• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.56-71
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• 1996

Background : Review of readmissions in health care facilities is necessary from the viewpoint of both economic concerns and quality considerations. To identify the characteristics, factors, and causes of multiple admissions in comparison with single admissions is essential for both providers and payers in order to assure quality care and efficient use of medical resources. Methods: All discharges from an university hospital in 1993 were analyzed, and the characteristics of multiple admissions were identified and were compared with those of single admissions by using the data bases of the discharge abstract and billing for reimbursement. Medical records of patients readmitted within 6 days after the previous discharge were reviewed to identify the reasons for such prompt readmission. Statistical analysis between groups of patients were performed by using SPSS. Result : The mean age was higher in multiple admissions than those of single admissions, and the average length of stay was longer in multiple admissions than in single admissions. The hospital cost per day is higher in single admissions while the cost per case is higher in multiple admissions. More than half of readmissions occurred within one month after the preceding discharges. Above 15% of the readmission within 6 days after the preceding discharges seemed to have close relationship with quality of care provided during the preceding hospitalization. The death rate of the patients readmitted within 6 days was the highest in comparison with multiple admissions and single admissions. Conclusion : Potential preventable readmissions should be reduced by identifying characteristics of multiple admissions, especially unplanned readmission, and by applying some interventions such as standard predischarge assessment or careful follow-up care after discharge for high risk readmission groups. As the results of these efforts, health care facilities could achieve quality improvement in medical care, and effective use of hospital resources.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.57-68
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• 2012

Recent studies showed that air pollution is a risk factor for hospitalization for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, there is limited evidence to suggest which subpopulations are at higher risk from air pollution. This study was undertaken to examine the modifying effect of specific secondary diagnosis (including hypertension, diabetes, pneumonia, congestive heart failure) on the relationship between hospital admissions for COPD and ambient air pollutants concentrations. Hospital admissions for COPD and ambient air pollution data for Taipei were obtained for the period from 1999-2009. The relative risk of hospital admissions for COPD was estimated using a case-crossover approach. None of the secondary diagnosis we examined showed much evidence of effect modification.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.56-65
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• 2006

Adverse drug events (ADEs) are the most common type of adverse events in medical practice. Hospital admissions related to ADEs cost high and should be monitored to prevent them. While concerns about the ADEs are increasing, the frequency and characteristics of admissions related to ADEs have not been reported in Korea. The objective of the study was to assess the rate of hospital admission related to ADEs and their characteristics through ADE signal-based retrospective reviews of medical records. As results, a total of 1,420 patients had ADE signals suggesting potential ADEs from 3,494 patients who discharged from an academic medical center over one month period. Six pharmacists independently assessed the presence of ADEs after the review of patients' medical records. Among the 3,494 discharges, 62 admissions (1.8%) were found to be realted to ADEs. Of admissions with ADEs, 83.9% were moderate (category F by the NCC MERP classification), 37.2% were preventable, and 85.5% were type A reaction. The most frequent suspected drugs causing ADEs were antineoplastics (48.9%), and the most frequent ADE signal detecting hospital admissions related to ADEs was white blood cell count (24.2%). Hospital admissions related to ADEs were found through screening the ADE signals. The ADE signal-based retrospective review could be a practical approach for identifying hospital admissions related to ADEs.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.324-332
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• 2016

