Financial compensation ; Splenectomy ; Labor (Childbirth)

OBJECTIVES: Although compensation for occupational injuries and diseases is guaranteed in almost all nations, countries vary greatly with respect to how they organize workers' compensation systems. In this paper, we focus on three aspects of workers' compensation insurance in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries - types of systems, employers' funding mechanisms, and coverage for injured workers - and their impacts on the actual frequencies of occupational injuries and diseases. METHODS: We estimated a panel data fixed effect model with cross-country OECD and International Labor Organization data. We controlled for country fixed effects, relevant aggregate variables, and dummy variables representing the occupational accidents data source. RESULTS: First, the use of a private insurance system is found to lower the occupational accidents. Second, the use of risk-based pricing for the payment of employer raises the occupational injuries and diseases. Finally, the wider the coverage of injured workers is, the less frequent the workplace accidents are. CONCLUSION: Private insurance system, fixed flat rate employers' funding mechanism, and higher coverage of compensation scheme are significantly and positively correlated with lower level of occupational accidents compared with the public insurance system, risk-based funding system, and lower coverage of compensation scheme.
Accidents, Occupational ; Compensation and Redress ; Financial Management ; Insurance ; Occupational Injuries ; Workers' Compensation

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to enumerate the annual morbidity and mortality incidence and estimate the direct and indirect costs associated with occupational injuries and illnesses in Bangkok in 2008. In this study, data on workmen compensation claims and costs from the Thai Workmen Compensation Fund, Social Security Office of Ministry of Labor, were aggregated and analyzed. METHODS: To assess costs, this study focuses on direct costs associated with the payment of workmen compensation claims for medical care and health services. RESULTS: A total of 52,074 nonfatal cases of occupational injury were reported, with an overall incidence rate of 16.9 per 1,000. The incidence rate for male workers was four times higher than that for female workers. Out of a total direct cost of $13.87 million, $9.88 million were for medical services and related expenses and $3.98 million for compensable reimbursement. The estimated amount of noncompensated lost earnings was an additional $2.66 million. CONCLUSION: Occupational injuries and illnesses contributed to the total cost; it has been estimated that workers' compensation covers less than one-half to one-tenth of this cost.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Female ; Financial Management ; Health Services ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Mortality ; Occupational Injuries* ; Social Security ; Thailand* ; Workers' Compensation

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to estimate the operating status of existing medical education management units in medical colleges and to define the roles of these units to provide basic information to medical schools contemplating to establish similar management units. METHODS: A structured questionnaire survey was conducted via mail. The survey 41 medical colleges across the nation and was done during September 2003 and March 2005. The assessment instrument included six items assessing the organizational structure, composition, major activities, self-satisfaction with performance, administration and financial aspects and the need for further development in the medical education unit for medical colleges with a medical education management unit. There were only two items assessing demand for establishment of a medical education management unit, prerequisite conditions for establishment, the expected role of such a system for medical colleges without a medical education management unit. RESULTS: Of 41 medical colleges, 18 had a medical education management unit as of September 2003 and 32 as of March 2005. The major activities of these 18 management units included curriculum development(26.7%), faculty development(26.7%), support for PBL(16.0%) and OSCE(12.0%). Recently, these units have become involved in enhancing clinical clerkship as well as improving teaching skills. To have a medical education-related unit run smoothly, at least two tenured faculty members majoring in education and medical education were needed. And a compensation systems was required for those professors working in the unit as a second post but without pay. CONCLUSION: This study underscored the importance of professional faculty members, and administrative and financial supports in having a medical education management unit meet its objectives. The role of the dean of medical college seems crucial in deciding how the unit is operated.
Clinical Clerkship ; Compensation and Redress ; Curriculum ; Education ; Education, Medical* ; Financial Support ; Korea* ; Postal Service ; Schools, Medical ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Transmission of infectious diseases through transfusion is a fatal adverse reaction, and recently numerous cases of HIV infection have occurred which lead to serious medical disputes. These medical disputes are extended to law suits, and the judgements provoke various problems in medical and legal aspects, as well as in social and ethical aspects. According to a precedent case of the Supreme Court, in the case of transfusion-related HIV infection, the Korean Red Cross were obliged to compensate for the damage because the Korean Red Cross were to be responsible for the selection of adequate blood donors through necessary questionnaires and explanations. Also, the involved hospital was to pay for consolation for the lack of sufficient explanation of the possibility of transmission of infections although it may be rare. The Korean Red Cross are not absolutely innocent, but considering the reality that there is a shortage of supply compared to the demand of blood products, such situation may have been inevitable, and also considering the scientific limitation in the discrimination of HIV seropositivity, the above judgement may have been a requirement of an excessive responsibility of caution. On the hospital's standpoint, because transfusion is usually done in an emergent medical situation, the patient may have to be responsible on deciding on the need for transfusion despite the dangers, and to explain the risks on each and every transfusion despite the dangers, and to explain the risks on each and every transfusion in such an emergent situation is unrealistic. Therefore, admitting the responsibility of 'unfulfillment of the obligation to explain prior to treatment' on the hospital side is inadequate. However, victims, who have been infected unexpectedly to the dreadful disease, HIV infection, would want any kind of compensation. So every blood product should be imposed with a certain amount of fund which should be reserved to provide for the compensation of HIV infection through transfusion.
Blood Donors ; Communicable Diseases ; Compensation and Redress ; Discrimination (Psychology) ; Dissent and Disputes ; Financial Management ; HIV Infections* ; HIV Seropositivity ; HIV* ; Humans ; Jurisprudence ; Red Cross ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Systematic health management is crucial in small-sized enterprises since the number of enterprises and their employees make up a large proportion of all businesses and they account for the majority of industrial accidents and occupational illnesses. The Korean government had operated the Banwol-Sihwa Regional Center for Occupational Health to provide occupational health services and chronic disease management to the workers in small-sized enterprises as a pilot health promotion project from 2007 to 2010. Since then, Gyeonggi-seobu workers health center (WHC) was established in 2011 to provide physician care for small-sized enterprises through the Industrial Accident Compensation Fund. The WHC has provided basic occupational health services including health promotion activities to prevent work-related diseases. Core strategies of the WHC were networking with regional health resources, post-examination care for workers with abnormal findings in health screenings, the operation of branch offices for better accessibility, and services for vulnerable workers including immigrant, women, and elderly workers. An evaluation of WHCs conducted in 2012 showed excellent performance in terms of cost-effectiveness, high satisfaction, and intent toward continuous use among visitors. For the advancement of WHCs, visiting services to the worksites have to be integrated adequately with services in WHCs, and more subsidiary centers need to be established for better accessibility. Moreover, the expansion of the service items and development of specialized health programs are needed. Measures should be considered to systematically collect health data and identify workplace risk factors to improve the quality of post-examination care.
Accidents, Occupational ; Aged ; Chronic Disease ; Commerce ; Compensation and Redress ; Emigrants and Immigrants ; Female ; Financial Management ; Health Promotion ; Health Resources ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Occupational Diseases ; Occupational Health ; Occupational Health Services ; Risk Factors ; Workplace

