OBJECTIVES: Reforming medical insurance payment methods is a key part of deepening the healthcare system reform. Understanding the influencing factors and underlying mechanisms of physicians' strategic behaviors under the diagnosis-related groups (DRG) payment system is crucial for reducing medical resource waste and improving the efficiency of health insurance fund utilization. METHODS: Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study used grounded theory to construct a questionnaire encompassing belief, behavioral attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, behavioral intention, and behavior measurement items. Structural equation modeling was then used for empirical analysis. RESULTS: Physicians' behavioral intention had the most significant impact on their strategic behavior (β=0.606, P<0.001). Physician's attitude toward strategic behavior (β=-0.159, P<0.01), subjective norm (β=-0.093, P<0.05), and perceived behavioral control (β=-0.120, P<0.05) were major influencing factors of behavioral intention. Physicians' behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs were significantly correlated with behavioral attitude (β=0.554, P<0.001), subjective norm (β=0.383, P<0.001), and perceived behavioral control (β=0.274, P<0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Behavioral intention is the primary predictor driving physicians to engage in strategic behavior. Attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control all significantly affect physicians' behavioral intentions.
Humans ; Physicians/psychology* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Diagnosis-Related Groups/economics* ; Intention ; Female ; Male ; Adult

Background: The Universal Health Care Law seeks to optimize financing of personnel costs without compromising quality and equitable health care among the health care facilities. This position statement aimed to identify strategies and policy recommendations for the cost-effective financing of health personnel in public healthcare facilities. Methods: A systematic review of literature was done to generate policy brief and key points for roundtable discussion in collaboration with the Department of Health (DOH). The discussion was guided by the three health financing options of DOH: (a) retain Personnel Services (PS) as DOH budget but shift Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) to PhilHealth; (b) shift PS and MOOE to PhilHealth, and (c) rationalize part-time status in government hospitals. Results: The pros and cons of financing options were cross-examined. In Option 1, physicians in government hospitals would receive fixed salaries from DOH / Local Government Units. In Option 2, there would be a monopsony between PhilHealth and provincial power. Payment will be performance-driven, and balance billing will be eliminated. Option 3 would be a set up of retaining part-time positions for physicians. Conclusion and Recommendation Participants deduced that for Option 1, provision of salary augmentation sources and ensuring adequate plantilla items and level of remuneration in government hospitals should be considered, in order to sufficiently compete with physicians’ income from private practice. For Option 2, the PhilHealth reimbursement system should ensure timely reimbursement so as not to subject care providers to financial instabilities. For Option 3, rationalizing part-time status should be flexible and can be applied regardless of how physicians are paid, as this would incentivize caregivers to work harder and smarter.
Universal Health Insurance ; Healthcare Financing ; Physicians ; Universal Health Care ; Reimbursement Mechanisms

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to analyze inguinal hernia in Korea based on the nationwide data. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of nationwide data obtained from the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service database for surgical repair of inguinal hernia from January, 2007 to December, 2015 was performed. RESULTS: A total of 314,238 cases of inguinal hernia surgery were performed during 9 years. The mean number of inguinal hernia surgery per year was 34,604 (range, 30,065–36,928). The proportion of male patient was 87%. Patients between the age of 1 to 5 years (17.3%) and of 60 to 69 years (17.4%) constituted the 2 dominant groups for inguinal hernia repair. A slight increase in repair for recurrent inguinal hernia, 1.9% to 3.2%, was observed from 2007 to 2015. The rate of concurrent bowel resection decreased from 1.9% to 0.6%. The total cost of inguinal hernia surgery was increased up to 1.68 times from 2007 to 2015 ($856 to $1,439), although the number of hospital days was decreased from 4.7 to 3.7 days. The rate of laparoscopic surgery was increased to 29.5% in 2015. CONCLUSION: A mean number of 34,604 cases of inguinal hernia surgery have been carried out annually in Korea. The age distribution for inguinal hernia repair demonstrates bimodal peak at early childhood and old age. The proportion of laparoscopic surgery of inguinal hernia has been increasing for the past 9 years. The length of hospital stay and the rate of combined bowel resection have decreased.
Age Distribution ; Diagnosis-Related Groups ; Hernia, Inguinal ; Humans ; Insurance, Health ; Korea ; Laparoscopy ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Retrospective Studies

