With expanded and extended coverage of the national medical insurance and fast growing health care expenditures, appropriateness of health service utilization and quality of care are concerns of both health care providers and insurers as well as patients. An accurate patient classification system is a basic tool for effective health care policies and efficient health services management. A classification system applicable to Korean medical information-Korean Diagnosis Related Groups (K-DRGs)-was developed based on the U. S. Refined DRGs, and the performance of the developed system was assessed in this study. In the process of the development, first the Korean coding systems for diagnoses and procedures were converted to the systems used in the definition of the U. S. Refined DRGs using the mapping tables formulated by physician panels. Then physician panels reviewed the group definition, and identified medical practice patterns different in two countries. The definition was modified for the difference in K-DRGs. The process resulted in 1,199 groups in the system. Several groups in Refined DRGs could not be differentiated in K-DRGs due to insufficient medical information, and several groups could not be defined due to procedures which were not practiced in Korea. However, the classification structure of Refined DRGs was retained in K-DRGs. The developed system was evaluated for its performance in explaining variations in resource use as measured by charges and length of stay(LOS), for both all and non-extreme discharges. The data base used in this evaluation included 373,322 discharges which was a random sample of discharges reviewed ad payed by the medical insurance during the five-month period from September 1990. The proportion of variance in resource use which was reduced by classifying patients into K-DRGs-r-square-was comparable to the performance of the U. S. Refined DRGs: .39 for charges and .25 for LOS for all discharges, and .53 for charges and .31 for LOS for non-extreme discharges. Another measure analyzed to assess the performance was the coefficient of variation of charges within individual K-DRGs. A total of 966 K-DRGs (87.7%) showed a coefficient below 100%, and the highest coefficient among K-DRGs with more than 30 discharges was 159%.
Classification ; Clinical Coding ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diagnosis* ; Diagnosis-Related Groups* ; Health Expenditures ; Health Personnel ; Health Services ; Humans ; Inpatients* ; Insurance ; Insurance Carriers ; Korea

The small intestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in maintaining the health and pathogenesis of various gastrointestinal disorders. Despite extensive research on gut microbiota, studies focusing on the small intestine are limited owing to methodological challenges. This review discusses the taxonomic composition, microbial load, and diversity of normal small intestinal microbiota. Additionally, it highlights the role of small intestinal microbiota in gastrointestinal disorders, such as functional dyspepsia, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced enteropathy. The impact of proton pump inhibitors on small intestinal microbiota dysbiosis underscores the importance of the appropriate use of strong acid suppressants in clinical practice. Future research should focus on both the luminal and mucosal microbiota of the small intestine to explore the taxonomic changes and functional differences.

The small intestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in maintaining the health and pathogenesis of various gastrointestinal disorders. Despite extensive research on gut microbiota, studies focusing on the small intestine are limited owing to methodological challenges. This review discusses the taxonomic composition, microbial load, and diversity of normal small intestinal microbiota. Additionally, it highlights the role of small intestinal microbiota in gastrointestinal disorders, such as functional dyspepsia, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced enteropathy. The impact of proton pump inhibitors on small intestinal microbiota dysbiosis underscores the importance of the appropriate use of strong acid suppressants in clinical practice. Future research should focus on both the luminal and mucosal microbiota of the small intestine to explore the taxonomic changes and functional differences.

The small intestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in maintaining the health and pathogenesis of various gastrointestinal disorders. Despite extensive research on gut microbiota, studies focusing on the small intestine are limited owing to methodological challenges. This review discusses the taxonomic composition, microbial load, and diversity of normal small intestinal microbiota. Additionally, it highlights the role of small intestinal microbiota in gastrointestinal disorders, such as functional dyspepsia, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced enteropathy. The impact of proton pump inhibitors on small intestinal microbiota dysbiosis underscores the importance of the appropriate use of strong acid suppressants in clinical practice. Future research should focus on both the luminal and mucosal microbiota of the small intestine to explore the taxonomic changes and functional differences.

The small intestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in maintaining the health and pathogenesis of various gastrointestinal disorders. Despite extensive research on gut microbiota, studies focusing on the small intestine are limited owing to methodological challenges. This review discusses the taxonomic composition, microbial load, and diversity of normal small intestinal microbiota. Additionally, it highlights the role of small intestinal microbiota in gastrointestinal disorders, such as functional dyspepsia, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced enteropathy. The impact of proton pump inhibitors on small intestinal microbiota dysbiosis underscores the importance of the appropriate use of strong acid suppressants in clinical practice. Future research should focus on both the luminal and mucosal microbiota of the small intestine to explore the taxonomic changes and functional differences.

The small intestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in maintaining the health and pathogenesis of various gastrointestinal disorders. Despite extensive research on gut microbiota, studies focusing on the small intestine are limited owing to methodological challenges. This review discusses the taxonomic composition, microbial load, and diversity of normal small intestinal microbiota. Additionally, it highlights the role of small intestinal microbiota in gastrointestinal disorders, such as functional dyspepsia, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced enteropathy. The impact of proton pump inhibitors on small intestinal microbiota dysbiosis underscores the importance of the appropriate use of strong acid suppressants in clinical practice. Future research should focus on both the luminal and mucosal microbiota of the small intestine to explore the taxonomic changes and functional differences.

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

No abstract available.
Aged ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics ; Empyema/complications/diagnosis/*microbiology ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Male ; Nocardia/classification/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Phylogeny ; Pneumonia/complications/diagnosis/*microbiology ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/analysis ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

No abstract available.
Bacteremia* ; Korea*

No abstract available.
Bacteremia* ; Korea*