Bhutan ; Delivery of Health Care ; organization & administration ; Happiness ; Humans ; National Health Programs

Thyroid tumors include a heterogeneous group of entities with variable clinical behavior and histology, mostly classified as benign or malignant. Neoplasm of uncertain or unknown behavior in thyroid gland was newly adopted by the 2017 edition of World Health Organization (WHO) classification of endocrine organs. The borderline thyroid tumors include a hyalinizing trabecular tumor and three encapsulated follicular-patterned thyroid tumors (follicular tumor of uncertain malignant potential, well-differentiated tumor of uncertain malignant potential, and non-invasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features). This review summarizes the changes in the 2017 WHO classification of thyroid tumors, highlights their implications for clinical practice in Korea, and briefly discusses National Health Insurance system, cancer insurance policies, and their associated benefits in Korea.
Classification ; Hyalin ; Insurance ; Korea ; National Health Programs ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; World Health Organization

Inappropriate antibiotic use significantly contributes to antibiotic resistance, resulting in reduced antibiotic efficacy and an increased burden of disease. The objective of this study was to investigate the characteristics of prescribers whose antibiotics use was high and to explore factors affecting the use of antibiotics by medical institutions. This study analyzed the National Health Insurance claims data from 2015. Antibiotic prescription data were analyzed in terms of the number of defined daily doses per 1,000 patients per day, according to the World Health Organization anatomical-therapeutic-chemical classification and methodologies for measuring the defined daily dose. We investigated the characteristics of prescribers and medical institutions with high antibiotic use. Multivariate regression analyses were performed on the basis of characteristics of the medical institution (number of patients, type of medical institution [hospital or clinic], age of the physician, etc.). The number of patients and number of beds were found to be significant factors affecting antibiotic use in hospitals, and the number of patients, region, and medical department were significant factors affecting antibiotic use at the level of medical institutions. These findings are expected to help policy-makers to better target future interventions to promote prudent antibiotic prescription.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Classification ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Humans ; National Health Programs ; Prescriptions ; World Health Organization

The former Ministry of Health launched a project regarding National Demonstration Areas for Comprehensive Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in 2010. This study combined quantitative and qualitative methods, using epidemiological, anthropological and sociological methods to carry out process assessment, effectiveness and case study to evaluate the outcomes of the Demonstration Areas in China. A government leading body, under multi-sectoral cooperation pattern set for prevention and control of NCDs in the Demonstration Areas, was established. All the health related indicators of the residents from the NCDs appeared better than the national average level, showing the fact that the first phase goal on the establishment of Demonstration Areas was materialized. Papers that included in this issue "Evaluation on China National Demonstration Areas for NCDs Prevention and Control" elaborated the implementation status and effectiveness of the Demonstration Areas. It was our hope to provide reference for scaling up the Demonstration Areas and dynamic management in the future.
China/epidemiology* ; Chronic Disease/epidemiology* ; Health Promotion/organization & administration* ; Humans ; National Health Programs/organization & administration* ; Noncommunicable Diseases/prevention & control* ; Population Surveillance ; Preventive Health Services/organization & administration* ; Public Health

Since the reformation of the National Health Insurance Act in 2000, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) in the Republic of Korea has performed quality assessments for healthcare providers. The HIRA Value Incentive Program (VIP), established in July 2007, provides incentives for excellent-quality institutions and disincentives for poor-quality ones. The program is implemented based on data collected between July 2007 and December 2009. The goal of the VIP is to improve the overall quality of care and decrease the quality gaps among healthcare institutions. Thus far, the VIP has targeted acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and Caesarian section (C-section) care. The incentives and disincentives awarded to the hospitals by their composite quality scores of the AMI and C-section scores. The results of the VIP showed continuous and marked improvement in the composite quality scores of the AMI and C-section measures between 2007 and 2010. With the demonstrated success of the VIP project, the Ministry of Health and Welfare expanded the program in 2011 to include general hospitals. The HIRA VIP was deemed applicable to the Korean healthcare system, but before it can be expanded further, the program must overcome several major concerns, as follows: inclusion of resource use measures, rigorous evaluation of impact, application of the VIP to the changing payment system, and expansion of the VIP to primary care clinics.
Benchmarking ; Hospitals ; Humans ; *National Health Programs ; Quality Improvement/*economics ; Quality of Health Care/economics ; Reimbursement, Incentive/*organization & administration ; Republic of Korea

