• Health Policy and Management
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.457-492
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• 2011

The primary goal of our study was to investigate the vast transformations of the healthcare sector in Korea during the past half century. Official data reported in the Korean statistical yearbooks and secondary data suggested by previous studies were used for institutional analysis of healthcare environment. Information on hospital released by the Korean Hospital Association was also used for ecological analysis. Institutional analysis: We identified three distinctive eras based primarily on changes in institutional logics, institutional actors, and governance structures : 'professional dominance (1952-1976)', 'government involvement (1977-1999)', and 'coexistence of competing institutional logics (2000-present)'. During the first era, physician association supported by Korean government comprised the primary governance regime. During the second era, the government became a major actor as a regulator and purchaser in health care sector, introducing of the 'mandatory national health insurance'. During the third era, making healthcare system sustainable and providing health care efficiently was overarching goals although it was hard to find a single central logic dominating this period. Ecological analysis: Evidence from the analysis of hospital population suggested that the expansion of the bed capacity was made from different processes, shifting from the ecological process in 1980s to the adaptive process in 1990s. And Korean hospitals had changed following both 'directional process' and 'stabilizing process' over time. Based on our results, we concluded that more studies to compare more organizational populations other than hospitals and to empirically test the effects of institutional changes on organizational changes and vice-versa, need to be conducted.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.72-81
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• 2020

Background: The out-of-pocket maximum is one of the distinctive healthcare systems which sets a ceiling on co-payment in order to reduce the burden of households from the unpredictable medical expenditure. However, this leads to an increase in the demand for healthcare services especially in long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) in Korea. Methods: This study analyzed the influence factor of medical service overuse of 165,592 inpatients in LTCHs which out-of-pocket maximum is applied, by utilizing data from the National Health Insurance Service (2016). Based on Anderson Model, the medical service overuse, as a dependent variable, was defined as long-stay admission more than 180 days at the LTCHs. Independent variable was comprised of predisposing factors (gender, age), enabling factors (income level, types of out-of-pocket maximum) and need factors (illness level, patient use of tertiary hospital). Results: The most powerful factor of medical service overuse in LTCHs was availability of pre-payment for the out-of-maximum (odds ratio [OR], 191.66; p<0.001). This tendency was found in high income level status (p<0.001). Furthermore, mild inpatients (OR, 1.50; p<0.001) which had no experience with the tertiary hospitals (OR, 2.06; p<0.001) were more relevant to the medical service overuse in LTCHs, compared to the severe inpatients. Conclusion: It is suggested that a separate standard of out-of pocket maximum with regards to LTCHs is required to secure the beneficial functions of long-term hospitals and prevent unnecessary financial leakage to achieve sustainable and financially sound National Health Insurance.

• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.228-249
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• 2018

In 2015, the population of elderly people in Thailand was 16% of the total population and is predicted to be over 20% by 2021 and nearly 28% by 2031. The increase of the elderly population in Thailand has also increased the proportion of dependent elderly people, and caring for them poses many challenges for both families and the government. This descriptive method research aimed to survey the health status of dependent older people in the rural community of Lampang province in northern Thailand. The participants consisted of 62 older people and 62 primary family caregivers from Hong Ha Health Promoting Hospital, Lampang, Thailand (totaling 124 people). The researchers assessed the health status of older people and their activities of daily living (ADL). In addition, researchers assessed the health status and stress of caregivers. All the participants were interviewed about their experiences with caregiving. The results showed that most of the older respondents were female with an average age of 78.15 years. Based on the ADL assessment, 50 of the 62 older persons were homebound while the rest were bedridden. The majority of older people had chronic or long-term conditions that required hospitalization from time to time. Their frequent health problems included oral disorders such as tooth decay or caries/gum disease/no teeth, reduced sight, psychological disorders, knee pain and risk of falling, low BMI, risk of malnutrition, and urinary leakage and incontinence (58.06%, 66.13%, 62.90%, 70.97%, 38.71%, 66.13%, and 37.10%, respectively). Usual care provided by the family members included personal hygiene care, food preparation and feeding, medication management, housekeeping and organizing necessary equipment, supply of needed equipment, prevention of falls, helping with travel for medical checkups and treatment, and providing companionship. Families experienced shortages of medical supplies, daily use equipment, lack of employment, inadequate income, and difficulty accessing health care services due to lack of transportation. Some caregivers experienced caregiving stress related to a lack of social interactions as well as routine caregiving activities. Families need different types of support in order to promote the well-being of older people and caregivers. This highlights the need for a community participation model for the care of older people in order to reflect sustainable long-term outcomes.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.97-107
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• 2015

Objectives: The current study aims to examine whether the influence of National Long-term Care Insurance(NLCI) on the quality of life(QoL) trajectory of older adults with disabilities is more positive than its influence on those without disabilities. Methods: Sample consisted of 5,362 elderly aged 65 and over who participated in the Korean Welfare Panel Study from Wave1 to Wave7. Data were analyzed using latent growth curve modeling. Results: Major findings are as follows. (1) Before the NLCI, the trajectories of QoL between older adults with disabilities and those without were same. (2) After the NLCI, elders with disabilities showed lower levels of QoL at the beginning, but the gaps gradually decreased with time. These results indicate that the implementation of NLCI more positively affected elders with disabilities than those without disabilities. Conclusions: These results suggest that the NLCI functions properly as one of social security nets to cope with the needs of older adults with disabilities. In conclusion, it is critical to develop a sustainable NLCI system to enhance the QoL of older adults with disabilities.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.12 no.8
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• pp.283-299
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• 2012

