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Background@#A chronic disease management program was implemented in April 2012 to lower out-of-pocket costs for repeat visits to the same clinic. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between participating in this program and the onset of complications among patients with hypertension using whole-nation claims data. @*Methods@#We used National Health Insurance Service data (2011–2018) and patients with newly detected hypertension from 2012 to 2014 were selected. Chronic disease management program reduces the out-of-pocket expenses of consultation fee from 30% to 20% when patients enroll in this program by agreeing to visit the same clinic for the treatment of hypertension or diabetes. As the dependent variable, acute myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and heart failure (HF) were selected. For analysis, cox proportional hazards model was used. @*Results@#Total participants were 827,577, among which 102,831(12.6%) subjects participated in the chronic disease management. Participants of the chronic disease management program were more likely to show lower hazard ratios (HRs) than those of non-participants in terms of all complications (MI: HR, 0.75; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68–0.82; stroke: HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.72–0.78; CKD: HR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.85–0.96; HF: HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.52–0.61). @*Conclusion@#The results showed that participants of the chronic disease management program were less likely to have hypertension complications compared to non-participants. Enhancing the participation rate may be related to better outcomes and reducing medical expenses among patients with chronic diseases.
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Background@#F-18 Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (F-18 FDG PET), which can cover the body from the skull base to the thigh in one scan, is beneficial for evaluating distant metastasis. F-18 FDG PET has interested policymakers because of its relatively high cost. This study investigated the effect of the F-18 FDG PET reimbursement criteria amendment on healthcare behavior in breast cancer using an interrupted time series (ITS) analysis. @*Methods@#We retrospectively analyzed the inpatient and outpatient data from Korea’s Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2018. ITS analysis was performed for the number of each medical imaging modality and the total medical imaging cost of the breast cancer patients. @*Results@#The annual number of breast cancer patients has been increasing steadily since 2013. The trend of F-18 FDG PET increased before the reimbursement criteria was amended, but intensely decreased immediately thereafter. The chest and abdomen computed tomography scans showed a statistically significant increase immediately after the amendment and kept steadily increasing. A change in the total medical imaging cost for the breast cancer patient claimed every month showed an increasing trend before the amendment (β = 5,475, standard error [SE] = 1,992, P = 0.008) and rapid change immediately after (β = −103,317, SE = 16,152, P < 0.001). However, there was no significant change in the total medical imaging cost at the long-term follow-up (β = −912, SE = 1,981, P = 0.647). @*Conclusion@#Restriction of health insurance coverage for cancer may affect healthcare behaviors. To compensate for it, the policymakers must consider this and anticipate the impact following implementation.
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Background@#In 2008, Korea implemented a new type of social insurance known as “long-term care insurance”. We examined the association between ownership of long-term care facilities and the incidence of pressure ulcers after the implementation of “long-term care insurance”. This study is a population-based retrospective cohort study from 2006 to 2013. @*Methods@#We used medical claims data from the Korean National Health Insurance Corporate Elderly Cohort Database from 2006 to 2013. These data comprise a nationally representative sample. To avoid confounders, only patients admitted to one long-term care facility and who stayed for >70% of the follow-up time were included; as a result, 3,107 individuals were enrolled. The main independent variable was the operating entity of the long-term care facility (local government, corporate bodies, and private for-profit owners), and the dependent variable was the 1-year incidence of pressure-ulcers. Survival analysis (Cox proportional hazard model) was used as an analysis method. @*Results@#Compared to patients admitted to local government long-term care facilities, patients admitted to private long-term care facilities had a significantly higher 1-year risk of pressure ulcers (hazard ratio [HR], 1.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29–2.91); the risk was especially high among patients who were cognitively dependent (HR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.25–4.37). @*Conclusion@#Patients admitted to private for-profit long-term care facilities were more likely to have pressure ulcers compared to those in local government and corporate body long-term care facilities. Appropriate assessment tools and publicly available information, as well as more restricted legal requirements, are needed to improve the care quality and outcomes of patients in long-term care facilities.
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Background@#The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical outcomes in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive patients with type 2 diabetes compared to those without diabetes in Korea. @*Methods@#We extracted claims data for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from the National Health Insurance Service database in Korea from January 20, 2020 to March 31, 2020. We followed up this cohort until death from COVID-19 or discharge from hospital. @*Results@#A total of 5,473 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were analyzed, including 495 with type 2 diabetes and 4,978 without diabetes. Patients with type 2 diabetes were more likely to be treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) (P<0.0001). The incidence of inhospital mortality was higher in patients with type 2 diabetes (P<0.0001). After adjustment for age, sex, insurance status, and comorbidities, odds of ICU admission (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02 to 2.49; P=0.0416) and in-hospital mortality (adjusted OR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.13 to 3.21; P=0.0161) among patients with COVID-19 infection were significantly higher in those with type 2 diabetes. However, there was no significant difference between patients with and without type 2 diabetes in ventilator, oxygen therapy, antibiotics, antiviral drugs, antipyretics, and the incidence of pneumonia after adjustment. @*Conclusion@#COVID-19 positive patients with type 2 diabetes had poorer clinical outcomes with higher risk of ICU admission and in-hospital mortality than those without diabetes. Therefore, medical providers need to consider this more serious clinical course when planning and delivering care to type 2 diabetes patients with COVID-19 infection.
