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Each country is providing various community care services owing to the increasingly aging population. Therefore, Korea needs to develop multiple approaches to the healthcare utilization system that can reflect the complex needs of older adult patients.Current Concepts: Considering the characteristics of older adult patients, it is essential to connect the treatment at medical institutions with home or nursing facilities. Some patients need medical and long-term healthcare simultaneously. Currently, healthcare services for older adult patients in Korea are fragmented across various service areas. Therefore, healthcare service plans need to be explored to provide integrated and long-term healthcare for older adult patients.Discussion and Conclusion: We propose to establish a healthcare information linkage center to provide comprehensive information on the appropriate services needed by patients. The healthcare information linkage center would refer patients to their local community or local primary healthcare provider if they want home services. Through this process, doctors and healthcare teams would visit the patient’s residence to provide services and perform a comprehensive assessment of their condition to create a personalized care plan. The core of this proposal lies in the establishment of a single point of contact in the region to link and integrate healthcare. Consequently, information on services appropriate to the needs of the target population would be appropriately linked in one place and overlapping services would be coordinated to improve operational efficiency.
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Background@#The Korean government has been promoting the reform of the review and assessment system of national health insurance reimbursement claims. The aim of this study was to find out physicians’ perception and evaluation of the health insurance review and assessment system and present the direction for the government’s reform plan. @*Methods@#The 2020 Korean Physician Survey questionnaire was sent to 57,714 members of the Korean Medical Association from November 19, 2020 to January 10, 2021. A total of 6,507 physicians (11.5%) responded; of these, the responses of 4,454, including the self-employed and employed, professors, and fellows, were included for analysis. The respondents’ perception of the current health insurance review system and of the government’s reform plan were analyzed. @*Results@#It was found that 84.2% of the respondents evaluated the current health insurance review system negatively—particularly in terms of medical autonomy, transparency of the review standards, the standard development and application process, and the post-review adjustment process. Furthermore, only 0.7% of the respondents evaluated the government’s reform plan positively—particularly, the utilization of clinical practice guidelines for review standards, introduction of the professional review committee, and expansion of the link between the review and assessment system. @*Conclusion@#Policymakers should understand physicians’ perception and evaluation of the health insurance review system. In addition, the reform plan should be thoroughly communicated to physicians.
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BACKGROUND@#Autologous fat grafting is one of the most common procedures used in plastic surgery to correct soft tissue deficiency or depression deformity. However, its clinical outcomes are often suboptimal, and lack of metabolic and architectural support at recipient sites affect fat survival leading to complications such as cyst formation, calcification.Extracellular matrix-based scaffolds, such as allograft adipose matrix (AAM) and poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA), have shown exceptional clinical promise as regenerative scaffolds. Magnesium hydroxide (MH), an alkaline ceramic, has attracted attention as a potential additive to improve biocompatibility. We attempted to combine fat graft with regenerative scaffolds and analyzed the changes and viability of injected fat graft in relation to the effects of injectable natural, and synthetic (PLGA/MH microsphere) biomaterials. @*METHODS@#In vitro cell cytotoxicity, angiogenesis of the scaffolds, and wound healing were evaluated using human dermal fibroblast cells. Subcutaneous soft-tissue integration of harvested fat tissue was investigated in vivo in nude mouse with random fat transfer protocol Fat integrity and angiogenesis were identified by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. @*RESULTS@#In vitro cell cytotoxicity was not observed both in AAM and PLGA/MH with human dermal fibroblast.PLGA/MH and AAM showed excellent wound healing effect. in vivo, the AAM and PLGA/MH retained volume compared to that in the only fat group. And the PLGA/MH showed the highest angiogenesis and anti-inflammation. @*CONCLUSION@#In this study, a comparison of the volume retention effect and angiogenic ability between autologous fat grafting, injectable natural, and synthetic biomaterials will provide a reasonable basis for fat grafting.
