• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.87-106
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• 2018

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the association between process quality of inpatient care and risk-adjusted, thirty-day potentially preventable hospital readmission (PPR) rates. Data Sources/Study Setting: This was an observational cross-sectional study of nonfederal acute-care hospitals located in two states California and Florida, discharging Medicare patients with a principal discharge diagnosis of heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, or pneumonia January through December 31, 2007. Data were obtained from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Database of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Compare database, and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey of Hospitals. Study Design: The dependent variable of this study is condition-specific, risk-adjusted, thirty-day potentially preventable hospital readmission (PPR). 3M's PPR software was utilized to determine whether a readmission was potentially preventable. The independent variable of this study is hospital performance for process quality of inpatient care, measured by hospital adherence to recommended processes of care. We used multivariate hierarchical logistic models, clustered by hospitals, to examine the relationship between condition-specific, risk-adjusted, thirty-day PPR rates and process quality of inpatient care, after taking clinical and socio-demographic characteristics of patients and structural and operational characteristics of hospitals into account. Findings: Better performance on the process quality metrics was associated with better patient outcome (i.e., low thirty-day PPR rates) in pneumonia, but not generally in two cardiovascular conditions (i.e., heart failure and acute myocardial infarction). Practical Implication: Adherence to the process quality metrics currently in use by CMS is associated with risk-adjusted, thirty-day PPR rates for patients with pneumonia, but not with cardiovascular conditions. More evidence-based process quality metrics closely linked to 30-day PPR rates, particularly for cardiovascular conditions, need to be developed to serve as a guideline to reduce potentially preventable readmissions.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.16-30
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• 2004

Background: Although the number of cancer patients increase, the resources for cancer management are not increased. If the outpatient chemotherapy administration room is operated, the shift of patients from inpatient 10 outpatient is occurred. So the capacities for chemotherapy increased and the shifted rooms were occupied with new non-chemotherapy patients. The income of the hospital increased. The purpose of this study was to assess usefulness and cost-effectiveness of the outpatient-chemotherapy adminstration model. Method: There are six beds, two chairs and two nurses and one personnel in the outpatient chemotherapy room. The satisfaction study by patients/family and doctors and the cost analysis over 12 months, by comparing costs of chemotherapy administration at outpatient chemotherapy room with inpatient at ward and inpatient-nonchemotherapy at ward were done. Results: The 97.1 percent of patients/family and the 94.4 percent of doctor who involved chemotherapy were satisfied with outpatient chemotherapy administration. The 91.7% of doctors said there were no differences in treatment outcome between outpatient and inpatient chemotherapy administration. The average number of patients in outpatient chemotherapy room increased from 10.7 to 15.4 but in inpatient from 19.4 to 18.3. The average number of inpatient chemotherapy were not changed related to increase of the average number of outpatient chemotherapy. The profit between outpatient chemotherapy and inpatient chemotherapy administration was 45,344,710 won and the profit between outpatient chemotherapy and non chemotherapy treatment was -185,294,614 won. Conclusion: The outpatient chemotherapy administration model is good for patients/family, doctors and hospital partially. But the hypothesis described above was not correct. The process of cancer patients treatment were from diagnosis and treatment to first administration of chemotherapy. So the shift from inpatient to outpatient was not occurred. In economic aspect, the profit between outpatient chemotherapy and non chemotherapy treatment was in the red. As the level of health care fees was so low, the hospitals hesitate operating the room of outpatient chemotherapy. It is necessary to raise the level of health case fees for outpatient chemotherapy administration.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.104-124
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• 1996