Objectives: The annual average of PM10 in Seoul was $45{\mu}/m^3$, which surpasses the WHO annual guidelines ($20{\mu}/m^3$). Most previous analyses of the effects of PM exposure have been retrospective studies using single hospital data, and fewer studies have attempted to address the relationship of PM10 and hospital costs. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the concentration of PM10 on hospital visits, admissions and hospital costs in patients with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Methods: Medical data from the National Health Insurance Service and the monthly average of PM10 from National Institute of Environmental Research were used to identify the effects of PM10 on hospital visits, admissions and hospital costs. We applied Poisson regression and linear regression to perform the analysis. Results: The relative risks for admissions per $10{\mu}/m^3$ increase in PM10 were 23.11%, 10.2% and 6.9% increases for acute bronchiolitis, asthma and bronchitis, respectively. The relative risk for hospital visits per $10{\mu}/m^3$ increase in PM10 were 10.4%, 6.7% and 5.9% for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and chronic sinusitis, respectively. For cardiovascular disease, the relative risk for admissions per $10{\mu}/m^3$ increase in PM10 were 2.2% and 2.1% increases in angina and acute myocardial infarction, respectively. A $10{\mu}/m^3$ increase in the monthly average of PM10 corresponded to 170,723,000 won (95% CI: 125,587,000-215,860,000 won), 123,636,000 won (95% CI: 47,784,000-199,487,000 won) and 78,571,000 won (95% CI: 29,062,000-128,081,000 won) increases in hospital costs for asthma, acute tonsillitis and chronic sinusitis, respectively. Conclusion: Hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular disease were associated with PM10 levels. PM10 exposure is also associated with increased costs for respiratory diseases.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.205-219
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• 2016

Objectives: No children-specified review and meta-analysis paper about the short-term effect of fine particulate matter ($PM_{2.5}$) on hospital admissions and emergency department visits for asthma has been published. We calculated more precise pooled effect estimates on this topic and evaluated the variation in effect size according to the differences in study characteristics not considered in previous studies. Methods: Two authors each independently searched PubMed and EMBASE for relevant studies in March, 2016. We conducted random effect meta-analyses and mixed-effect meta-regression analyses using retrieved summary effect estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and some characteristics of selected studies. The Egger's test and funnel plot were used to check publication bias. All analyses were done using R version 3.1.3. Results: We ultimately retrieved 26 time-series and case-crossover design studies about the short-term effect of $PM_{2.5}$ on children's hospital admissions and emergency department visits for asthma. In the primary meta-analysis, children's hospital admissions and emergency department visits for asthma were positively associated with a short-term $10{\mu}g/m^3$ increase in $PM_{2.5}$ (relative risk, 1.048; 95% CI, 1.028 to 1.067; $I^2=95.7%$). We also found different effect coefficients by region; the value in Asia was estimated to be lower than in North America or Europe. Conclusions: We strengthened the evidence on the short-term effect of $PM_{2.5}$ on children's hospital admissions and emergency department visits for asthma. Further studies from other regions outside North America and Europe regions are needed for more generalizable evidence.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.125-142
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• 2010

Objective : To determine demographic, clinical, health care utilization factors predicting unplanned readmission(within 28 days) to the hospital. Methods : A case-control study was conducted from January to December 2009. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine risk factors for readmission. 180 patients who had been readmitted within 28 days and 1,784 controls were recruited from an university hospital in Seoul. Results : Six risk factors associated with readmission risk were identified and include mail sex, medical service rather than surgical service, number of comorbid diseases, type of patient's room, lenth of stay, number of admissions in the prior 12 months. Conclusions : One of the association with readmission risk identified was the number of hospital admissions in the previous year. This factor may be the only risk factor necessary for assessing prior risk and has the additional advantage of being easily accessible from computerized medical records without requiring other medical record review. This risk factor may be useful in identifying a group at high readmission risk, which could be targeted in intervention studies. Multiple risk factors intervention approach should be considered in designing future prevention strategies.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.39-50
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• 2016