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Background@#The major cause of recurrence after pulmonary vein (PV) isolation for atrial fibrillation (AF) is PV recon‑ nection, and thicker wall could be associated with reconnection. @*Objectives@#This study aimed to evaluate the wall thickness of the PV antrum in reconnection sites using a threedimensional (3D) wall thickness map. @*Methods@#A total of 91 patients who underwent a second ablation procedure due to AF recurrence were evalu‑ ated. The locations of the PV reconnection sites were confirmed in electroanatomical maps. A 3D atrial wall thickness (AWT) map was created using computed tomography scan data. The AWT values of the ablation lines of the index procedure were graded in each segment of the PV antrum: grade 1, 0.5 2.5 mm. @*Results@#A total of 281 PV reconnection sites among 1256 segments of the PV antrum in 79 patients were detected. The average AWT grades were 2.7 ± 1.0 and 2.2 ± 1.0 in the reconnected and non-reconnected segments, respectively (P < 0.01). Higher AWT grades were observed in the reconnected superior segments of the left superior PV, carina and inferior segments of the left inferior PV, superior and posterior segments of the right superior PV, and posterior and inferior segments of the right inferior PV. @*Conclusion@#The reconnected segments of the PV antrum showed thicker myocardium than the non-reconnected ones in patients with recurrent AF after catheter ablation. A wall thickness map for PV isolation could be considered for customized ablation in order to reduce PV reconnection.
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Background@#The purpose of this study was to identify of the degrees of professionalism of Korean physicians and to investigate its effect on their job satisfaction.Method: A total of 4,209 data was extracted from the 2020 Korean Physician Survey(KPS) of the Korean Medical Association(KMA). The descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, t-test, one-way ANOVA test and multiple regression analysis were conducted for data analysis. @*Results@#There were significant differences in physicians’ perception of professionalism among the subgroups of gender, age, marital status, type of employment, specialties, type of affiliated healthcare organization and ownership status of affiliated healthcare organization, and practice region. Similar results were also showed in their job satisfaction except for the subgroup of marital status. The physicians’ perception of professionalism was significantly related to the job satisfaction in terms of using the professional organization as a major referent(ß=0.112), belief in public service(ß=0.052), sense of calling to the field(ß=0.296), and autonomy(ß=0.166). @*Conclusion@#The results suggest that alternatives to enhance the professionalism of physicians should be prepared in order to improve the job satisfaction of physicians.
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Objective@#To evaluate the reliability of suprahyoid and infrahyoid electromyography (EMG) measurement during swallowing. @*Methods@#In all, 10 healthy volunteers were evaluated for the following surface EMG (sEMG) parameters in the suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles during swallowing: onset latency, offset latency, duration, peak latency, maximal amplitude during swallowing, and the area under curve (AUC) of the rectified EMG signal. The sEMG was recorded while the participants swallowed five times each of the four fluid volumes (saliva, 2 ml, 5 ml, and 20 ml of water), totaling to 20 swallows. Moreover, the intra-participant variability per parameter was evaluated using the coefficient of variation (CV). @*Results@#Suprahyoid muscles were activated 0.095 s (95% CI, 0.062-0.128) earlier than the infrahyoid muscles.Maximal amplitudes during the 20 ml swallow were 17.484 (−1.543-36.512) and 13.490 (1.254-25.727) μV higher than values obtained during the 2 ml swallow in the suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles, respectively. Furthermore, the AUC of the rectified EMG signal increased with the volume of swallow in both muscle groups (P=0.003, suprahyoid; P＜0.002, infrahyoid). The intra-individual variabilities of offset latency, duration, and maximal amplitude were relatively low (＜30% CV) in both muscle groups with respect to other parameters. The assessment of each parameter using EMG was highly reliable, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of ＞0.8. @*Conclusion@#Among the variable sEMG parameters assessed, the offset latency, duration, and maximal amplitude were the least variable. Although reliability on the rater side showed good results, the swallow-to-swallow variability of the parameters need to be considered in swallowing studies using sEMG.
