by a panel of experts (≥70% agreement). Results: The study involved 21 expert participants, and 30 statements regarding a diagnostic bundle for bronchiectasis were classified as recommended, conditional, or not recommended. The consensus statements of the expert panel were as follows: A standardized diagnostic bundle is useful in clinical practice; diagnostic tests for specific diseases, including immunodeficiency and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, are necessary when clinically suspected; initial diagnostic tests, including sputum microbiology and spirometry, are essential in all patients with bronchiectasis, and patients suspected with rare causes such as primary ciliary dyskinesia should be referred to specialized centers. Conclusion: Based on this Delphi survey, expert consensus statements were generated including specific diagnostic, laboratory, microbiological, and pulmonary function tests required to manage patients with bronchiectasis in South Korea.