The challenge facing the Korean National Health Insurance includes what to spend money on in order to elevate the 'value for money.' This article reviewed the changing issues associated with quality of care in the Korean health insurance system and envisioned a picture of an effective pay-for-performance (P4P) system in Korea taking into consideration quality of care and P4P systems in other countries. A review was made of existing systematic reviews and a recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development survey. An effective P4P in Korea was envisioned as containing three features: measures, basis for reward, and reward. The first priority is to develop proper measures for both efficiency and quality. For further improvement of quality indicators, an electronic system for patient history records should be built in the near future. A change in the level or the relative ranking seems more desirable than using absolute level alone for incentives. To stimulate medium- and small-scale hospitals to join the program in the next phase, it is suggested that the scope of application be expanded and the level of incentives adjusted. High-quality indicators of clinical care quality should be mapped out by combining information from medical claims and information from patient registries.
*National Health Programs ; Program Development ; Quality Improvement/*economics ; Quality of Health Care/economics ; Reimbursement, Incentive/*organization & administration/standards ; Republic of Korea

Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Humans ; India ; epidemiology ; Leprosy ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; National Health Programs ; Population Surveillance ; Prevalence ; World Health Organization

The mission of National Health Screening Program for Infant and Children is to promote and improve the health, education, and well-being of infants, children, families, and communities. Although the term 'diagnosis' usually relates to pathology, a similar diagnostic approach applies to the child seen primarily for health supervision. In the case of health, diagnosis determines the selection of appropriate health promoting and preventive interventions, whether medical, dental, nutritional, educational, or psychosocial. Components of the diagnostic process in health supervision include the health 'interview'; assessment of physiological, emotional, cognitive, and social development (including critical developmental milestones); physical examination; screening procedures; and evaluation of strengths and issues. Open and informed communication between the health professional and the family remains the most significant component of both health diagnosis and health promotion. Families complete medical history forms at their health supervision visit. Family-friendly questionnaires, checklists, and surveys that are appropriate for the child''s age are additional tools to improve and update data gathering. This type of information helps initiate and inform discussions between the family and the health professional. This article provides a comprehensive review of current National Health Screening Program for Infant and Children in Korea.
Checklist ; Child ; Health Occupations ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Infant ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Missions and Missionaries ; National Health Programs ; Organization and Administration ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Social Change

The mission of the National Health Screening Program for Infants and Children is to promote and improve the health, education, and well-being of infants, children, families, and communities. Although the term 'diagnosis' usually relates to pathology, a similar diagnostic approach applies to a child seen primarily for health supervision. In the case of health, diagnosis determines the selection of appropriate health promoting and preventive interventions, whether medical, dental, nutritional, educational, or psychosocial. Components of the diagnostic process in health supervision include the health 'interview'; assessment of physiological, emotional, cognitive, and social development (including critical developmental milestones); physical examination; screening procedures; and evaluation of strengths and issues. Open and informed communication between the health professional and the family remains the most significant component of both health diagnosis and health promotion. Families complete medical history forms at their health supervision visit. Family-friendly questionnaires, checklists, and surveys that are appropriate for the child's age are additional tools to improve and update data gathering. This type of information helps initiate and facilitate discussions between the family and the health professional. This article provides a comprehensive review of the current National Health Screening Program for Infants and Children in Korea.
Checklist ; Child ; Health Occupations ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Infant ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Missions and Missionaries ; National Health Programs ; Organization and Administration ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Social Change

This paper aims to demonstrate current health expenditure (CHE) and National Health Accounts of the years 2018 constructed according to the SHA2011, which is a manual for System of Health Accounts (SHA) that was published jointly by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Eurostat, and World Health Organization in 2011. Comparison is made with international trends by collecting and analyzing health accounts of OECD member countries. Particularly, scale and trends of the total CHE financing as well as public-private mix are parsed in depth. In the case of private financing, estimation of total expenditures for (revenues by) provider groups (HP) is made from both survey on the benefit coverage rate of National Health Insurance (by National Health Insurance Service) and Economic Census and Service Industry Census (by National Statistical Office); and other pieces of information from Korean Health Panel Study, etc. are supplementarily used to allocate those totals into functional classifications. CHE was 144.4 trillion won in 2018, which accounts for 8.1% of Korea's gross domestic product (GDP). It was a big increase of 12.8 trillion won, or 9.7%, from the previous year. GDP share of Korean CHE has already been close to the average of OECD member countries. Government and compulsory schemes' share (or public share), 59.8% of the CHE in 2018, is much lower than the OECD average of 73.6%. ‘Transfers from government domestic revenue’ share of total revenue of health financing was 16.9% in Korea, lower than the other social insurance countries. When it comes to ‘compulsory contributory health financing schemes,’ ‘transfers from government domestic revenue’ share of 13.5% was again much lower compared to Japan (43.0%) and Belgium (30.1%) with social insurance scheme.
Belgium ; Censuses ; Classification ; Gross Domestic Product ; Guanosine Diphosphate ; Health Expenditures ; Healthcare Financing ; Japan ; Korea ; National Health Programs ; Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development ; Social Security ; World Health Organization