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Objective@#To evaluate the reliability of suprahyoid and infrahyoid electromyography (EMG) measurement during swallowing. @*Methods@#In all, 10 healthy volunteers were evaluated for the following surface EMG (sEMG) parameters in the suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles during swallowing: onset latency, offset latency, duration, peak latency, maximal amplitude during swallowing, and the area under curve (AUC) of the rectified EMG signal. The sEMG was recorded while the participants swallowed five times each of the four fluid volumes (saliva, 2 ml, 5 ml, and 20 ml of water), totaling to 20 swallows. Moreover, the intra-participant variability per parameter was evaluated using the coefficient of variation (CV). @*Results@#Suprahyoid muscles were activated 0.095 s (95% CI, 0.062-0.128) earlier than the infrahyoid muscles.Maximal amplitudes during the 20 ml swallow were 17.484 (−1.543-36.512) and 13.490 (1.254-25.727) μV higher than values obtained during the 2 ml swallow in the suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles, respectively. Furthermore, the AUC of the rectified EMG signal increased with the volume of swallow in both muscle groups (P=0.003, suprahyoid; P＜0.002, infrahyoid). The intra-individual variabilities of offset latency, duration, and maximal amplitude were relatively low (＜30% CV) in both muscle groups with respect to other parameters. The assessment of each parameter using EMG was highly reliable, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of ＞0.8. @*Conclusion@#Among the variable sEMG parameters assessed, the offset latency, duration, and maximal amplitude were the least variable. Although reliability on the rater side showed good results, the swallow-to-swallow variability of the parameters need to be considered in swallowing studies using sEMG.
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Objective@#The purpose of this study was to understand the mechanism of normal hyoid movement during swallowing by calculating the activity of each muscle involved in the hyoid movement and propose a new kinetic modeling of hyoid movement using videofluoroscopy images. @*Methods@#Eight healthy volunteers with an average age of 56.8 swallowed 2-ml of diluted barium under videofluoroscopy. A video image was digitized to analyze the movement of the hyoid bone. The activity of the muscles acting on the hyoid bone was calculated from the movement of the hyoid bone using kinetic modeling. A surface electromyogram was measured simultaneously with videofluoroscopy, and the muscle force calculated by kinetic modeling was compared with the muscle force measured by surface EMG. @*Results@#The muscles acting on the hyoid bone were divided into three groups according to the direction of force and analyzed. The contraction of the retractor muscle group was observed as a median of 433 ms (95% CI 264-602, P=0.012) earlier than the contraction of protractor muscle group in all subjects. Generally, the peak activity of each muscle group was observed in the order of retractor (0 ms), protractor (592 ms, 95% CI 429-755), and depressor (717 ms, 95% CI 535-899) muscle group. The contraction of the protractor muscle measured by surface electromyography showed an earlier onset latency with a median of 82 2 ms (95% CI 615-102 9, P=0.012 ) compared to the contraction of the protractor muscle calculated by kinetic modeling. @*Conclusion@#Kinetic modeling reflects the pattern of contraction in the order of retractor, protractor, depressor muscle groups, as previously known. And it was possible to evaluate the activity of the retractor muscle, which is difficult to evaluate by electromyogram.
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This study aims to provide essential information to improve the organizational system of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) by reviewing the organizational structure and decision making process of the American Medical Association (AMA). This study investigated the composition and the roles and responsibilities of the AMA—the House of Delegates, the Board of Trustees, Councils, and Sections. It also reviewed the duties and privileges of the AMA officers. The AMA establishes policies through meetings with delegates who represent the diverse characteristics of its members through the House of Delegates. In addition, Council experts from various fields under the Board of Trustees create policy alternatives. These are aggregated into the AMA policy. To recognize the KMA as the best group of medical professionals, both the organizational structure and the decision-making process of the KMA must be established in order to maintain a consistent policy.
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The government argues that the expansion of the number of physicians is inevitable due to the absolute lack of practising physicians in Korea compared to members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Further, the government contends that poor medical access and adverse effects on the national health level require such an expansion. This study aimed to verify whether the government’s claims regarding the lack of physician manpower are reasonable by estimating the projected supply and demand of physicians by 2023 based on scenarios involving their productivity and number of working days. As a result, all scenarios indicated a projected oversupply, except for the scenario in which there are 255 working days and physicians’ productivity is the same as that of 2018. Even in scenario three, in which there are 255 working days and physicians’ productivity is the same as that of 2018, an oversupply was projected from 2027. Standards regarding the number of physicians vary from country to country, as they are affected by various factors including medical systems, demographic structures, national health levels, medical infrastructures, accessibility, medical finance and geographical conditions. This issue can be seen as resulting from the unbalanced regional distribution of physicians rather than from an absolute shortage of the number of physicians. The trickle-down effect of expanding the medical student enrollment cannot solve the problem of the unbalanced regional distribution of physicians.
