• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.130-140
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• 2016

Purpose: The construction worker has diverse harmful factors such as noise, dust, and dealing with chemicals. Therefore this research aimed to examine the necessity of appointing a health manager in the construction industry by examining the cost-benefit analysis when the construction industry appoints a health manager. Methods: In order to calculate the healthcare staff employment cost and the benefits from their activities in 1,425 construction companies with the staff of 300 or more people during 2011, this study analyzed existing data and existing research data, as well as national data. Results: Total annual costs were 99,920,070,900 won and total annual benefits were 324,807,182,625 won. Benefits were found to be 224,887,111,725 won exceeding costs. Benefit/cost ratio resulting from appointing a health manager in the construction industry workplaces was 3.25 times. Conclusion: The findings of this research can be used as the base data to make rational decision to positively encourage the employment of healthcare staff in construction companies pursuant to relevant laws.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.11-22
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• 2014

This study purposed to analyze the regional variation of the local-out rates of inpatient services. Multiple data sources collected from National Health Insurance Corporation and statistics Korea were merged to produce the analysis data set. The unit of analysis in this study was city, Gun, Gu, and all of them were included in analysis. The dependent variable measured the local-out rate of inpatient cost in study regions. Local environments were measured by variables in three dimensions: provider factors, socio-demographic factors, and health status. Along with the traditional ordinary least square (OLS) based regression model, geographically weighted regression (GWR) model were applied to test their effects. SPSS v21 and ArcMap v10.2 were applied for the statistical analysis. Results from OLS regression showed that most variables had significant relationships with the local-out rate of inpatient services. However, some variables had shown diverse directions in regression coefficients depending on regions in GWR. This implied that the study variables might not have consistent effects and they may varied depending the locations.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.117-129
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• 2017

Chronic disease rates have become more prevalent in the modern American workforce, which has negative implications for workplace productivity and healthcare costs. Offering workplace health interventions is recognized as an effective strategy to reduce chronic disease progression, absenteeism, and healthcare costs as well as improve population health. This review documents intervention and evaluation strategies used for health promotion programs delivered in workplaces. Using predetermined search terms in five online databases, we identified 1,131 published items from 1995 to 2014. Of these items, 27 peer-reviewed articles met the inclusion criteria; reporting data from completed United States-based workplace interventions that recruited at-risk employees based on their disease or disease-related risk factors. A content rubric was developed and used to catalogue these 27 published field studies. Selected workplace interventions targeted obesity (n = 13), cardiovascular diseases (n = 8), and diabetes (n = 6). Intervention strategies included instructional education/counseling (n = 20), workplace environmental change (n = 6), physical activity (n = 10), use of technology (n = 10), and incentives (n = 13). Self-reported data (n = 21), anthropometric measurements (n = 17), and laboratory tests (n = 14) were used most often in studies with outcome evaluation. This is the first literature review to focus on interventions for employees with elevated risk for chronic diseases. The review has the potential to inform future workplace health interventions by presenting strategies related to implementation and evaluation strategies in workplace settings. These strategies can help determine optimal worksite health programs based on the unique characteristics of work settings and the health risk factors of their employee populations.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.92-108
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• 2009

This study suggests a model for continuing and comprehensive management of hypertension or Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Korea. Moreover, this paper computed the contribution cost of hypertension or T2DM management using the healthcare medical cost, which could have occurred from stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) that were successfully prevented from the effective hypertension or T2DM management. Additionally, these costs were compared with the cost of implementing the hypertension or T2DM management model suggested in this study. This study used the medical fee summary of the health insurance claims submitted to National Health Insurance Corporation by medical facilities for services provided during the period from January 1st 1999 to December 31st 2006. The prevalence rate with treatment referred to cases in which patients submitted their medical claims at least once during the period, along with an accordant diagnosis. The incidence rate with treatment referred to cases in which patients who never submitted claims for the accordant disease during the five years from 1999 to 2003 submitted claims for the accordant disease in 2004 and 2005. The relative risk of the occurrence of stroke, MI and ESRD was 11.0, 13.6, and 30.3, respectively. The attributable risk of hypertension or T2DM for stroke was 0.730, and that for MI and ESRD were 0.773 and 0.888, respectively. Based on these, the contribution cost of hypertension or T2DM is estimated to be 986.3 billion Korean Won(KRW) for stroke patients, 330.5 billion KRW for MI patients, and 561.7 billion KRW for ESRD patients as in 2005. Hence, the total contribution cost of hypertension or T2DM to stroke, MI, and ESRD is 1.878 trillion KRW. The estimate for operational costs included an annual expenditure of 50,000 KRW per each recipient and an annual subsidy of 0.22 million KRW per person for the 1.6 million low.income individuals with hypertension or T2DM to cover their out.of.pocket medical expenses. Under this assumption, it took approximately 0.6 trillion KRW to manage 5 million high.risk patients in the low. and mid.income range, coverings up to 50% of costs. In conclusion, considering the potential benefits of preventing stroke, MI, and ESRD, the costs seems to be reasonable.