This study identified the explanatory power of the Korean rehabilitation patient group (KRPG) v1.1 for acquired brain injury (ABI) on medical expenses in the rehabilitation hospitals and the correlation of functional outcomes with the expenses. Here, the design is a retrospective analysis from the claim data of the designated rehabilitation hospitals. Data including KRPG information with functional status and medical expenses were collected from 1 January and 31 August 2018. Reduction of variance (R2) was statistically analyzed for the explanation power of the KRPG. Association between functional status and the medical expenses was carried out using the Spearman's rank order correlation (rho). From the claim data of 365 patients with ABI, the KRPG v1.1 explained 8.6% of variance for the total medical expenses and also explained 9.8% of variance for the rehabilitation therapy costs. Cognitive function and spasticity showed very weak correlation with the total medical expenses (rho = −0.17 and −0.14, respectively). Motor power and performance of activities of daily living were associated weakly (rho = −0.27 and −0.30, respectively). The KRPG and related functional status in ABI reflects the total medical expenses and rehabilitation therapy costs insufficiently in the designated rehabilitation hospitals. Thus, the current KRPG algorithm and variables for ABI may need to be ameliorated in the future.
Activities of Daily Living ; Brain Diseases ; Brain Injuries ; Brain ; Cognition ; Diagnosis-Related Groups ; Fee-for-Service Plans ; Humans ; Muscle Spasticity ; Neurological Rehabilitation ; Rehabilitation ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: As of July 2015, per diem payment was changed from fee for service Therefore, this study aims to analyse changes in medical charges and medical services before and after enforcement of the palliative care, targeting palliative care wards in a general hospital, and provide basic data needed for development of per diem payment. METHODS: The subjects of the study were a total of 610 cases consisting of 351 patients of service fee who left hospital (died) from July 2014 to June 2016 and 259 ones of per diem payment at Chosun University Hospital in Gwangju Metropolitan City. RESULTS: The results are summarized as follows. First, after the palliative care system was applied, benefit medical service charges and insurance increased significantly (p<0.001). As benefit medical service charges increased, benefit private insurance payment increased significantly (p<0.001). Second, after the per diem payment was applied, total private insurance payment to medical institutes decreased significantly (p=0.050) and non-benefit also decreased significantly (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: It is suggested that additional rewards in the obligatory palliative care items should be continuously remedied and monitored to provide good quality hospice palliative care.
Academies and Institutes ; Fee-for-Service Plans ; Fees and Charges ; Gwangju ; Hospices ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Insurance ; Palliative Care ; Reward

The fee-for-service system is used as the main payment system for health care providers in Korea. It has been argued that it can't reflect differences in the medical practice costs across regions because the fee schedule is calculated based on the average cost. So, some researchers and providers have disputed that there is need for adopting geographic practice cost index (GPCI) used in the United States for the Medicare program for the elderly to the fee-for-service payment system. This study performed to identify whether the difference in the practice costs among regions exists or not and to examine the feasibility of applying GPCI to Korea payment system. For this purpose, we calculated modified-GPCI and examined considerations to introduce GPCI in Korea. First we identified available data to calculate GPCI. Second, we made applicable GPCI equations to Korea payment system and computed it based on four types of regions (metropolitan, urban, suburban, and rural). We also categorize the regions based on the availability of the medical resources and the capability of utilizing them. As a result, we found that there wasn't any significant difference in the GPCI by regional types in general, but the indices of rural areas (0.91–0.98) was relatively low compared to the indices of other regions (0.96–1.07). Considering the need to use GPCI floor, the pros and cons of using GPCI, and the concern of the regional imbalance of resources, the introduction of GPCI needs to be carefully considered.
Aged ; Fee Schedules ; Fee-for-Service Plans ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Korea ; Medicare ; Relative Value Scales ; United States