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As the world is facing an infectious disease pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), medical institutions are experiencing significant financial losses. we attempted to estimate such financial losses through a survey of clinics that reported temporary closure due to COVID-19 to the Korean Medical Association. As a result, the data of 56 clinics were obtained. The average closure period was 6.7 days, and the overall number of related health insurance claims and loss of sales reached 13,408,000 Korean won (KRW) and 20,911,000 KRW, respectively, while daily losses reached 1,343,000 and 2,202,000 KRW, respectively. In addition, the monthly average health insurance claims and sales were compared to those of the same month of the previous year. In January, they slightly increased by 4.4% and 7.8%, respectively, whereas in February, they slightly decreased by 10.2% and 12.4%, respectively. In March, they significantly decreased by 46.8% and 49.8%, respectively, as COVID-19 was at its peak. Considering the financial losses of clinics that played a pivotal role in quarantine at the forefront of infectious diseases, the government should prepare a reasonable compensation plan for such losses.
ABSTRACT
The government argues that the expansion of the number of physicians is inevitable due to the absolute lack of practising physicians in Korea compared to members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Further, the government contends that poor medical access and adverse effects on the national health level require such an expansion. This study aimed to verify whether the government’s claims regarding the lack of physician manpower are reasonable by estimating the projected supply and demand of physicians by 2023 based on scenarios involving their productivity and number of working days. As a result, all scenarios indicated a projected oversupply, except for the scenario in which there are 255 working days and physicians’ productivity is the same as that of 2018. Even in scenario three, in which there are 255 working days and physicians’ productivity is the same as that of 2018, an oversupply was projected from 2027. Standards regarding the number of physicians vary from country to country, as they are affected by various factors including medical systems, demographic structures, national health levels, medical infrastructures, accessibility, medical finance and geographical conditions. This issue can be seen as resulting from the unbalanced regional distribution of physicians rather than from an absolute shortage of the number of physicians. The trickle-down effect of expanding the medical student enrollment cannot solve the problem of the unbalanced regional distribution of physicians.
ABSTRACT
As the world is facing an infectious disease pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), medical institutions are experiencing significant financial losses. we attempted to estimate such financial losses through a survey of clinics that reported temporary closure due to COVID-19 to the Korean Medical Association. As a result, the data of 56 clinics were obtained. The average closure period was 6.7 days, and the overall number of related health insurance claims and loss of sales reached 13,408,000 Korean won (KRW) and 20,911,000 KRW, respectively, while daily losses reached 1,343,000 and 2,202,000 KRW, respectively. In addition, the monthly average health insurance claims and sales were compared to those of the same month of the previous year. In January, they slightly increased by 4.4% and 7.8%, respectively, whereas in February, they slightly decreased by 10.2% and 12.4%, respectively. In March, they significantly decreased by 46.8% and 49.8%, respectively, as COVID-19 was at its peak. Considering the financial losses of clinics that played a pivotal role in quarantine at the forefront of infectious diseases, the government should prepare a reasonable compensation plan for such losses.
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Although various basal-bolus insulin therapy (BBIT) protocols have been used in the clinical environment, safer and more effective BBIT protocols are required for glucose control in hospitalized patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Modeling approaches could provide an evaluation environment for developing the optimal BBIT protocol prior to clinical trials at low cost and without risk of danger. In this study, an in-silico model was proposed to evaluate subcutaneous BBIT protocols in hospitalized patients with T2D. The proposed model was validated by comparing the BBIT protocol and sliding-scale insulin therapy (SSIT) protocol. The model was utilized for in-silico trials to compare the protocols of adjusting basal-insulin dose (BBIT1) versus adjusting total-daily-insulin dose (BBIT2). The model was also used to evaluate two different initial total-daily-insulin doses for various levels of renal function. The BBIT outcomes were superior to those of SSIT, which is consistent with earlier studies. BBIT2 also outperformed BBIT1, producing a decreased daily mean glucose level and longer time-in-target-range. Moreover, with a standard dose, the overall daily mean glucose levels reached the target range faster than with a reduced-dose for all degrees of renal function. The in-silico studies demonstrated several significant findings, including that the adjustment of total-daily-insulin dose is more effective than changes to basal-insulin dose alone. This research represents a first step toward the eventual development of an advanced model for evaluating various BBIT protocols.
