A study on the standardization for outpatient management and adminstration process of some regional hospitals

Abstract

This study evaluated the standardization of the outpatient management process in several regions of South Korea. The hospital workers in the administration department of the different medical institutions that are registered with the Korean Hospital Association were surveyed. These institutions can be standard hospitals or hospitals greater in size. A summary of the research results are as follows. There was no significant correlation in their registration procedures in relation to the institution's founder, number of sickbeds, number of staff employed in the administration department, and average number of outpatients per day. On the other hand, the prepayment of medical fees occurred more frequently when the number of sickbeds was larger. In addition, there was no large difference in their appointment procedures in relation to those features. Nevertheless, the prepayment of medical fees accounted for 11.8 % of the entire payment in institutions with less than five hundred beds, while fifty percent of the payment was made in advance in larger institutions with five hundred or more beds. From this research, there was only a small difference among the institutions' outpatient management, but a notable difference was observed in their electronic data processing systems and facilities. Therefore, more financial support should be generated for the implementation of a more integrated process. As a follow-up study, to provide patients with quality medical services, it will be necessary to apply the standardized procedure to an actual medical institution and analyze the expected effect.