OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to identify 3 to 5 years of future management issues in hospital information systems (HIS). METHODS: Two rounds of interview surveys were conducted based on the sample survey of 50 managers from 28 hospital information centers utilizing the Delphi method. RESULTS: From the survey, management issues in HIS were identified in the following order: 'top management support', 'close relationship with users', 'PACS', 'disaster recovery', improving IS strategic planning'. Compared with the 1999 survey, the issues that rank within the top 10 management issues were as follows: 'top management support', 'security and control', 'close relationship with users'. Recently surfaced issues are 'disaster recovery' and 'standardization'. The issues that dropped out of the top 10 ranks were 'network management', 'recruiting and developing IS human resource'which were very fundamental issues in the initial state of the introduction of the hospital information system. CONCLUSION: The two main significance of this study involves predicting future management issues based on the comparison of the current issues with the 1999 issues and recommendingmanagement strategies based on the classification of issues by importance and persistence.
Classification ; Hospital Information Systems* ; Humans ; Information Centers

The IVD (In Vitro Diagnostic)Medical Devices are various and develop rapidly. This paper introduces briefly the principles of classification and conformity assessment for IVD medical that proposed by GHTF (Global Harmonization Task Force).
Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures ; instrumentation ; Equipment and Supplies, Hospital ; classification

Brain tumour occurrence in Malaysia demonstrates an increasing trend from year to year among adults and the second most common cancer among children. Thus, the expansion of numerous research for novel therapy and treatment are necessary. The distribution of brain tumour in a specific population is important to provide substantial information about the current trends for developing new diagnostic technique and research. Consequently, this study is opted to provide descriptive data of brain tumour in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). 217 brain tumour cases were collected from the hospital record between 2011 and 2014. The brain tumour cases were confirmed by pathologists according to WHO classification and grading. Descriptive analysis was evaluated by using Microsoft Excel and IBM SPSS version 22. Gender preponderance in this study shows very little difference. The most common adult primary brain tumour in this study was meningioma (32.7%) followed by glioblastoma (7.8%), a type of diffuse astrocytic tumour. According to age factor, brain tumour distribution pattern shows an increasing trend as the age increases and meningioma is the most common among the elder patients. Secondary tumour takes more than 10% from overall percentage of brain tumour cases. In conclusion, the descriptive data presentation in this study is very helpful to provide baseline information on the current brain tumour occurrence in this region.
Brain tumor ; descriptive epidemiology ; WHO classification ; Hospital USM

The rapid change of hospital environment emphasizes the importance of hospital information system. To be effective, the definitions and codes of data which will be required by the health professionals workstation should be standardized. In Korea, many hospitals are implementing order communication system in order to expedite the patient management process, to enhance the service, and for effective management of medical information. Various codes those are in use in hospitals should be standardized for effective interdepartmental and interhospital communication. This paper shows the current status of implementing order communication system in hospitals which have more than 400 beds in Korea, application status of operation an procedure classification systems, e.g., International Classification of Procedures in Medicine, and International Classification of Diseases-9th-Clinical Modification. 22 hospitals (29.0%) are implementing inpatient OCS and 29 hospitals(38.2%) for outpatient OCS. 46 hospitals(60.5%0 are applying ICPM and among them 23 hospitals(50.0%) showed dissatisfaction for that classification system. 30 hospitals(39.5%) are applying ICD-9-CM and none of them revealed dissatisfaction for that classification system. 64 hospitals(84.2%) want new classification system for operation and procedures and 58 hospitals(76.3%) revealed the necessarily of standardization of code of physicans, clinical departments and administrative departments.
Classification ; Health Occupations ; Hospital Information Systems ; Humans ; Inpatients ; International Classification of Diseases ; Korea ; Outpatients