Subject(s)
Humans , Blood Glucose/analysis , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/drug therapy , Hospitalization , Hypoglycemic Agents/therapeutic use , Insulin/therapeutic use , Models, TheoreticalABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The oral minimal model is a simple, useful tool for the assessment of β-cell function and insulin sensitivity across the spectrum of glucose tolerance, including normal glucose tolerance (NGT), prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in humans. METHODS: Plasma glucose, insulin, and C-peptide levels were measured during a 180-minute, 75-g oral glucose tolerance test in 24 Korean subjects with NGT (n=10) and T2DM (n=14). The parameters in the computational model were estimated, and the indexes for insulin sensitivity and β-cell function were compared between the NGT and T2DM groups. RESULTS: The insulin sensitivity index was lower in the T2DM group than the NGT group. The basal index of β-cell responsivity, basal hepatic insulin extraction ratio, and post-glucose challenge hepatic insulin extraction ratio were not different between the NGT and T2DM groups. The dynamic, static, and total β-cell responsivity indexes were significantly lower in the T2DM group than the NGT group. The dynamic, static, and total disposition indexes were also significantly lower in the T2DM group than the NGT group. CONCLUSION: The oral minimal model can be reproducibly applied to evaluate β-cell function and insulin sensitivity in Koreans.
Subject(s)
Humans , Blood Glucose , C-Peptide , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 , Glucose Tolerance Test , Glucose , Insulin , Insulin Resistance , Prediabetic StateABSTRACT
Recently, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) launched the KMA Policy system based upon the American Medical Association (AMA) Policy system. The KMA's official positions on health issues and medical ethics, as well as its constitution, bylaws, and directives, will be included in the KMA Policy system. The AMA's organizational structure and decision making process provided essential information for developing the KMA Policy system. Through the KMA Policy system, hereafter, the KMA should introduce a procedure not only to decide upon positions on various health issues but also a means to open them to the public. In addition, the KMA can expect the continuity and transparency of work, enhanced benefits to members, public credibility, and growth of its social reputation by means of KMA Policy. Furthermore, the system would be beneficial for both KMA members and the public, as they can easily access KMA Policy, and, in turn, access the healthcare systems of Korea and its medical knowledge. To achieve a successful KMA Policy system, the definite authority and responsibility should be granted to the organizational bodies of the KMA, for example, the House of Delegates and Board of Trustees, and the regional societies and other sections. These various groups must then efficiently divide up their work and cooperate systematically. Moreover, it is crucial that each individual member of the KMA pay much more attention to health issues and participate in the decision making process on KMA Policy.
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Humans , American Medical Association , Constitution and Bylaws , Decision Making , Delivery of Health Care , Ethics, Medical , Financing, Organized , Korea , Power, Psychological , TrusteesABSTRACT
A Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) - coronavirus (CoV) cluster that attacked Korea in May 2015 revealed several weaknesses in Korea's health care system in the face of the crisis of an emerging infectious disease and its public health implications. This experience has shown that is necessary to prepare comprehensive countermeasures through the cooperation of civil and public agencies to prevent a second or even third MERS outbreak and to control future crises of infectious disease and public health. The MERS Policy Committee of the Korean Medical Association has thus proposed a master plan for reform of the national infectious disease prevention and management system to prepare a new framework for national infectious disease prevention and control. The specific targets of the master plan are improvement of the system of usage of medical services and of the medical culture among national health insurance subscribers, improvement of the emergency room management system to prevent the spread of infectious disease, the establishment of a support system to promote effective voluntary infectious disease prevention activities among medical institutions, the building of a public health crisis communication system in collaboration with medical organizations, the establishment of an independent Ministry of Health and capacity building of the Korea Centers for Disease Control (KCDC), the securing of an advanced research and development system in the field of prevention and control of infectious disease, and the capacity building of professional epidemiologists and personnel needed to prevent and control infectious disease. The five core strategies of the master plan have been planned by medical experts in this order of priority: the reform of the healthcare delivery system, the independence of the Ministry of Health and capacity building of the KCDC, fundraising for a public infection management fund, enforcement of medical organization infection control, and improvement of the emergency room management system.