Background: This study examined patient and hospital factors related to long-stay admissions in long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) among older people in Korea. Methods: We analyzed health insurance claims data, entitlement data, and institutional administrative data from the National Health Insurance Service databases between 2010 and 2012. At the patient level, we compared characteristics of patients staying in LTCHs for over 180 days (the long-stay group) with those staying in LTCHs for less than 90 days during a calendar year. At the hospital level, we examined the general characteristics and staffing levels of the top 10% of hospitals with the highest proportion of patients whose length of stay (LOS) was 180+ days (the hospitals with long-stay patients) and compared them with the top 10% of hospitals with the highest proportions of patients whose LOS was less than 90 days (hospitals with shorter-stay patients). Results: The long-stay group accounted for about 40% of all LTCH patients. People in the group were more likely to be women, aged 80+, living alone, and experiencing more than two health conditions. Compared to the hospitals with shorter-stay patients, those with long-stay patients were more likely to be occupied by patients with behavior problems and/or impaired cognition, owned by corporate or local governments, have more beds and a longer period of operation, and deliver services with lower staffing levels. Conclusion: This study found long-stay older people in LTCHs and those in LTCHs with high proportions of long-stay older patients had several distinct characteristics compared to their counterparts designated in this study. Patient and hospital characteristics need to be considered in policies aiming to resolve long-stay admissions problems in LTCHs.

• Journal of the Korean Statistical Society
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.79-87
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• 1975

However, the mechanism for producing revised estimate is the principal means of varying the resulting precisions of estimate. Therefore, a scheduling system including physician's revision should be checked by a computer simulation to evaluate possible gains to admissions scheduling accruing from the use of these estimates. The ability to accurately predict bed occupancy has long been an objective of hospital management. If the one were able to anticipate bed accupancy, then the one could more accurately plan for bed needs, schedule personnel, allocate service and supply. We may conclude that even though the Markov chain analysis would not lead to ready-made answers for the scheduling system of elective patients, it can provide the more detailed and systematic knowledgy for the solutions on the weekly base as well as the foundations for long run planning in relative sense.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.22 no.3 s.27
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• pp.398-405
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• 1989

A change in the consumer's surplus was measured in order to evaluate the social benefit to be derived from expanding health insurance to the entire population. The most refined and correct way to measure a project's net benefit to society is to determine a change in the consumer's surplus. Benefits from introducing the health insurance program to the uninsured people can be classified into two elements. The first is the pricing-down effect(E1) which results from applying the insurance price system, which is lower than the actual price, to the uninsured patients. The second effect(E2) is a decrease in actual payment because an insured patient pays only a portion of the total medical bill(copayment). We collected medical price information from the data banks of 93 hospitals, and obtained information of medical utilization by referring to the results of other research and from data published by the Korean Medical Insurance Societies. The total net benefit was estimated as \214 billion, comprising the first effect(E1) of \57 billion and the second effect(E2) of \157 billion. The price elasticity of physician visits is less than that of hospital admissions: however, benefits from the increase in physician visits are greater than those from hospital admissions because there are considerably more of physician visits than hospital admissions. The sensitivity analysis also shows the conclusion that expansion of the health insurance program to the entire population would result in a positive net benefit. Therfore, we conclude that the National Health Insurance Program is socially desirable.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.155-161
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• 2021

Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has necessitated a redistribution of resources to meet hospitals' service needs. This study investigated the impact of COVID-19 on a regional trauma center in South Korea. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed cases of polytrauma at a single regional trauma center in South Korea between January 20 and September 30, 2020 (the COVID-19 period) and compared them to cases reported during the same time frame (January 20 to September 30) between 2016 and 2019 (the pre-COVID-19 period). The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality, and secondary outcomes included the number of daily admissions, hospital length of stay (LOS), and intensive care unit (ICU) LOS. Results: The mean number of daily admissions decreased by 15% during the COVID-19 period (4.0±2.0 vs. 4.7±2.2, p=0.010). There was no difference in mechanisms of injury between the two periods. For patients admitted during the COVID-19 period, the hospital LOS was significantly shorter (10 days [interquartile range (IQR) 4-19 days] vs. 16 days [IQR 8-28 days], p<0.001); however, no significant differences in ICU LOS and mortality were found. Conclusions: The observations at Regional Trauma Center, Pusan National University Hospital corroborate anecdotal reports that there has been a decline in the number of patients admitted to hospitals during the COVID-19 period. In addition, patients admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic had a significantly shorter hospital LOS than those admitted before the COVID-19 pandemic. These preliminary data warrant validation in larger, multi-center studies.