The aim of this study is to develop strategies activating long-term care visiting nursing. The research design was a descriptive survey study, and the data were collected from the visiting nursing center managers, customers, and long-term care insurance staffs. The major results were as follows. To activate the long-term care visiting nursing, first, the basic nursing care for ensuring sustainable health management has to be included. Second, the visiting nursing must be designated as mandatory use in standard guideline for using long-term care services. Third, the insurance pricing of visiting nursing must be based on the cost of visiting nursing. And, last, using a visiting nursing must be possible without a doctor's order sheet, when it is required for the assessment of patient's health status.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.44-57
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• 2017

The objective of this study is to investigate financial integrity strategies for sustainable development of local public medical centers, and particularly focus on seeking ways to enhance its financial efficiency and publicness. The data which was collected from 33 local public medical centers was analyzed by Data Envelopment Analysis to measure its financial efficiency. Then, Matrix Analysis was used to examine the association of financial efficiency and publicness of local public medical centers with related factors. In the aspects of facilities and location, according to the results, the local public medical centers which have larger number of available hospital beds or located in bigger cities were examined to have higher degree of publicness. In the aspect of human resources, greater number of doctors made both financial efficiency and the degree of publicness decreased, whereas higher participation rate of educational program for doctors affects increasing its financial efficiency and publicness. Lastly, in the aspect of costs, higher labor, material, and administrative cost diminished financial efficiency, but enhanced the degree of publicness. Based on these results, this study concluded that enhancing the publicness of local public medical centers should be pursued by increasing the accessibility with better facilities and location, and also concurrently organizing rational expenditure structure with appropriate cost investment to the resources of local public medical centers. Also, it is necessary to enhance both financial efficiency and publicness simultaneously by improving the quality of health care services through the educational programs for medical staffs.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.96-110
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• 2021

Korea is faced with the challenge of adapting to the world's fastest - growing low birthrate, aging society, and low growth with low interest rate era. With low fertility and aging population, the factors of financial income of health insurance are decreasing, and the increase of public interest in health, high cost medical technology and the development of medicine are leading to increase expenditure of health insurance. In this study, I will examine the strengthen protection of health insurance, financial stabilization, and fairness of medical care. First, the present status and limitations of health insurance were identified through domestic policy report, domestic and foreign literature, and precedent research. Second, the foreign health insurance policy measures to stabilize the finances were examined separately. Based on this study, in order to maintain sustainable health insurance through reinforcement and financial stabilization of health insurance, the current financial income structure of health insurance must be renovated. It will be necessary to expand government subsidies and discover new tax revenues. In addition, a policy to save finances by reorganizing the medical bill payment system and medical delivery system will also be needed.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.49-59
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• 2022

Objectives: Access to maternal and neonatal care services (MNCS) is an important goal of health policy in developing countries. In this study, we proposed a 3-level hierarchical location-allocation model to maximize the coverage of MNCS providers in Iran. Methods: First, the necessary criteria for designing an MNCS network were explored. Birth data, including gestational age and birth weight, were collected from the data bank of the Iranian Maternal and Neonatal Network national registry based on 3 service levels (I, II, and III). Vehicular travel times between the points of demand and MNCS providers were considered. Alternative MNCS were mapped in some cities to reduce access difficulties. Results: It was found that 130, 121, and 86 MNCS providers were needed to respond to level I, II, and III demands, respectively, in 373 cities. Service level III was not available in 39 cities within the determined travel time, which led to an increased average travel time of 173 minutes to the nearest MNCS provider. Conclusions: This study revealed inequalities in the distribution of MNCS providers. Management of the distribution of MNCS providers can be used to enhance spatial access to health services and reduce the risk of neonatal mortality and morbidity. This method may provide a sustainable healthcare solution at the policy and decision-making level for regional, or even universal, healthcare networks.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1-17
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify and prioritize sub-goals for infants and young children among the Korean Sustainable Development Goals (K-SDGs). Methods: The expert panel of this study consisted of 15 faculty members from the department of early childhood education or children's studies at 12 universities and was put together in order to conduct a Delphi survey. Results: As a result of the study, first, a total of 16 sub-goals were developed in order to target infants and young children. Second, the 16 sub-goals were then ranked according to their importance and urgency, and the most important goal were 'the improvement of mental health and prevention of drug abuse (K-SDG 3-2)'. And 'the elimination of violence and discrimination against girls (K-SDG 5-1, 5-2)', 'the safe and inclusive learning environment (K-SDG 4-8)' and 'end of abuse, trafficking, exploitation and all forms of violence against children (K-SDG 16-2)' were the next important and urgent goals. These priority objectives reflect the inviolable rights that infants and young children in Korea should be guaranteed by default. Conclusion/Implications: This study provided a basis for its effective implementation by identifying goals and priorities for infants and young children in comprehensive and interdependent K-SDGs.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.75-87
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• 2020

This paper aims to not only investigate the nature of financial security and its measurement, but also to compare financial security level in 629 listed companies divided into four different industries (materials, industrials, health care, and consumer goods) before building a theoretical framework and regression models to examine the determinants of financial security. By gathering 2,167 financial statements published in Vietnamese Stock Exchange during eight years from 2012 to 2019, with the support of STATA, the research results indicate that six different internal factors, which are liquidity, profitability, firm size, debt management ratios, asset management ratios, and cash flows, explain 77.7% the change of financial security ratio and 3.4% the change in sustainable growth ratio. Specifically, while firm size has a positive impact on sustainable growth ratio but a negative impact on financial security ratio, deb management and profitability have an insignificant influence on the financial security level. Furthermore, an increase in asset management ratios would result positively in both two dependent variables whereas a rise in sustainable growth and a decline in financial security ratio are expected to witness if there is an increase in cash flows.