Background : In these days, the health care organizations have concerned about customer-centered care in order to empower the competitiveness on the health care markets. The departments working for quality management of the hospitals have used health care quality indicators in terms of medical areas as well as service areas of the hospitals. However, there were insufficient efforts to develop the credible measurement to seek the customers' needs, their expectations and their satisfaction levels related to health care services because various kinds of challenges were in the process of scale development to measure customers' satisfaction in health care. The purpose of this study was to develop the satisfaction scale to health care services in a Korea health care organization and to test its tool with validity and reliability. Method : The concept of this tool was acceptability that one of the components of health care quality defined by Donabedian. Acceptability has the five dimensions of concept: Accessibility; Patient-Practitioner Relations; Amenities; Patient Preferences as to the effects of care; and Patient Preferences as to the costs of care. The Satisfaction Tool to Health Care Services was reviewed by expert panel with five researchers, including hospital managers and a professor related to quality management of the hospitals. As a result, the content validity index was .84 in the outpatient satisfaction tool. The inpatient satisfaction tool had .87 of the content validity index. The Satisfaction Tools to Health Care Services finally consisted of 44 items for outpatients/their families and of 60 items for inpatients/their families. Study subjects of the construct validity test were 479 outpatients/their families and 561 inpatients/their families who visited or admitted at a University hospital from July 1, 1996 through August 10, 1996. The data were examined by Factor Analysis with SPSS. Result : The items of Satisfaction tools for outpatients/their families were categorized by eleven factors with eigenvalue greater than 1.0 accounting for 64.2 percent of the variation in item scores. Also, the items of inpatient tool had eleven factors with eigenvalue greater than 1.0 accounting for 60.3 percent of the variation in item scores. The reliability of overall scale were .95 and .96 for the outpatients/their families satisfaction scores and inpatient/their families satisfaction scores. The internal consistency reliability with eleven factors was ranged from .30 to .94 for inpatients/their families. The Satisfaction Tool with eleven factors for inpatients/their families had internal consistency reliability ranged from .53 to .89. Conclusion : The Satisfaction Tools to Health Care Services focused on outpatients/their families and inpatients/their families developed in this study had a high reliability and the strong evidence of content validity and construct validity based on quality concept. Therefore, this tool would be utilized as a credible quality indicator of health care services to assess the quality problems and to monitor the quality improvement activities in Korean Health Care Organizations.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.180-188
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• 2000

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability of questionnaire according to item arrangement on patient satisfaction questionnaire. Methods : We developed the two types of questionnaire with different item arrangement. In the first type (A), questions were arranged according to medical service dimensions. Questions in the second type (B) were arranged according to medical process. Both questionnaires were composed of six dimensions: physical environments, process, competence, courtesy, information giving, understanding patients. Measurements were performed on a 5-score Likert scale. In an outpatients and inpatient survey, total 777 patients answered the type A (outpatients: 257, inpatients: 128) or Type B (outpatients: 257, inpatients: 135). In order to compare the internal consistency of two types. Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ were calculated. Multiple regression analysis was also performed to know which type of questionnaire explain more of the overall satisfaction. Results : In outpatient survey, type A questionnaire showed higher internal consistency than B except physical environments dimension. Also in inpatient survey, type A had higer internal consistency than B in four dimensions(process, competence, courtesy, understanding patients). In the results of multiple regression analysis, type A questionnaire ($R^2$=0.53) explained more of the variation in overall satisfaction then B questionnaire ($R^2$=0.43) in outpatient survey. In inpatient survey, type B questionnaire ($R^2$=0.40) explained, more of the variation in overall satisfaction than type A questionnaire ($R^2$=0.33).But the difference of R was not significant in inpatient survey. Conclusion : The results of this study support that type A questionnaire has higer reliability in assessment of consumer satisfaction than type B.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.46-58
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• 2000

