Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T05:11:07.674Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Medical Technology and Health Services in South Korea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

Byong-Hee Cho
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison

Abstract

This article chronicles the adoption of medical technology in twentieth-century Korea. The author suggests that the structure of the present health care delivery system has relied predominantly on small clinic practice and has resulted in a shortage of highly capitalized hospitals and a maldistribution of modern technology. In addition, the author argues that medical practice in small unconnected clinics and hospitals isolate physicians from academic medicine and hamper research. Finally, the highly decentralized structure of Korean medicine is a weak basis for controlling the diffusion of medical technology and leaves most acquisition judgments in the hands of individual hospital owners.

Type
Special Section: Health Care Systems and the Diffusion of Technology, Part II
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Bader, M. B.The international transfer of medical technology—An analysis and a proposal for effective monitoring. International Journal of Health Services, 1977, 7, 443457.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Bogunsinbo, , The yearbook of health care (in Korean). Seoul: 1984(a) and 1985(b).Google Scholar
3.Dos, Santos T.The structure of dependence. American Economic Review, 1970, 60, 231236.Google Scholar
4.Ernst, D.The new international division of labor, technology and underdevelopment. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, 1980, 1719.Google Scholar
5.Gault, N. L. Jr, Present situation in the medical colleges in Korea as compared with the 1960 survey. In Association of Korean Medical Colleges (ed.), Proceedings of the 1st national medical education seminar. Seoul: 1971, 229238.Google Scholar
6.Hallym College. Technology and health services. Booklet for the international seminar. Kangwon, Korea: 1983.Google Scholar
7.Han, K. B., Kim, I. D., & Yu, J. S. Baseline survey of private clinics. In Park, J. K. & Min, J. S. (eds.), Health issues and policies, vol.II (in Korean). Seoul: Korea Development Institute, 1977, 331375.Google Scholar
8.Jeon, J. H. Internal medicine in 1945–1960s. In Ehaksinbo (ed.), Hundred years of Korean medicine, vol.I (in Korean). Seoul: 1984, 1215.Google Scholar
9.Jeong, H. S.Immediate necessity of systemizing post-graduate training (in Korean). The Journal of Korean Medical Association, 1960, 3, 712.Google Scholar
10.Kim, K. Y.The development of medical technology in internal medicine and the problems in Korea. Paper presented at Assessment of the level of Korean medical practice seminar (Korean Medical Association), Seoul: 1982.Google Scholar
11.Kim, Y. I.The role of the medical school for developing appropriate medical technology (in Korean). Paper presented at Technology and Health Services international seminar (Hallym College), Kangwon, Korea, 1983.Google Scholar
12.Korean Institute of Population and Health. Long-term plan for national development: The population and health sector (in Korean). Seoul: 1985.Google Scholar
13.Korean Medical Association. A study on the adequacy of the number of physicians and medical schools (in Korean). Unpublished booklet, 1981.Google Scholar
14.Korean Medical Association. A research on work load of the medical profession with a special concern on medical professors (in Korean). Unpublished booklet, 1984.Google Scholar
15.Lee, S. W.Medical technology development policy in Korea. Paper presented at Technology and Health services international seminar. (Hallym College), Kangwon, Korea, 1983.Google Scholar
16.Leys, C. Relations of production and technology. In Fransman, M. & King, K. (eds.), Technological capability in the Third World. New York: St. Martin, 1984, 175184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Mejia, A.Pizurki, H., & Royston, E., Physician and nurse migration. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1979, 368383.Google Scholar
18.Min, J. S., & Park, J. Y.. Division of labor between physicians and pharmacists. In Yeon, H. C., et al. Public policy issues of national health insurance (in Korean). Seoul: Korea Development Institute, 1983, 211245.Google Scholar
19.Park, J. K.Financing for health and the national medical insurance in Korea (in Korean). Seoul: Korea Development Institute, 1979.Google Scholar
20.Piachaud, , David, . The diffusion of medical techniques to less developed countries. International Journal of Health Services, 1979, 9, 629643.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21.Sagasti, F. Underdevelopment, science and technology: The point of view of the underdeveloped countries. In Rabinowitch, E. & Rabinowitch, U. (eds.), Views on science and technology in development planning. Oxford: Pergamon, 1975, 181206.Google Scholar
22.Shin, Y. S.Report on the survey of hospital management in the small and medium size hospitals (in Korean). Unpublished booklet. Seoul: The Institute of Hospital Services of Seoul National University, 1984.Google Scholar
23.Stewart, Frances. Technology and underdevelopment. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1977.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Yun, Y. S.Public health personnel training (in Korean). Journal of Korean Medical Association, 1962, 5, 642644.Google ScholarPubMed