The current medical payment Insurance Rates in Korea stipulate charges for medical treatment by the doctor, pharmaceutist, medical technician and maternity nurse. But unfortunately didn´t specify those charges for nursing done by the professional nurse. Only basic nursing fee is accounted insufficiently in current medical insurance fee schedule.
therefore, Being face with covering entire people by medical insurance by 1991, It seems that the problems pertaining to operating the hospital and medical insurance system would be incessantly expanded in that no mention is made of medical charges rendered by major medical producer service in the current system.
For that reason, this study made an attempt to clarify the importance the professional nursing puts of the current medical payment.
The purpose of this study was to accounting nursing fee which diveded into the current medical fee schedule.
(Method)
1. Data collection ; Importance and difficulties in nursing activities was conducted in "S" National University Hospital. Total nursing activities were selected 72 items which included direct care and indirect care.
This study was conducted to evaluating the degree of importance and difficulties according to nursing activities through questionnaire to 204 RN. and so relative difficulties (acuity) were computered because the nursing cost level of each nursing service was differently established by the equivalent coefficient according to degree of relative difficulty and time required.
2. Calculation of cost according to nursing activities ; After 47 nursing activities were selected in General surgery nursing units, calculation of nursing cost was as follows Cost of Nursing activity =(relative difficulty X Average hourly wage and benefits of nurse) + material cost of nursing + Average nursing administration cost So, Calculated cost by nursing activities was compared to current non-insured and insurance rate.
3. Calculation of nursing cost by K-DRG ; Total of 578 patients who were hospitalized in General Surgery units from January to March 1988 ware classified by K-DRG After estimation of total nursing cost based on the K-DRG, verified the appropriateness of basic nursing fee in medical insurance rate
(Results)
1. Analysis of degree of importance and difficulties were 4.16 and 3.67 based on 5 point scale. This score were judged that it is worthy specifying the nursing fee
2. The nursing cost of 47 nursing service items in general surgery patients showed that the average cost of nursing activity was ￦1374.5 and The lowest cost was ￦217 of ´oral administration nursing´ item, The highest cost was ￦11,025 of ´saline enematill clear´ item
3. The result of comparison between the calculated cost by nursing activities against the current non-insured and insurance rate showed that 13 items(27.7%) involved to payment of insurance rate, 9 items(19.1%) involved to non-insured rate, remainder 25 items (53.2%) were not charged anywhere of total 47 nursing activities
4. When calculated cost by nursing activities was 100, current insurance rate was 62.3, non-insured rate was 176.6. Therefore this showed that most of non-insured rate were higher than calculated nursing cost.
The insurance rate, however, were lower than it. Reimbursement was imputed to non-insured patients. So the current rate system became estranged from cost system. When Remainder 25 items of nursing activities compared to ￦1390 of daily basic nursing fee per patient belonged to payment as a insurance fee schedule, basic nursing fee schedule was 1-2% of calculated cost of nursing activities. Therefore it showed that nursing fee was not counted adequately in it.
5. Nursing cost by K-DRG estimated in chart review based on counting number of nursing activities and length of stay The result showed that average amount of total nursing cost was ￦183828.1. Comparison of nursing cost calculated by K-DRG and basic nursing fee schedule showed that only 12.3% of nursing cost was charged
(Conclusion)
From the above research result, It is fact that nursing prime cost should be estimated more accurately and included adequately in current medical payment system.
The payment system of nursing activities should be introduced not only nursing activities of drug administration and injection fee belonged to insurance fee schedule but also most nursing activities belonged not to medical fee schedule.
Even if introducing payment system of nursing activities, It should be estimated scientific method of Accounting nursing cost So nurses could offer nursing care of good quality, thereby they could make a great contribution not merely to the convalescence of the patient but to the promotion of the people´s health.
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