Background : Despite favorable effects of guidelines on patient care, guidelines often fail to achieve their objectives. Poorly implemented medical practice guidelines can produce only weak effects on the process of health care delivery. Therefore, we performed this study to investigate barriers related development of clinical practice guidelines. Methods : Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was selected as a target problem. Self questionnaires about management of cardiopulmonary resuscitation were developed by a researcher with advisory 8 experts. The questionnaires were designed as a unstructured methods. The data were collected from March 1 to May 31, 1999. A total 50 death case admitted inpatient to Inha University Hospital were subjected to evaluate the development and application of clinical practice guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The data were examined by frequency, t-test with SPSS. Result : The article reviewed several common barriers that might limit successful implementation of guidelines in clinical practice, as illustrated by evaluating recommendations for cardiopulmonary resuscitation clinical practice guidelines. Some major problems with guidelines were characterized as follows (1) ethical problem : euthanasia, (2) occurrence on various emergency event and setting, (3) non-medical problems (4) unreliable of medical record etc. Conclusion : Careful analysis of guideline attributes, anticipated effect on medical care, and organizational factors revealed several barriers to successful guideline implementation that should be addressed in the design of future guideline-based interventions.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.6 no.1_2
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• pp.108-119
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• 1999

Background : To study any interference of demonstrated in different patient satisfaction scores for the same questionnaires handled by hospital staff and by independent surveyors, respectively. Methods : This study included 728 subjects who were admitted to a university hospital from June 22 to July 1, 1999. The contents of the questionnaire were composed of six dimensions: hospital structure and process, staffs technical competence and humaneness, information & education and communication. Measurements were performed on a 5-score Likert scale. T-test and logistic regression analysis were also performed. Results : In an outpatient survey, satisfaction scores from a questionnaire delivered by hospital staff were significantly higher than independent surveyors for the dimension of communication, but no differences were shown among other dimensions. In an inpatient survey, satisfaction scores by hospital staff were higher for the process and communication dimensions(p<0.05). In particular, in both the inpatient and outpatient surveys, the difference of satisfaction scores for personnel items were significant between groups. After adjustment for age and sex those differences were significant between groups. Conclusion : To minimize the bias on questionnaire survey, the effects of personnel, who deliver and gather the questionnaire should be carefully considered in the evaluation of health service satisfaction.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.6 no.1_2
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• pp.80-91
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• 1999

Background : With the CQI concepts, which emphasize doing the right things right the first time, we tried to enhance the timely completion of medical records by changing the review process from retrospective method to concurrent one. Methods : Against the current retrospective QA activity, Medical record administrator did the concurrent QA of the inpatient medical records with the deficiency sheets. One general surgery ward was chosen as a trial one. The deficiency rate of the medical records of the discharged patients was compared before and after the enforcement of the system. Job analysis of the medical record departments was done about four tertiary care hospitals located in Seoul to estimate the cost and the time consumed by current system. Results : There was a little improvement in the completion rate of the medical records after the trial. The new system was effective. And job analysis showed that much money and time were wasted by current retrospective feedback system. Conclusion : Though the result was not so satisfactory, it should be considered that this test was a voluntary one and the interns and residents were not forced to complete the medical records during this trial period. If there be any strong motivation to complete the medical record in time, this system is sure to be succeed. As the DRG system requires the concurrent review of the medical records to confirm severity of the patient's illness and to assure the timely discharge, it is desirable to enforce this method with the DRG system together. DRG coding and reducing deficiency rate of the medical records can be accomplished simultaneously.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.7-15
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• 2014

Purpose: This study is to propose direction for healing environment design in hospital architecture considering the characteristics of elderly patients. The primary goal of a public hospital is providing cheap health care and quality service chance to the underprivileged and elderly in the dead zone. Compared to the rapid increase of the aged population and chronic diseases, Ministry of Health & Welfare is currently planning model of health promotion hospital in development plans of local based public hospital. Due to the increased elderly medical expenses, elderly patients' high utilization is considered. Methods: The literature on the design factors of healing environments were investigated. based on this, analyzed drawings of surveyed hospitals ward in architectural characteristics and observe and evaluate directly healing environment design through field surveys. Results: The design of hospital environment affects patient's therapeutic effect. There is no any official formula for hospital design but environment that architect create could be a big part of the healing process. To increase the quality of the environment, apply the characteristic factors and harmonize well as a human-centered healing environment. Implications: Healing environment design for the elderly is first necessary condition due to high proportion of elderly patients.