After the announcement of Moon Jae-in Government's plan (Moon's Care) for Benefit Expansion in National Health Insurance in August 2017, it is necessary to monitor the effects of the policy, especially household out-of-pocket payments (OOP). This paper aims to observe the current status and trend of OOP in Korea. Current health expenditure (CHE) was 144.4 trillion won in 2018, which accounts for 8.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) increased 9.7% from the previous year. Although GDP's share of CHE has been close to the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, the public fund's share was 59.8% of the total in 2018, which was lower than the OECD average of 73.5%. OOP's share was 32.9% in 2018, which decreased from 37.4% in 2008. The share of OOP of non-covered services was 20.0% in 2018, which decreased from 22.9% in 2008. The share of cost-sharing with third-party payers was 12.9% in 2018, which decreased from 14.5% in 2008. The OOP of non-covered services was significantly decreased in hospital and inpatient curative care, but the OOP of non-covered services was significantly increased in the medical clinic. The effect of Moon's Care was not showed in OOP through the results of 2017 and 2018, but further monitoring is needed because the Moon's Care is progressing and the observational period is short.
Family Characteristics ; Gross Domestic Product ; Health Expenditures ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Insurance, Health, Reimbursement ; Korea ; Moon ; National Health Programs ; Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is an indispensable treatment modality in coronary artery disease. However, there is still inadequacy of comprehensive knowledge on the Korean status and trend of this important procedure using nation-wide and representative data. METHODS: National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort is a database containing demographic, health insurance reimbursement for patient management and health screening data of about one million Koreans for 12 years (2002–2013). Annual procedure rate for PCI was estimated by bootstrapping as per 100,000 person-years. RESULTS: Among the whole cohort, total 12,186 PCI's were done during the study period. Mean age of subjects who underwent PCI was 57.6±11.2 years and male:female proportion was 68%:32%. Death from all cause occurred in 1,843 (15.1%), death from ischemic heart diseases in 662 (5.4%), death from all cardiovascular cause in 872 (7.2%) during the follow-up. The proportion of the primary PCI for acute myocardial infarction was estimated to be 24.0%. Estimated annual rate of PCI increased from median 29.1 (95% confidence interval [CI], 26.6–32.1) in 2002 to 107.7 (95% CI, 103.0–113.8) per 100,000 person-years in 2013. In this cohort, PCI was performed in total 180 hospitals, which annually increased from 59 in 2002 to 153 in 2013. CONCLUSIONS: PCI had increased in volume from 2002 to 2013. This descriptive data may be considered in policy making and planning further direction of management of coronary artery disease in Korea.
Cohort Studies ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Insurance, Health, Reimbursement ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Myocardial Infarction ; Myocardial Ischemia ; National Health Programs ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Policy Making

The tripartite mission of 'academic medicine is education, research, and patient care. Academic medical centers (AMCs) are carrying out the mission and ultimately aiming to improve the health of people and communities. Globally, AMCs are facing a tremendous financial risk stemming from the changes in health insurance reimbursement plans and a shortage of human resources. Innovative AMCs in the United States are trying to transform their physician-centered, and siloed structure into a patient-centered, and integrated structure. They are also building integrated systems with primary healthcare groups to provide continuous patient care from primary to tertiary levels and making strategic networks based on value-based payment and the patient-centered model. These changes have been proven to improve outcomes of patient care and increase fiscal revenues, which are both crucial in supporting education and research. To address the shortage of human resources, programs are being built to develop newly appointed faculty for the future. AMCs have different approaches to bringing changes into their organizations; however, there is a common emphasis on 'a patient-centered approach,' which helps them set more explicit organizational values and make strategic decisions based on their values. Korean AMCs are facing similar challenges to AMCs in the United States in spite of many differences between the countries' healthcare systems. The innovative efforts of AMCs in the United States to address the challenges will be helpful, well-worked examples for Korean AMCs with similar challenges.
Academic Medical Centers ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Humans ; Insurance, Health, Reimbursement ; Patient Care ; Patient-Centered Care ; Primary Health Care ; United States

In the present study, the productions of antinociception induced by acute and chronic immobilization stress were compared in several animal pain models. In the acute immobilization stress model (up to 1 hr immobilization), the antinociception was produced in writhing, tail-flick, and formalin-induced pain models. In chronic immobilization stress experiment, the mouse was enforced into immobilization for 1 hr/day for 3, 7, or 14 days, then analgesic tests were performed. The antinociceptive effect was gradually reduced after 3, 7 and 14 days of immobilization stress. To delineate the molecular mechanism involved in the antinociceptive tolerance development in the chronic stress model, the expressions of some signal molecules in dorsal root ganglia (DRG), spinal cord, hippocampus, and the hypothalamus were observed in acute and chronic immobilization models. The COX-2 in DRG, p-JNK, p-AMPKα1, and p-mTOR in the spinal cord, p-P38 in the hippocampus, and p-AMPKα1 in the hypothalamus were elevated in acute immobilization stress, but were reduced gradually after 3, 7 and 14 days of immobilization stress. Our results suggest that the chronic immobilization stress causes development of tolerance to the antinociception induced by acute immobilization stress. In addition, the COX-2 in DRG, p-JNK, p-AMPKα1, and p-mTOR in the spinal cord, p-P38 in the hippocampus, and p-AMPKα1 in the hypothalamus may play important roles in the regulation of antinociception induced by acute immobilization stress and the tolerance development induced by chronic immobilization stress.
Animals ; Diagnosis-Related Groups ; Ganglia, Spinal ; Hippocampus ; Hypothalamus ; Immobilization ; Mice ; Spinal Cord