• Proceedings of The Korean Society of Health Promotion Conference
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• 1999.07a
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• pp.107-116
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• 1999

.Half of deaths are caused by life-style related problems in developed nations. .Health promotion can improve life-style and health. .Improvements in life-style and health lead to savings in medical care core costs and enhancements in productivity. .Win-Win-Win-Win : Management, Labor, Employees and Government benefit

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.37-50
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• 2015

Objective : In order to understand the scale of medicinal expenditure in the Korean medicine, an analysis has been made of Korean National Health Account and statistic archives used to estimate the Korean National Health Account and also of such archives as are contributory to learn the scale of total health expenditures in the Korean medicine. Method : From the Korean National Health Account archives, an analysis has been made of National health insurance statistic annual reports, National health insurance non-payment items, Korean Economic Census (The Service Industy Survey), and Korea Health Panel data. Moreover, in order to know the sales of overall Korean medicine clinics, relevant data have been utilized and cited from investigations into National tax statistics, Korean medicine medical institutions and Korean medicines used, and current states of medicinal herbs and Korean medicine industry. Results : It is found that the average scale of each section of the medical expenditures archives in the Korean medicine in 2012 was KRW 3.5638 billion and that the average medical expenditures in the Korean medicine derived from Total Health Expenditure, The Service Industy Survey, National tax statistic, and Korean medicine industry are approximately KRW 3.3901, 3.4796, 3.7218 and 3.9634 billion. And the average expenditures derived from National health insurance patients and Korea Health Panel data are 2.5162 and 2.2292 billion won and those from the users and consumers of Korean medicines and herbs are 5.6,461 billion won. In order to verify the appropriateness of estimated medical expenditures in the Korean medicine included in the archives, an analysis has been made of uninsured costs which come from the aggregate sales amount surveyed minus health insurance treatment expenditures and it is found that the ratio of insured costs against total health expenditures in 2006 was 50.67% and 41.92% in 2012 and that the ratio based on National tax statistics and The Service Industy Survey was 52.19% and 49.28% in 2006 and 50.54% and 50.64% in 2012 and that the ratio of uninsured costs against Korean medicines and herbs and Korean medicine industry was 37.5% and 58.27% in 2013. Conclusion : It calls for the improvement of the accuracy of an investigation into Total Health Expenditure which comprise the actual conditions of health insurance and Korea Health Panel, the development of statistic schemes for understanding and classifying medical expenditures of all the Korean medicine medicinal institutions like medicinal clinics, and enhanced methods for independent panels to comprehensively collect and analyze the number of sampled Korean medicine medical institutions.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.351-361
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• 1998