PURPOSE: The main purpose of this study is to develop new payment rates for services of Radiation Oncology, considering costs of treating patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A survey of forty hospitals has been conducted in order to analyze the costs of treating patients. Before conducting the survey, we evaluated and reclassified the individual service items currently using as payments units on the fee-for-service reimbursement system. This study embodies the analysis of replies received from the twenty four hospitals. The survey contains informations about the hospitals' costs of 1995 for the reclassified service items on Radiation Oncology. After we adjust the hospital costs by the operating rate of medical equipment, we compare the adjusted costs with the current payment rates of individual services. RESULTS: The current payment rates were 5.05-6.58 times lower than the adjusted costs in treatment planning services, 2.22 times lower in block making service, 1.57-2.86 times lower in external beam irradiation services, 3.82-5.01 times lower in intracavitary and interstitial irradiation and 1.12- 2.55 times lower in total body irradiation. CONCLUSION: We could conclude that the current payment system on Radiation Oncology does not only reflect the costs of treating patients appropriately but also classify the service items correctly. For an example, when the appropriate costs and classification are applied to TBI, the payment rates of TBI should be increased five times more than current level.
Classification* ; Fee-for-Service Plans ; Hospital Costs ; Humans ; Radiation Oncology* ; Whole-Body Irradiation

BACKGROUND: The capnographic curve indices, such as the slope of expiratory upstroke or alveolar plateau quantified by using the waveform of the capnogram, are correlated with obstructive airway disease. Some studies also have shown good correlations between these indices and FEV1 or PEFR, which are objective measurements for the classification of severity in asthma. We performed this study to suggest the feasibility of using expiratory capnography for monitoring asthmatic subjects in emergency departments(ED). METHODS: One hundred adult patients diagnosed with bronchial asthma were enrolled in this study. Using main-stream-type capnography(ULTRA CAP, Nellcor, USA), the angles alpha and Q on the capnographic trace were measured; then, the slope of expiratory upstroke(S1) was calculated. Patients were allocated by using the classifying severity of asthma exacerbation of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program(NAEPP), and the capnographic indices were compared. A measured values of the angle Q for all patients were classified into 3 categories by the percentile; then, the correlation between the category of the angle Q and the classifying severity was analyzed. RESULTS: There were significant differences in the angle Q according to the severity of the asthma. Also, there was a significant correlation between the category of the angle Q and the classifying severity of asthma exacerbation. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that expiratory capnography would be a useful monitoring technique for adult asthmatic patients and for the triage of asthmatic patients in an ED setting, provided the capnographic indices are measured as rapidly as possible. Therefore, we look forward to the development of a computerized analysis program for easy measurement and quantification of capnographic indices.
Adult ; Asthma* ; Capnography ; Classification ; Education ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Humans ; Peak Expiratory Flow Rate ; Triage

