• Health Policy and Management
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.89-108
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• 1997

The purpose of this study is to investigate drug information sources which influence physician's prescriptions, and to compare the differences of drugh information sources between private practitioners and hospital physicians. In addition, the ultimate goal of this study is to provide better quality of drug information for both groups of physicians through the professional drug information system. 264 physicians, including general practitioners and all types of specialists who were working in hospitals and private clinics in Taejon and Chungnam area, participated in this study which was conducted by mail. The results are summarized as follows ; 1. Both physician groups received drug informations mainly from medical journals, but there were differences in secondary sources of drug information. Namely, hospital physicians got drug information from annual meetings and textbooks, and private practitioners got it from detail men and colleagues. 2. Drug effect was the first consideration for drug selection in both physician groups. But, in the 2nd consideration, private practitioners concerned about the price, insurance and rebates, but hospital physicians were not. 3. Only 9.2% of the private practitioners satisfied with the sufficiency of drug information, whereas 22.0% of hospital physicians satisfied with it. The most insufficient area of information was drug interaction in both groups and 91.9% of the physicians suggested that a professional drug information system should be introduced. 4. Both physician groups had contacted with detail men frequently. However, it was rare for them to contact with a pharmacist. This phenomenon was more severe in the case of private practitioners. 5. Neither physician groups knew very much about drug informatio centers. However, they would be willig to participate if a professional drug information system were established. Also, they indicated that the information most required was drug interaction.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-29
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• 1999

The Government has recently planned to improve the medical insurance drug price systems by removing the drug margin occurring from the difference between the official and purchasing prices, and instead by setting prices through adding drug administration casts calculated to the purchasing costs. In the circumstances, the major policy and implementing issues are how to define the drug administrance cost and how to calculate them. This study attempts to provide for the conceptional and operational definitions and thereby develop a costing model for the cost. The relationship between the current systems of medical services costs and prices were reviewed to define the concept of the costs. The study defined the costs from the narrow and wide prospective of meaning, and three operational definitions were provided. The costing model was developed applying the departmental costing principles. Finally, several prerequisites that have to be considered for the implementation of the definition and the model from the practical viewpoint.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.11-22
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• 2010

In this study, adolescent understanding of and attitude towards unintentional drug use were investigated. 22 elementary, middle and high schools in cities and counties in Jeollanam-do Province were selected randomly and a survey was carried out. 489 students (46.9%) replied that they had received training on drug prevention and 553 (53.1%) said they never received training about drug prevention. That does one or two drugs with curiosity, thinks that is bad(p=0.002), and drug using thought that does not become the help in stress(p<0.001). With regards to the question on whether they would use drugs if suggested by friends, 88.7% answered they would decline the offer. 91.4% indicated they will participate if there is training about drug misuse in the future. 91.0% replied that this training about drug misuse was "satisfaction". Therefore it is be very important to understand the characteristics of adolescent and provide continuous training and campaign to help them to acquire correct habits to maintain good health and in doing so; help them to establish a healthy foundation for adulthood.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.111-118
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• 2014

Drugs may cause adverse effects, and spontaneous adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports have been used as the main method of drug safety evaluation after drugs have been released. The World Health Organization (WHO) collects ADR data reported from pharmacovigilance organizations in each nations. In China, pharmacovigilance centers operate with hierarchical structure at local, provincial and national levels. Also, Japan and Korea each operate their own respective independent pharmacovigilance organizations. WHO is collecting ADR reports for herbal medicine and 15~20% of all ADRs was related to herbal medicine in China. There are status reports of ADRs for herbal medicine in Japan as well. However, in Korea, there is no ADR reporting system regarding herbal medicine. In light of these overseas cases, a spontaneous ADR reporting system for herbal medicine in Korea should be necessary as well.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.147-168
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• 2006

Technological innovation has been regarded as the core competence for the economic growth of individual, as well as organization and country. Pharmaceutical innovation, what we call new medicines, influence people's longevity and productivity by increasing output per hour worked. Therefore, using claims data on virtually all the drugs and diseases of over 550,000 people enrolled in National Health Insurance Program in Korea, we examined the impact of the vintage (original FDA and KFDA approval year) of drugs used to treat a patients from July 1st to December 31st in 2002 on the patient's mortality at the end of 2004, controlling for demographic characteristics(age and sex), utilization of medical services, and the nature and complexity of illness. We found that people using newer drugs are less likely to die at the end of 2004, conditional on covariates. The estimated mortality rates were declining with respect to drug vintage for 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and highly significant. In addition to estimating the model for the entire sample, we estimated the model separately for several disease categories classified by Korean Classification of Disease. Estimates of three drug vintage variables for subgroups of people with (1)neoplasms, (2)endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases, and (3)the diseases of circulatory system displayed similar patterns.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 2024

This report presents guidelines for the systematic management of packaging, storage, transportation, and traceability of source cells used for organoid research. Given the important role of source cells in organoid studies, it is important to ensure the preservation of their quality and integrity throughout transportation and distribution processes. The proposed guidelines, therefore, call for a cohesive strategy through these stages to minimize the risks of contamination, deterioration, and loss-threats that significantly compromise the safety, efficacy, and efficiency of source cells. Central to these guidelines is the quality control measures that include roles and responsibilities across the entire supply chain, with recommendations specific to packaging materials, transportation facilities, and storage management. Furthermore, the need for an integrated management system is emphasized, spanning from source cell collection to the final application. This system is crucial for maintaining the traceability and accountability of source cells, facilitating the sharing, distribution, and utilization on a global scale, and supporting to advance organoid research and development.

