• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.247-255
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• 2017

Background: South Korea has experienced problems with excessive pharmaceutical expenditures. In 2010, the South Korean government introduced an outpatient prescription incentive program to effectively manage pharmaceutical expenditures. Therefore, we examined the relationship between the outpatient prescription incentive program and pharmaceutical expenditures. Methods: We used data from the Korean National Health Insurance claims database, which included medical claims filed for 22,732 clinics from 2011-2014 to evaluate associated pharmaceutical expenditures. We performed multiple regression analysis and Poisson regression analysis using generalized estimating equation models to examine the associations between outpatient prescription incentives and the outcome variables. Results: The data used in this study consisted of 123,392 cases from 22,372 clinics (average 5.4 periods follow-up). Clinics that had received outpatient prescription incentives in the last period had better cost saving and Outpatient Prescribing Costliness Index (OPCI) (received: proportion of cost saving, ${\beta}=6.8179$; p-value < 0.0001; OPCI, ${\beta}=-0.0227$; p-value < 0.0001; reference = non-received). Moreover, these clinics had higher risk in the provision of outpatient prescription incentive (relative risk, 2.772; 95% confidence interval, 2.720 to 2.824). The associations were higher in clinics that had separate prescribing and dispensing programs, or had professional staff. Conclusion: The introduction of an outpatient prescription incentive program for clinics effectively managed problems with rapid increases of pharmaceutical expenditures in South Korea. However, the pharmaceutical expenditures still increased in spite of the positive impact of the outpatient prescription incentive program. Therefore, healthcare professionals and health policy makers should develop more effective alternatives (i.e., for clinics without separate prescribing and dispensing programs) based on our results.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.61-72
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• 2012

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the associations between physical therapists' work-related musculoskeletal pain, quality of life (QoL), and presenteeism. Methods: Self-reported questionnaires were given to 402 physical therapists in Korea. Variables examined included the prevalence of pain sites related to work, pain intensity, pain pattern, pain frequency, pain duration, pain rating score (PRS), general characteristics, QoL, and presenteeism. Results: Of the 314 physical therapists who responded, 251 (79.9%) reported work -related musculoskeletal pain in at least one body part. The most affected regions included the wrist and hand (21.0%), shoulder (19.6%), and lower back (19.1%). On average patients, QoL and presenteeism differed significantly between physical therapists who reported pain and those who did not (P < 0.05). QoL showed a negative correlation with the work-related musculoskeletal pain (P < 0.01) and presenteeism (P < 0.01), while the presenteeism and work-related musculoskeletal pain showed positive one(P < 0.01). Factors influencing a physical therapist's QoL included presenteeism, Working venues (Convalescent hospital), Work status (Contra ct worker) and professional experience, while the presenteeism included QoL, work status (Intern), PRS, working venues (Convalescent hospital), Area of specialty (Pediatrics), age, sex and working hour. Conclusions: Results show that physical therapists appear to be at a higher risk for work-related musculoskeletal pain. Therefore, administrators need to use the intervention strategies to manage the presenteeism and QoL of physical therapists.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.149-182
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• 2023

This study was conducted for the purpose of suggesting ways to improve KMLA's support programs to strengthen the capabilities of domestic medical librarians. To this end, after investigating the roles of professional associations, common roles were extracted and categorized into five areas, and then the support programs of MLA and KMLA were compared and analyzed. As a result, six suggestions can be made as ways to improve KMLA's support program. First, policy development is needed to officially and continuously support medical librarians. Second, in the area of (continued) education and training programs, educational support in professional areas required in the medical field is needed, as well as education for the role of the IRB committee. Third, in terms of research and publication support, various support for research funds and training programs is required. Fourth, in terms of network and cooperation support, mentoring, leadership, and fellowship programs are needed, and improvements to domestic and international partnerships and support for various awards should also be planned. Fifth, in terms of professional certification and various certificate systems, it is necessary to provide support for obtaining degrees in related fields and to issue certificates through support for various courses. Sixth, KMLA's active internal and external promotion and activities should be carried out to attract donations.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.107-125
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• 2009

Research on culture has been widespread across social science researches. But there has not been any cultural research in the fisheries industry. This study tried to identify whether the culture of the fishery organization had a convergent or divergent characteristic. To do so, fishery distributors and wholesalers, who affiliated with their professional associations or wholesale seafood markets, were surveyed across supplying and consuming areas(Busan and Seoul). If fishery organizations have always been culture-bound, rather than culture free, then their members show the divergent characteristic of culture. Despite a similarity in tasks, size and market segments, if this fact is proved, fishery distributors and wholesalers in different areas will differ in many of their managerial practices such as marketing policies, communication patterns, motivation techniques, etc. And it is expected that national and industrial cultures are major determinants of their behaviors. Depending on the results of this study, fishery distributors and wholesalers had a divergent characteristic. So, it was concluded that fishery distributors and wholesalers of wholesale seafood markets in supplying area were different from those in consuming area. It was found that this difference was attributed to individualism/collectivism and masculinity/femininity dimensions. In individualism/collectivism dimension, fishery distributors and wholesalers of consuming area were stronger than those of supplying area. That is, fishery distributors and wholesalers of consuming area were more collective than those of supplying area. But in masculinity/femininity dimension, fishery distributors and wholesalers of supplying area were stronger than those of consuming area. And the divergent characteristic was moderated by demographic variables (gender, age, education level, career). Especially, masculinity/femininity dimension was more moderated by demographic variables than individualism/ collectivism dimension.