• Korean Journal of Hospice Care
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.29-45
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• 2007

People in the end of life and their families suffer in their physical disease and other aspects as a whole person. They need hospice care to palliate their total suffering in physical, emotional, social and also spiritual aspect through professional hospice team. To care their whole personal needs, hospice team must be a multi-discipline team which consists of medical doctors, nurses, social workers, pastors and volunteers. Recently those who die in hospice palliative care unit have trend to increase more than in home year by year. So it is necessary to develop the nursing intervention program to be performed by multi-discipline team approach for in-patient of hospice palliative care unit. The purposes of this study were to develop of wholistic hospice nursing intervention program for inpatient of hospice palliative care unit. The subjects of study were collected from 30 patients those who were over 18 years old and admitted in hospice palliative care unit of S hospital in P city with agreement in hospice palliative care in their terminal disease. The period of data collection was from December 15, 2003 to March 15, 2004. The result were as follows : 1. The result of Wholistic Hospice Nursing Program's development was as follow : A Wholistic Hospice Nursing Program was developed by me in this study is one of the service program for hospice palliative care unit. It was named as ‘Rainbow Program’ to be approached easily by hospice patients. The purposes of it are to improve the quality of life of the terminal patients with their dignity, to help them live in abundant and meaningful in their lives, to care them in peaceful in dying process with understanding them in whole personal, and also to palliate the grief and suffering of the bereaved. It was provided by hospice professionals(nurses, medical doctors, social worker, pastors, art therapists) and volunteers those who were educated in hospice for multi-diciplinary team approach to collaborate with each role play I 20-30 minuters of each through visiting their rooms individually and a place of hospice palliative care unit of S hospital in P city. The subjects of it were the terminal patients those who admitted hospice palliative care unit and their familes. with agreement in hospice palliative care in their terminal disease. The characteristics of it were multi-disciplinary team approach, whole personal care, individual care and total care according to their needs in their condition. The contents of it were pain control, symptom control, counseling patient, counseling family, hair cutting, hair shampooing, bed bath, recreation, taking a walk, event of culture(screen, recital, festival of praises, exhibition and so on), pastoral counseling, ritual service in bed, praying, service in bed, sing a worship praise, listening to the music, sharing remembrance of life, individual visiting music service(sing and praying), meditation Bible, art therapies(dance and drawing), social worker's counselling, confessing and sharing love and thanksgiving. The experimental group subjects participated in Wholistic Hospice Nursing Program which takes 120 minutes per session, total 10 sessions(total 1,200 minutes) altogether. In conclusion, this Wholistic Hospice Nursing Intervention can be used actively for whole personal well-being of the patients in hospice palliative in hospice palliative care unit and also applied in hospice practice as an useful model of multi-disciplinary team approach by hospice professionals.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.95-111
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the information searching behavior of consumer by type of medical institution. A questionnaire survey was conducted of 1,507 persons who were selected through a multi-stage stratified area cluster sampling in nationwide level, excluding Jeju-Do. Personal survey was conducted through door-to door survey from 27 July to 10 August 1999. The main results of this research was as following; 1. The proportion of information searching of respondents ranged from 91.5-95.2%. Even though the proportion of user in university hospital was slightly high, there was not significant statistically by type of medical institution. In terms of information source, personal informer was most common information source in all type of medical institution. Public informers were more frequently used in university hospital visitors and professional informer in general and university hospital visitors. 2. Comparing to searching intensity, user informer and professional informer's influences were more powerful, but not statistically significant. In analysis of unit influence for information source, written informer or public informer was more powerful in clinic visitor, professional informer and written informer in university hospital visitor. 3. Information which consumer want to know mostly were about on special potential and career of physician. The clinic visitor wanted to know about institutional location and kindness of medical personnel. The university hospital visitor also wanted to know about facilities and convenience of process. Comparing to institution selection criteria of consumers at 1991, quality related criteria were recognized more importantly in outpatient and dental services. But in case of inpatient services, convenience factor was recognized more importantly. In conclusion, the effort for specific marketing plan by type of medical institution should be needed. And more concern on information searching behavior of consumer will be needed.