• CELLMED
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.6.1-6.4
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• 2019

Background: Hypertension is one of the major risk factors for stroke, heart attack, heart failure and kidney failure, thereby causing deaths and disability world-wide. The most predominant type of HTN is essential hypertension (HTN). Unani scholars have mentioned about the clinical manifestations and management of the hypertension and documented it in the context of 'Imtila'. The drug Sankhaholi (Evolvulus alsinoides Linn.) is one of the widely prescribed medicines for the management of essential hypertension in Unani medicine. Material and Methods: The present clinical study was carried out to evaluate the safety of Sankhaholi (Evolvulus alsinoides Linn.) in the management of stage-1 essential hypertension. Newly diagnosed 41 patients of Essential Hypertension (22 patients were in the test group and 19 patients in the control group) were enrolled for the study. All the patients in the test group were given with the test drug 3 g powder of Sankhaholi twice a day for 6 weeks orally. Patients in the control group were given standard drug Ramipril 5 mg once a day for the same duration. Clinical as well as hematological parameters were recorded before and after the treatment. Results: No significant changes are recorded in safety parameters viz. CBC, Haemogram, LFT and KFT. Clinically no adverse effect of the drug has been reported during the course of treatment. Also, significant effect on the systolic blood pressure (p<0.001) were recorded in test group. The drug Sankhaholi was also found effective on the symptoms associated with hypertension. Conclusion: The finding of the study revealed that the test drug Sankhaholi (Evolvulus alsinoides Linn.) is safe and has substantial efficacy as an antihypertensive drug.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.120-127
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• 2014

Background: Since December 2010, online computerized prospective drug utilization review (pDUR) has been implemented in Korea. pDUR involves the review of each prescription before the medication is dispensed to the individual patient. The pDUR is performed electronically by Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA), which is a Korean governmental agency, and then HIRA provides medical institutions and pharmacies with information that can be helpful to them in preventing potential drug problems such as drug/drug interactions or ingredient duplication. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the Korean pDUR implementation on the proportion of drug-drug interactions (DDIs) using claims data from HIRA. Methods: A before-after comparison of the prevalence of DDIs between prescription was conducted, using HIRA administrative claims data of medical institution from January 2010 to December 2011. The analysis unit was the prescription issued and pairs before and after. The main outcome measures were the proportion of DDIs within- (control group) or between- physician encounters. To examine the difference, a paired t-test was applied. Results: We found that DDIs proportion between prescription decreased significantly (t=3.04, p=0.0026) after the implementation of pDUR, whereas there is no significant reduction within prescription (t=1.15, p=0.2518). With respect to the prevalence of DDIs between drug groups, the most dramatic reduction was occurred between 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors and anti-fungal agents. Conclusion: It seems effective that giving a direct feedback to prescribers by a prospective DUR. Further research is needed to assess the impact of DUR to final outcomes such as hospitalization.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.96-100
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• 2010

The shelf-life of pharmaceutical products is the time that the average product characteristic remains within an approved specification after manufacture. Since the true shelf-life of a drug product is typically unknown, it has to be estimated based on assay results of the drug characteristic from a stability study usually conducted during the process of drug development. The nonparametric statistical methods of assessing the shelf-life of drug are considered with the current FDA regulations. Some simulation studies of nonparametric methods are also presented with the discussion.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.47.1-47.13
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• 2022

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a gram-negative bacterium that is known for causing infection in nosocomial settings. As reported by the World Health Organization, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, a category that includes K. pneumoniae, are classified as an urgent threat, and the greatest concern is that these bacterial pathogens may acquire genetic traits that make them resistant towards antibiotics. The last class of antibiotics, carbapenems, are not able to combat these bacterial pathogens, allowing them to clonally expand antibiotic-resistant strains. Most antibiotics target essential pathways of bacterial cells; however, these targets are no longer susceptible to antibiotics. Hence, in our study, we focused on a hypothetical protein in K. pneumoniae that contains a DNA methylation protein domain, suggesting a new potential site as a drug target. DNA methylation regulates the attenuation of bacterial virulence. We integrated computational-aided drug design by using a bioinformatics approach to perform subtractive genomics, virtual screening, and fingerprint similarity search. We identified a new potential drug, koenimbine, which could be a novel antibiotic.