Patient satisfaction versus political support: Korea's drug-dispensing law revisited.
10.5124/jkma.2012.55.7.676
- Author:
Euichul SHIN
1
;
Changwoo LEE
;
Jinkyung KIM
;
Kwang Jum KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Preventive Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Health policy;
Regionalism;
Drug dispensation
- MeSH:
Adult;
Health Policy;
Humans;
Jurisprudence;
Korea;
Logistic Models;
Patient Satisfaction;
Politics;
Surveys and Questionnaires
- From:Journal of the Korean Medical Association
2012;55(7):676-684
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
In 2000, Korea enacted a controversial law prohibiting doctors from dispensing drugs. Doctors have opposed this law, and in theory, the law inconveniences patients. We assessed the relationship between patients' satisfaction with drug dispensation and their overall support for the law by using a logit model to determine the effects of the law on patients and which patients are likely to support the law. We employed random digit dialing and obtained a sample of 540 adults who had used drugs since the law was enacted. We collected the data through phone interviews. The results indicate that the respondents were generally dissatisfied with the law regardless of sociodemographic or regional characteristics. However, with other factors controlled for, those respondents from the same region as the ruling political party were significantly more likely to support the law. This implies that regional politics influenced the policymaking process through which the law was crafted and enacted.