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Background@#This study aimed to determine the infection risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with diabetes (according to treatment method). @*Methods@#Claimed subjects to the Korean National Health Insurance claims database diagnosed with COVID-19 were included. Ten thousand sixty-nine patients with COVID-19 between January 28 and April 5, 2020, were included. Stratified random sampling of 1:5 was used to select the control group of COVID-19 patients. In total 50,587 subjects were selected as the control group. After deleting the missing values, 60,656 subjects were included. @*Results@#Adjusted odds ratio (OR) indicated that diabetic insulin users had a higher risk of COVID-19 than subjects without diabetes (OR, 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03 to 1.53; P=0.0278). In the subgroup analysis, infection risk was higher among diabetes male insulin users (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.89), those between 40 and 59 years (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.13 to 2.44). The infection risk was higher in diabetic insulin users with 2 to 4 years of morbidity (OR, 1.744; 95% CI, 1.003 to 3.044). @*Conclusion@#Some diabetic patients with certain conditions would be associated with a higher risk of acquiring COVID-19, highlighting their need for special attention. Efforts are warranted to ensure that diabetic patients have minimal exposure to the virus. It is important to establish proactive care and screening tests for diabetic patients suspected with COVID-19 for timely disease diagnosis and management.
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Background@#In 2008, Korea implemented a new type of social insurance known as “long-term care insurance”. We examined the association between ownership of long-term care facilities and the incidence of pressure ulcers after the implementation of “long-term care insurance”. This study is a population-based retrospective cohort study from 2006 to 2013. @*Methods@#We used medical claims data from the Korean National Health Insurance Corporate Elderly Cohort Database from 2006 to 2013. These data comprise a nationally representative sample. To avoid confounders, only patients admitted to one long-term care facility and who stayed for >70% of the follow-up time were included; as a result, 3,107 individuals were enrolled. The main independent variable was the operating entity of the long-term care facility (local government, corporate bodies, and private for-profit owners), and the dependent variable was the 1-year incidence of pressure-ulcers. Survival analysis (Cox proportional hazard model) was used as an analysis method. @*Results@#Compared to patients admitted to local government long-term care facilities, patients admitted to private long-term care facilities had a significantly higher 1-year risk of pressure ulcers (hazard ratio [HR], 1.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29–2.91); the risk was especially high among patients who were cognitively dependent (HR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.25–4.37). @*Conclusion@#Patients admitted to private for-profit long-term care facilities were more likely to have pressure ulcers compared to those in local government and corporate body long-term care facilities. Appropriate assessment tools and publicly available information, as well as more restricted legal requirements, are needed to improve the care quality and outcomes of patients in long-term care facilities.
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Background@#The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical outcomes in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive patients with type 2 diabetes compared to those without diabetes in Korea. @*Methods@#We extracted claims data for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from the National Health Insurance Service database in Korea from January 20, 2020 to March 31, 2020. We followed up this cohort until death from COVID-19 or discharge from hospital. @*Results@#A total of 5,473 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were analyzed, including 495 with type 2 diabetes and 4,978 without diabetes. Patients with type 2 diabetes were more likely to be treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) (P<0.0001). The incidence of inhospital mortality was higher in patients with type 2 diabetes (P<0.0001). After adjustment for age, sex, insurance status, and comorbidities, odds of ICU admission (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02 to 2.49; P=0.0416) and in-hospital mortality (adjusted OR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.13 to 3.21; P=0.0161) among patients with COVID-19 infection were significantly higher in those with type 2 diabetes. However, there was no significant difference between patients with and without type 2 diabetes in ventilator, oxygen therapy, antibiotics, antiviral drugs, antipyretics, and the incidence of pneumonia after adjustment. @*Conclusion@#COVID-19 positive patients with type 2 diabetes had poorer clinical outcomes with higher risk of ICU admission and in-hospital mortality than those without diabetes. Therefore, medical providers need to consider this more serious clinical course when planning and delivering care to type 2 diabetes patients with COVID-19 infection.
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Background@#This study aimed to determine the infection risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with diabetes (according to treatment method). @*Methods@#Claimed subjects to the Korean National Health Insurance claims database diagnosed with COVID-19 were included. Ten thousand sixty-nine patients with COVID-19 between January 28 and April 5, 2020, were included. Stratified random sampling of 1:5 was used to select the control group of COVID-19 patients. In total 50,587 subjects were selected as the control group. After deleting the missing values, 60,656 subjects were included. @*Results@#Adjusted odds ratio (OR) indicated that diabetic insulin users had a higher risk of COVID-19 than subjects without diabetes (OR, 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03 to 1.53; P=0.0278). In the subgroup analysis, infection risk was higher among diabetes male insulin users (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.89), those between 40 and 59 years (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.13 to 2.44). The infection risk was higher in diabetic insulin users with 2 to 4 years of morbidity (OR, 1.744; 95% CI, 1.003 to 3.044). @*Conclusion@#Some diabetic patients with certain conditions would be associated with a higher risk of acquiring COVID-19, highlighting their need for special attention. Efforts are warranted to ensure that diabetic patients have minimal exposure to the virus. It is important to establish proactive care and screening tests for diabetic patients suspected with COVID-19 for timely disease diagnosis and management.