The purpose of this study was to explore whether there is a point within the range of physical impairment after which the cost of home care exceeds the cost of nursing home care among the elderly who require long-term care. The provision of long-term care for the elderly is a major health policy issue, in part due to the aging of the American population and dramatic increase in health care costs. The framework for this study was guided by Pollak's(1973)model of costs of alternative care settings for the elderly. This study used a retrospective, descriptive correlational design. Physical impairment was measured by the modified Index of Activities of Daily Living(Katz et al. 1963). Cost of care was measured by the average cost per patient per day. The sample for this study included 67 patients receiving long-term care at home from the Long-term Home Health Care Programs (LTHHCPs) and 67 patients receiving long-term care in nursing homes. Data were collected on patient characteristics. including activities of daily living and cognitive impairment. and on the number of physician visits. emergency room visits. and hospitalization from the patient records. For each patient. Medicaid cost data for home care services/or nursing home services were collected from the financial department of each home care agency or nursing home. The living costs and informal care costs were estimated for home care patients. The results indicated that the home care sample and the nursing home sample were similar in terms of gender. ethnic background. and marital status. The elderly patients in the home care sample were: however. younger and less physically impaired than those in the nursing home sample. The hypotheses of this study were supported: For elderly persons with physical impairment scores below 12(possible range of 0 to 14), cost of care was lower in home care than in the nursing home care setting. However, for elderly persons with physical impairment scores above 12. the cost of care was higher in home care than in the nursing home care setting. Thus. in this sample for elderly patients with extreme physical impairment, the cost of home care exceeded the cost of nursing home care.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.45-66
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to analyze related factors affecting profitability on general hospitals(300-499 beds). The data were derived from survey by the Korean Hospital Association on 33 hospitals during 10 years (from 1993 to 2002). Profitability was measured by 3 ratios - net profit to total assets, normal profit to total assets and operating margin to gross revenue - as dependent variables. Independent variables were classified by general factors (ownership, number of bed, period of establishment, region), financial factors (total asset turnover, current ratio, liabilities to total assets, personnel costs per operation profit, material costs per operation profits), productivity index(number of daily patient per nurse), the score of quality assurance activity and the time lag score. Multiple regression model was used in this study. First, Number of bed, region was not statistically significant for profitability. But ownership was affect positively to normal profit to total assets and operating margin to gross revenue. Private hospitals had higher profitability than that of public hospitals Second, the score of quality assurance activity was not statistically significant to profitability. Third, Those hospitals having more daily patient per nurse had significantly higher profitability than the others. Fourth, Those hospitals having higher proportion in total asset turnover had significantly higher profitability than other hospitals. But liabilities to total assets and liquidity ratio had no difference to the profitability. Those hospitals having higher proportion in personnel costs and material costs per operation profits had significantly lower hospital profitability than others.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.187-199
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• 2018

In this study, only 2,877 men, 2,614 men (44.6%), and 143 women (2.3%) were selected as the subjects who were over 18 years old in response to the health consciousness of the Korean medical panel data in 2012. Emergency of smokers through medical use and medical expenditure data by smoking. The social costs were estimated through medical expenses according to the number of hospitalization and outpatient medical use. The social cost was calculated by summing the social expenditure on health care costs, insurer (corporation) costs, copayment, non - salary, and productivity costs by adopting the social perspective established by the health economist Rice (1968). The rate of annual emergency medical use by smoking status is 7.5% for smokers per 100 people, 9.8 times for use, and 809,003 won for social expenses. The annual rate of hospitalization per 100,000 population by smoking status was 9.6% for smokers per 100 population, 9 times for use, The social cost is 706,870 won. Annual smoking rate by smoking status was 68.6% for smoking, 9 cases for annual medical use,

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.15-25
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• 2018

Purpose: To compare the Appropriateness of abdominal CT to abdominal radiography as an imaging modality in terms of the diagnostic value, medical costs and decision making times for patients presented to the emergency department with nontraumatic abdominal pain. Methods: This study used the records of 530 cases presented to the emergency department(ED) with nontraumatic abdominal pain from February to March 2012. Imaging modalities were categorized into abdominal radiography and CT (radiography first or CT first) or radiography alone or CT alone. The diagnostic value, total medical costs and effect on decision making time of the each imaging modalities were compared. Especially, in retrospective review, to evaluate the predictability of the abdominal radiography, alit was assumed that all the 530 cases performed that exam as initial imaging. Results: Among 530 cases, 255 cases underwent abdominal radiography only, 28 cases underwent abdominal CT only and the remnant 247 cases underwent abdominal CT with plain abdominal radiography. The diagnostic value was higher in the cases with abdominal CT (268/275, 97.5%) than in the cases with plain abdominal radiography (19/255, 7.5%).The number of cases predicted by abdominal radiography only as initial imaging were 39/530 (7.4%). In cases where the patients performed the abdominal CT as the first imaging modality thereby omitting the abdominal radiography, the total diagnostic imaging fee was lower than in cases with plain abdominal radiography first followed by the abdominal CT (277,140 vs. 284,226(mean, Korean Won)). Although diagnostic value of the plain abdominal radiography as first imaging modality was lower than the abdominal CT, Decision making time, average duration of hospital stay was longer and the total medical costs was higher than abdominal CT. Conclusion: As an imaging modality in the ED for patients with acute nontraumatic abdominal pain, plain abdominal radiography is an avoidable procedure when viewed in terms of the diagnostic value and total medical costs and decision making times comparing with abdominal CT.