PURPOSE: This study was designed to examine the reliability of the new version of the AJCC staging system (1997) of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in comparison with the AJCC staging system of 1992. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 1983 and 1996, 185 patients with histologically proven nasopharyngeal carcinoma were treated with radiation therapy at the Department of Therapeutic Radiology Seoul National University Hospital. For these patients, AJCC staging system of 1992 was compared with the 1997 version, by reviewing hospital records, computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESULTS: 5-year overall survival rates according to the 1992 and 1997 AJCC staging systems were 100%, and 100% at stage I; 100%, and 68.8% at stage II; 61.4%, and 63.8% at stage III; 61.1%, and 63.2% at stage IV. 5-year overall survival rates of each classification showed significant differences between stages ( p=0.0049 for the old version, p=0.01 for the new), but no significant difference was found between the staging systems except at stage II. CONCLUSION: The new AJCC staging system allows staging as reliably as the 1992 version, but the adequacy of the newly modified staging classification should be confirmed by further clinical examination.
Classification ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Radiation Oncology ; Seoul ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVE: To identify the clinical features, survival rate, and prognostic factors of the borderline ovarian tumor. METHODS: Data on 48 patients with borderline ovarian tumor were analyzed with regard to histologic type, age, staging, operation method, tumor size, preoperative CA 125 level, menopause status and presence of stromal microinvasion. Most informations were obtained from hospital record and were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: There were 43 patients with stage I and 5 with stage III by FIGO classification. The mean age was 47.3 years (range 17-84). The mean size of tumor between patients with serous tumor and patients with mucinous tumor was 12.3 cm and 17.8 cm, respectively, and there was statistical difference between the two groups (p<0.05). There was no statistical difference in preoperative elevated CA 125 levels between patients with serous tumor and patients with mucinous tumor (p>0.05), and no difference between premenopausal group and postmenopausal group (p>0.05), but difference between stage I patients and stage III patients (p<0.05). There was statistical difference in disease free survival between stage I patients and stage III patients (p<0.05). But, there was no difference in the disease free survival among stage I patients according to operation method (p>0.05), and no difference among stage III patients according to operation method (>0.05). There was no statistical difference in stage between patients with microinvasive tumor and patients without microinvasive tumor (p>0.05). And there was no difference in disease free survival between patients with microinvasive tumor and patients without microinvasive tumor (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The FIGO stage is the prognostic factor in the borderline ovarian tumor. The implication of microinvasion may need to be evaluated further.
Classification ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Menopause ; Mucins ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: This study reports the clinical features of infant, child, school aged and adolescent patients treated for acute poisoning in nationwide emergency departments (EDs). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data pertaining to patients under 19 years of age who were treated for acute poisoning in nationwide EDs from 2013 to 2015. The data were collected by the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS). All patients were divided into three groups: ‘Infant and child group’ (0 to 5 years), ‘school age group’ (6 to 12 years) and ‘adolescent group’ (13 to 18 years). General characteristics, Korea Standard Classification of Disease 7(th) (KCD-7) codes and results of care were collected. RESULTS: There were 14,500 pediatric poisoning cases during the study period. The distribution of patient age was bimodal with two peaks among infant, child and adolescent group. The proportion of alert mentality at the ED visit of the infant and child group was 99.3%, while that of the adolescent group was 86.4%. The proportion of intentional intoxication was higher in the adolescent group (40.7%) than other age groups. Among children less than 13 years of age, various poisonous substances and therapeutic drugs were common. CONCLUSION: There were some clinical differences in acute poisoning patients between age groups. It is necessary to establish a preventive plan considering characteristics by age. Since the KCD-7 code has limitations in analyzing the characteristics of poisoning patients, it is necessary to consider the registration system of poisoning patients.
Adolescent ; Child ; Classification ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Humans ; Infant ; Information Systems* ; Korea ; Pediatrics ; Poisoning* ; Retrospective Studies*

Several studies have demonstrated the poor prognosis for young patients with gastric cancer. However few reports exist about the dependence of the survival rate on curative resection and cancer stage. Hospital records of 107 young gastric cancer patients who underwent operations from 1980 to 1996 were reviewed, and the results were compared with those from 3176 cases involving whole age gastric cancer patients. There were no significant differences in operation method, tumor invasion, and tumor stage between both age groups. In whole age patients, males were predominant; however in young patients, females were predominant (p=0.005). In young patients, the tumors more frequently occurred in the upper 1/3 than in whole age patients(p<0.0001). A comparison of histologic types showed that poorly differentiated histologic types, such as signet ring cells and diffuse types, according to Lauren's classification, were more frequently observed in young patients (p<0.0001). The 5- year overall survival rate revealed a difference, but with borderline significance, between the young and the whole age patients (39.4% vs 48.6%, p=0.0505). However, patients who had undergone a curative resection showed no statistically significant difference(56.9% vs 63.9%; p=0.264). And patients with noncurative resection showed a statistically significant difference(0% vs 11.7%, p=0.034). The survival rate according to TNM stage revealed a statistically significant difference at stages I b and III b (Stage I b - 100% vs 84.5%, p=0.047; Stage III b - 8.8%, vs 28.0%, p=0.049). In conclusion, young patients with stomach cancer who underwent a curative resection showed a similar survival rate to that of whole age patients, and the largest survival rate was for cancer in a relatively early stage. Hence curative resection and early diagnosis are mandatory in young patients with stomach cancer.
Classification ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Hospital Records ; Humans ; Male ; Prognosis ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Stomach* ; Survival Rate