Improvements during the second cycle healthcare accreditation program in Korea: Toward the global standard for patient safety and quality of healthcare

The healthcare accreditation program established in November 2010 has provided a great opportunity to increase awareness of the importance of patient safety and healthcare quality in every clinical process in Korea. However, there have been several problems with the program, regarding the level of accreditation standards, and the objectivity of the accreditation survey and its assessment function during the first cycle of the healthcare accreditation program. Therefore, the process of improvement during the second cycle of the accreditation program has aimed to address the issues raised during the first cycle of the program. These issues include a relatively lower level of accreditation standards when compared with global standards, an incomplete scoring system for survey results, and the reliability of follow-up monitoring of accredited healthcare organizations. Over the past ten years, patient safety has been increasingly recognized as a global issue in the medical field. The upcoming second cycle accreditation program will result in an improved level of patient safety and an enhancement of the patient-centered culture in all healthcare organizations of Korea, in order to align with global standards.

Improvements during the second cycle healthcare accreditation program in Korea: Toward the global standard for patient safety and quality of healthcare

The healthcare accreditation program established in November 2010 has provided a great opportunity to increase awareness of the importance of patient safety and healthcare quality in every clinical process in Korea. However, there have been several problems with the program, regarding the level of accreditation standards, and the objectivity of the accreditation survey and its assessment function during the first cycle of the healthcare accreditation program. Therefore, the process of improvement during the second cycle of the accreditation program has aimed to address the issues raised during the first cycle of the program. These issues include a relatively lower level of accreditation standards when compared with global standards, an incomplete scoring system for survey results, and the reliability of follow-up monitoring of accredited healthcare organizations. Over the past ten years, patient safety has been increasingly recognized as a global issue in the medical field. The upcoming second cycle accreditation program will result in an improved level of patient safety and an enhancement of the patient-centered culture in all healthcare organizations of Korea, in order to align with global standards.

Standard of Care in Clinical Research Involving Human Subjects: A Perspective from Developing World.

Abstract: Standard of care is an ordinary, reasonable formal treatment and diagnostic process that a physician should follow for his/her patient with specific disease. Standard of care followed in one country may not suit to other country; the reason may involve economic conditions, certain norms, beliefs, tradition and culture of that society. It may be considered ethical if it does not exploit human rights and poor vulnerable population, once it exploits the human rights it creates ethical dilemmas that need to be sort out to protect vulnerable population and to make the research more ethical. Patients attending medicine department of Bolan Medical Complex (BMC) Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan were selected randomly interviewed and requested to fill the questionnaire. The ethical issues in clinical research conducted on human population have been perplexing and remains to be the same in clinical research settings. Exploitive use of research participants in resource poor developing countries has intensified the debate on the ethics of international research and led to increasing attention to exploitation of vulnerable study subjects. The issues of conducting research in developing countries will remain and need to be focused and debated where and whenever require. One has to try sincerely to sort out the ethical problems while conducting a research study, he might fail to solve all the issues but the situation may improve by the time if tried sincerely.

Changing Face of Medical Education in Korea / 医学教育

1) Korean medical education movement into Anglo-Saxon model is more rapid than the change in Japanese medical education. Health personnel licensing examinations have been sponsored by non-Governmental organization, NHPLEB (National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board) instead of The Ministry of Health since 1994.<BR>2) Though governments in developing countries and former socialistic areas still actively lead medical education system, only a few developed countries stick to such an old system. In Japan, many stakeholders continue to hold consciousness since Edo period that government will determine most of the system. In Korea, the situation is opposite.<BR>3) Korean medical schools began to adopt a new graduate school system (4+4 in 2002; 10 out of 41 medical schools decided to introduce the new system. Such new curriculum structure is compatible with international standard.<BR>4) In Korean medical schools, the budget for human resources seems to be relatively much richer than that in Japan. Reform in Korean medical schools increased the number of professors in each department, though Japanese ones move toward cutback.<BR>5) The Korean Society of Medical Education was established in 1983. The Society holds two annual meetings a year. Spring meeting is similar to the one for the Association for American Medical Colleges and held in conjunction with Nationwide Dean's meeting, including various faculty development workshops and committee meetings as well.

Quality Guarantee of Medical Education / 中华医学教育探索杂志

This paper indicates that medical education is facing challenge and requirement for innovation, and thequality of medical professionals training has been concerned with. In order to implement quality guarantee it is impor-tant to formulate a set of standards. Global standards in medical education are briefly introduced.And becauseaccreditation is an external quality guarantee mechanism, it is necessary to have accreditation and its organization.Besides, the issues relating to internal quality guarantee, including the responsibility of school authority, role of aca-demic staff and students involvement are discussed.

Global Standard for Acupuncture from Japan / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

In Japan we are rushing into an era of aging society. People will need acupunctureand moxibustion more and more in the future. ”So, to be loved by people indeed, therapists have to setour sights on“ People have acupuncture and moxibustion on a high level at any therapist. ”And we have to makeeffort to progress our stuff and technique that therapists are made of. At first, we have to make it in mind“ Do non-pain acupuncture ”to dispel anxieties and dread of patients and to feel good for their treatment. On that account, therapists have to devote aurself to our studies of traditional Japanese medicine and delicate Japanese acupuncture with Japanesque fine needles. I believe the true acupuncture and moxibustion should be the medicine to work on the life force with the technique of “Ho” and “Sha” to the acupoints on the meridians. And I believe that we should send this all over the world as a Global Standard for acupuncture. I know it is possible to have clinical effect without pricking needles, through my long experience. I can evidence it with Bi-Digital O-Ring Test. I can get clinical effect with only affixing aneedle in a specific direction. With this treatment, patients feelcomplete non-pain because they don't be pricked.I call it“ Vector Effect Needle (VEN) ” I deliver a lecture on this acupuncture.