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BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of 21 different national dyslipidemia screening strategies according to total cholesterol (TC) cutoff and screening interval among 40 years or more for the primary prevention of coronary heart disease over a lifetime in Korea, from a societal perspective. METHODS: A decision tree was used to estimate disease detection with the 21 different screening strategies, while a Markov model was used to model disease progression until death, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and costs from a Korea societal perspective. RESULTS: The results showed that the strategy with TC 200 mg/dL and 4-year interval cost ￦4,625,446 for 16.65105 QALYs per person and strategy with TC 200 mg/dL and 3-year interval cost ￦4,691,771 for 16.65164 QALYs compared with ￦3,061,371 for 16.59877 QALYs for strategy with no screening. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of strategy with TC 200 mg/dL and 4-year interval versus strategy with no screening was ￦29,916,271/QALY. At a Korea willingness-to-pay threshold of ￦30,500,000/QALY, strategy with TC 200 mg/dL and 4-year interval is cost-effective compared with strategy with no screening. Sensitivity analyses showed that results were robust to reasonable variations in model parameters. CONCLUSION: In this study, revised national dyslipidemia screening strategy with TC 200 mg/dL and 4-year interval could be a cost-effective option. A better understanding of the Korean dyslipidemia population may be necessary to aid in future efforts to improve dyslipidemia diagnosis and management.
Subject(s)
Humans , Cholesterol , Coronary Disease , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Decision Trees , Diagnosis , Disease Progression , Dyslipidemias , Korea , Mass Screening , Primary Prevention , Quality-Adjusted Life YearsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: We investigated association between introduction of the diagnosis-related groups (DRG) system for anal operation and length of stay. Also, we investigated how it is different among hospitals with longer length of stay and among hospitals with shorter length of stay before introduction of the DRG system. METHODS: We used data from Health Insurance Review and Assessment which were national health insurance claim data. Total 13,111 cases of anal surgery cases were included which were claimed by hospitals since July 2012 to June 2014. Two-level multivariable regression was conducted to analysis the association between length of stay and characteristics of hospital and patient. RESULTS: Before introducing DRGs, the average length of stay was 5.41 days. After introducing DRGs, average length of stay was decreased to 3.92 days. After introducing DRGs, length of stay has decreased (β=−1.0450, p < 0.0001) and it was statistically significant. Among hospitals which had short length of stay (shorter than mean of length of stay) before introducing DRGs, effect of introducing DRGs was smaller (β=−0.4282, p < 0.0001). On contrary, among hospitals which had long length of stay (longer than mean of length of stay) before introducing DRGs, effect of introducing DRGs was bigger (β=−1.8280, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Introducing DRGs was more effective to hospitals which had long length of stay before introducing DRGs.
Subject(s)
Humans , Diagnosis-Related Groups , Insurance, Health , Length of Stay , National Health ProgramsABSTRACT
Individuals with psychoses show excess mortality, which is a major public health concern. This study examined all-cause and suicide mortality rates in Korean patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, mood disorder, or mental and behavioral disorder due to psychoactive substance use and to compare this with that of the general population. Data were from the National Health Insurance cohort, 2002 to 2013. A total of 107,190 cases aged 15 years or over were included. Mortality rates per 100,000 person years (PY) were obtained. Poisson regression modelling was conducted to quantify the effect of baseline characteristics on all-cause and suicide mortality risks. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were also calculated. All-cause mortality was the highest among mental and behavioral disorder patients (1,051.0 per 100,000 PY), followed by schizophrenia (949.1 per 100,000 PY) and mood disorder patients (559.5 per 100,000 PY). Highest suicide mortality was found in schizophrenia (177.2 per 100,000 PY), mental and behavioral disorder (143.7 per 100,000 PY), and mood disorder patients (59.7 per 100,000 PY). The rate ratios (RRs) for all-cause and suicide mortality were reduced for younger populations and women. Psychoses patients had higher all-cause (schizophrenia, SMR 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.2–2.5; mood disorder, SMR 1.4; 95% CI 1.3–1.5; mental and behavioral disorder, SMR 2.6; 95% CI 2.5–2.8) and suicide (schizophrenia, SMR 8.4; 95% CI 7.2–9.6; mood disorder, SMR 2.8; 95% CI 2.1–3.5; mental and behavioral disorder, SMR 6.8; 95% CI 5.7–7.9) mortality rates than the general population. These findings infer that efforts should be made to reduce excess mortality in psychoses.