• Journal of the Korea Fashion and Costume Design Association
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2014

The purposes of this study were to explore differences in utilization of information sources depending on the length of buyers' career and annual sales volume of stores where buyers work for. The questionnaire was prepared by the researcher and was answered by 200 buyers who purchase their items from Dondaemun market. The researcher analyzed the data using both ANOVA and Tukey's test as a post-hoc test. The conclusion of this study is summarized below. First, there were significant differences in utilization of information sources among buyer groups depending on the length of buyers' career. The buyers with more than 10 years career showed more effective utilization of information source such as resident buying offices, manufacturers, trade publications, trade associations, fashion reports, celebrities, window shopping, professional magazines, and advice from others. Second, there were significant differences in utilization of information sources among buyer groups depending on annual sales volume of the stores where the buyers work for. The buyer who work for the store with its annual sales volume in excess of 2 billion won showed more effective utilization of information source such as trade association, professional magazines, sales record, want slips, advertising results, sales trends, customer surveys, sales meetings, customer advisory panel, in-store merchandising bureau and advice from other experienced buyers. However, buyers of the store with its annual sales volume lower than 100 million won showed different pattern utilization of information sources such as vendors, trade publication, celebrities and advice from others.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Costume
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.47-59
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• 2011

This study provides a systematic investigation about objective personal image consulting, tool development and image-making research by analyzing the status of the Korean image-consulting industry and education. For the research, we carried out literature surveys of books on image consulting and previous research reports. In particular, we surveyed image consulting businesses that have internet web sites, and educational institutes. The results of the survey are as follows: First, domestic image consulting businesses in Korea are investigated about 93 private companies and 4 associations. They do the image making, color consulting, and education for individuals and business. Second, professional image consulting education is carried out not only in the 93 private companies, but also in the continuing and professional studies for adults of 10 universities. Furthermore, more then 90 universities have specific academic programs related to the image consulting such as facial management, beauty coordination, cosmetology, stylists, fashion events, broadcasting stylists, and so on. Third, a typical image consulting job is the personal shoppers who assists VIP customers in department stores. Professionals and politicians have personal fashion stylists for their image making. Today, the job has expanded to public fashion therapist. Fourth, the contents of an image consulting education have appeared in similar industries and educations. These contents include fashion styles, personal color analysis, make-up, facial expressions, gestures, perfumes, accessories, etc. This study is based on research on the current Korean image-consulting industry, and will enable follow-up details to be implemented. using the basis of this study for a strategic self-image formation system.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.47
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• pp.178-205
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• 2001

This article investigates 295 social workers in order to find out how much they believe that each behavior related to dual relationships is ethical and with how many clients they engaged in these behaviors. This article, based on the literature, explores three areas of dual relationships which are sexual, bartering, and private dual relationships. The results from the research were 1) The social workers tend to believe that while sexual and bartering dual relationships are less ethical, private dual relationships are more ethical. Meanwhile, they have little experience to engage in all areas of dual relationships; 2) Compared to beliefs and experiences, the social workers believe that each behavior is ethical, but they have less experienced the same behavior. However, the result of strong correlations between beliefs and experiences shows that the more the social workers believe that the behaviors are ethical, the more they tend to engage in the behaviors; 3) Based on socio-demographic characteristics, male social workers tend to accept dual relationships as ethical behavior than their female counterparts do. And those who are practicing in health settings tend to believe that the behaviors related to dual relationships are less ethical than those who are practicing in the other areas of the profession do. Finally, the research recommends that enhancing social worker's self-awareness and professional maturity is needed in order to prevent the occurrence of dual relationship engagement. Also, social work professional associations and agencies should provide education, training, and institutional restrictive devices for dealing with unethical dual relationships.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.317-346
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• 2012

The purpose of this article is to discuss about the progress and problems in Korean academic library policies. The emphasis is on identifying both contents and limitations in national plans for developing academic libraries, and investigating the current status and characteristics of major policy driving forces such as national library policy committees, government organizations, and professional associations. Also investigated is the current status and unique features of legal foundations, especially the present Korean Library Act and a tentatively named Korean University Library Promotion Act, which is being prepared for legislation. Finally this article suggests both direction and strategy for a healthy development of Korean academic library policies at national level.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.21-46
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• 2016

The purpose of this article is to discuss about the progress and problems in Korean public library policies. The emphasis is on identifying both distinctive features and indigenous limitations in Korean Library Act and National Plans for Library Development. This article also investigates the current status and weakness of major policy driving forces such as national library policy committee(President's Committee on Library and Information Policy), administrative support organization, and professional associations. Finally suggested are both strategies and methods for promoting the quality of Korean public library policies, with focusing on enhancing public librarians' capacity of policy participation.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 2015

A total of 11,395 animals were impounded in shelters in Seoul in 2013. The Animal Protection Division of the Seoul metropolitan government has annual contracts with local veterinary associations as well as Korean animal rescue and management organizations for providing shelter to animals, and collects monthly statistics from these groups. In 2013, the collected intake and outcome data for 25 districts were reviewed to analyze shelter capacity in terms of housing capacity (monthly daily average intake, required holding capacity, and adoption-driven capacity), staff capacity (staff hours required for daily care), and live release rate. Seasonal variations in the monthly daily average intake were observed, indicating that management of these shelters requires various strategies. This study was performed to analyze and interpret meaningful statistics for improving the efficiency of animal shelters in Seoul. However, inconsistent collection of animal statistics limited data compilation. Creation of a basic animal statistics matrix with reference to well-designed matrices from recognized professional animal shelters is essential. These complied statistical data will help plan for future animal shelter needs in Seoul.