Among chemical agents in herbicides, dioxin(2,3,7,8-tetrachloro dibenzo-rho-dioxin: a chemical contaminant in herbicides sprayed during the vietnam war has been known to be the major agent causing toxic effects. Approximately 320,000 korean soldiers participated the vietnam war from 1964 to 1974. Although the potential hazards of the herbicides among Korean veterans exposed were implicated, the problem had not been a public issue until 1991 when Korean veterans were informed U. S. companies, the herbicides manufacturer payed fund, from which a trust fund for New Zealand and Australian Class members were established in 1985. After a series of appeals and demonstration by the korean veterans demanding medical care and compensation for their serious health damages, a bill of medical care and compensation for herbicides victims was promulgated in March 1993 and become effective from May 1993. This study was carried out with two major objectives: the first to understand the health problems caused from the herbicides by reviewing literatures published, and the second to examine the nature and extent of health impacts among Korean veterans exposed and to develop valid study methods for the major study by interviewing and reviewing records on a part of veterans (638 persons) registered and completed medical examination in Seoul Veterans Administration Hospital from June to october 1993. The results obtained are as follows: 1. The literature review of 107 papers revealed that: l) Dioxin is teratogenic, carcinogenic and affects almost all organs including nertous, endocrine, and reproductive systems in animal experiments. 2) The diseases showing evidence of causal association were Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's disease, lung cancer, lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma, chloroacne and polyneuropathy when judged on the basis of consistency in study results and biological plausibility. 2. Interview and medical record review study on 638 veterans, though limited validity owing to lack of control group, crude estimates of dioxin exposure levels (no biomarkers measurable), and uncertainty of diagnosis, showed that: 1) Most of the study subject's were in their 40's of age and had been dispatched to vietnam during the period from 1965-1970 around one year. 2) Most frequently complained symptoms in medical examination were motor weakness(32%), sensory abnormalities in extremities(23%), skin diseases(22%), and pain in extremities(20%) whereas in interview they were more frequent in order of skin problem(44%), motor weakness (38%), sensory abnormalities and pain in extremities(l7% and 19% each). Kappa indices on the same category of complaints between two sources of information were variable and relatively low. 3) On medical examination, only a part of the 638 subjects had initial impression (442 pts) and final diagnosis (218 pts) suggesting decision making on diagnosis appeared to be difficult even with all available modern medical technologies; in initial impression disorders from peripheral and central neuropathy were predominant whereas in final diagnosis various types of skin disorder were most frequent. 4) when dose-response relationship between several conditions (from questionnaire) and arbitrary exposure scores were examined by CMH linear trend test, spontaneous abortion, sexual problems and health problem of offsprings showed statistically significant linear trends. However, pregnancy, accident and suicidal attempts did not show any relationship in this study capacity. 5) Among complaints, psychosis and neurosis(anxiety, phobia) in interview study, and memory disorder and psychosis in medical record study revealed linear trend. 6) Skin disorder was the only condition showing linear trend in initial impression and none in final diagnosis on medical examination. Even though objective to select out dioxin-related disease or group of diseases from this study was not achieved the research experiences provided firm basis for developing various methodological approaches. 3. From this preliminary study we concluded that a larger scale major epidemiologic study on health impacts of herbicides among Korean veterans exposed is not only indispensible but also well designed study with more valid exposure information and diagnosis may be able to establish causal relationship between certain groups of diseases and exposure to the herbicides among Korean veterans.
Abortion, Spontaneous ; Animal Experimentation ; Biomarkers ; Compensation and Redress ; Decision Making ; Diagnosis ; Epidemiologic Studies* ; Female ; Financial Management ; Herbicides* ; Hodgkin Disease ; Humans ; Lung Diseases ; Lymphoma ; Medical Records ; Memory Disorders ; Military Personnel ; New Zealand ; Polyneuropathies ; Pregnancy ; Psychotic Disorders ; Sarcoma ; Seoul ; Skin ; Uncertainty ; United States Department of Veterans Affairs ; Veterans* ; Vietnam*