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Capacity Building , Communicable Diseases , Communicable Diseases, Emerging , Cooperative Behavior , Coronavirus , Coronavirus Infections , Delivery of Health Care , Emergency Service, Hospital , Financial Management , Infection Control , Korea , Middle East , National Health Programs , Public HealthABSTRACT
Korea experienced an unprecedented national level disaster caused by the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in the first half of 2015. Because of the secretiveness of the government and the insufficiency of the nation's quarantine system, Korea could not effectively respond to the MERS coronavirus (CoV) outbreak. Many people suffered huge losses across most sectors, and medical clinics were no exception. Now the Korean Government and many professionals are discussing the matter of compensation. This study aimed to provide evidence for the necessity of compensation support. We conducted a questionnaire survey of the level of economic damage over the course of a month. The financial loss rate of medical clinics that experienced MERS damage has decreased by more than half over the previous year. The total financial loss of 48 medical clinics was about 1.6 billion Korean won (KRW) based on insurance benefits and 3.4 billion KRW based on sales. Due to the spreading of the MERS-CoV outbreak after May 20, 2015 in Korea, the loss rate in June was much higher than that in May or July. In July, the financial position tended to be restored to more than half of that in June but had not fully recovered to the level prior to the MERS-CoV outbreak. As most of the population, including professionals, perceive that the government is liable for damages from the MERS-CoV outbreak, the authorities concerned should prepare a compensation and redress plan. Furthermore, we expect our study to be used as good evidence for a redress plan for medical clinics damaged by the MERS-CoV outbreak.
Subject(s)
Commerce , Compensation and Redress , Coronavirus Infections , Coronavirus , Disasters , Insurance Benefits , Korea , Middle East , QuarantineABSTRACT
Breast cancer is the second leading cancer for Korean women and its incidence rate has been increasing annually. If early diagnosis were implemented with epidemiologic data, the women could easily assess breast cancer risk using internet. National Cancer Institute in the United States has released a Web-based Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool based on Gail model. However, it is inapplicable directly to Korean women since breast cancer risk is dependent on race. Also, it shows low accuracy (58%-59%). In this study, breast cancer discrimination models for Korean women are developed using only epidemiological case-control data (n = 4,574). The models are configured by different classification techniques: support vector machine, artificial neural network, and Bayesian network. A 1,000-time repeated random sub-sampling validation is performed for diverse parameter conditions, respectively. The performance is evaluated and compared as an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). According to age group and classification techniques, AUC, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and calculation time of all models were calculated and compared. Although the support vector machine took the longest calculation time, the highest classification performance has been achieved in the case of women older than 50 yr (AUC = 64%). The proposed model is dependent on demographic characteristics, reproductive factors, and lifestyle habits without using any clinical or genetic test. It is expected that the model could be implemented as a web-based discrimination tool for breast cancer. This tool can encourage potential breast cancer prone women to go the hospital for diagnostic tests.
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis , Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted/methods , Early Detection of Cancer/methods , Machine Learning , Pattern Recognition, Automated/methods , Prevalence , Reproducibility of Results , Republic of Korea/epidemiology , Risk Assessment/methods , Risk Factors , Sensitivity and Specificity , Women's Health/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
The incretin effect, which is a unique stimulus of insulin secretion in response to oral ingestion of nutrients, is calculated by the difference in insulin secretory responses from an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and a corresponding isoglycemic intravenous glucose infusion (IIGI) study. The OGTT model of this study, which is individualized by fitting the glucose profiles during an OGTT, was developed to predict the glucose profile during an IIGI study in the same subject. Also, the model predicts the insulin and incretin profiles during both studies. The incretin effect, estimated by simulation, was compared with that measured by physiologic studies from eight human subjects with normal glucose tolerance, and the result exhibited a good correlation (r > 0.8); the incretin effect from the simulation was 56.5% +/- 10.6% while the one from the measured data was 52.5% +/- 19.6%. In conclusion, the parameters of the OGTT model have been successfully estimated to predict the profiles of both OGTTs and IIGI studies. Therefore, with glucose data from the OGTT alone, this model could control and predict the physiologic responses, including insulin secretion during OGTTs and IIGI studies, which could eventually eliminate the need for complex and cumbersome IIGI studies in incretin research.