A study on the characteristics of patients with facial palsy treated with Korean medicine - Based on the Korean National Health Insurance statistical yearbook

Hae-chang Yoon; Yoon, Hae-chang

doi:10.13048/jkm.23013

JKM > Volume 44(2); 2023 > Article

Yoon: A study on the characteristics of patients with facial palsy treated with Korean medicine

Original Article

The Journal of Korean Medicine 2023; 44(2): 10-19.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13048/jkm.23013

A study on the characteristics of patients with facial palsy treated with Korean medicine:

- Based on the Korean National Health Insurance statistical yearbook

Hae-chang Yoon

Hae-chang Korean medicine clinic

Correspondence to: Hae-chang Yoon, 316, Yonghak-ro, Suseong-gu, Daegu, S.Korea, Tel: +82-10-4150-9435, Fax: +82-50-4392-9435, E-mail: yoon5100@naver.com

Received February 6, 2023 Revised April 7, 2023 Accepted May 10, 2023

Abstract

Objectives

This study aimed to find out the characteristics of patients with facial palsy based on the National Health Insurance(NHI) statistical yearbook and provide the information pertaining to supplement Coverage of NHI.

Methods

Based on the data of NHI between 2004 to 2021 for facial palsy(G51) obtained from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the analyses were carried out according to the distribution of gender and the number of patients, visits, reimbursed days, and medical expenses by using the SAS 9.4.

Results

The crude rate of facial palsy was reported as 361.71(2021) comparable with 419.60(2004) and 534.11(2009). The rate of men increased from 293.96(2004) to 302.27(2021) but the rate of women decreased from 450.88(2014) to 420.80(2021). The number of patients maintained around 190,000, however, it declined for patients treated Korean medicine(KM) after 2010. As the medical expenses were elevated, especially Western medicine(WM), that of WM exceeded KM’s since 2018. The expenses of women were higher than men’s in KM. By contrast, there was no difference with gender in WM. For reimbursed days per visits, it has been increased in WM but there was no difference in KM.

Conclusion

Although the rate of patients with facial palsy in KM was high with no difference in the whole number of patients and reimbursed days per visits in KM annually, the number of patients in KM decreased but medical expenses elevated. According to this, it is necessary for reinforcing Coverage of NHI to research other factors related to KM.

Keywords: facial palsy, Korean medicine, medical expenses, NHI, coverage

Fig. 1

The Number of Patients and Medical Expenses in Korean medicine and Western Medicine (person/won)

Fig. 2

Reimbursed Days per Visits and Medical Expenses per Patients with Facial Palsy

Table 1

The Crude Rate of Facial Palsy in South Korea

	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Male	293.96	296.63	299.75	301.75	307.39	313.88	299.13	302.27
Female	450.88	448.19	457.87	454.94	454.93	473.54	421.45	420.80
All	372.45	372.46	378.90	378.46	381.30	393.89	360.45	361.71

Table 2

Out-of-pocket per Patients with Facial Palsy by Gender and Kinds of Treatment

		2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Male	WM	128.26	131.91	138.05	141.92	156.89	198.28	215.20	219.20
Male	KM	91.96	95.88	101.60	103.17	105.24	111.09	126.42	138.02

Female	WM	134.88	138.58	145.34	150.82	161.72	199.42	214.84	218.63
Female	KM	67.66	69.07	71.51	74.46	76.96	81.07	95.20	103.81

* WM: Western medicine, KM: Korean medicine

Table 3

Status for Out-patients with Facial Palsy Treated Korean Medicine (unit: persons, thousand KRW)

	Number of patients (A)	Medical expenses (B)	Benefit (Paid by NHIS) (C)	Out-of-pocket per person ((B–C)/A)
2010	124,657	25,747,770	18,895,940	54.965
2011	120,260	26,762,160	19,588,154	59.654
2012	119,785	27,677,716	20,312,396	61.488
2013	120,759	28,905,228	21,230,406	63.555
2014	119,264	30,217,606	22,313,311	66.276
2015	116,979	30,477,216	22,436,326	68.738
2016	114,328	31,153,856	22,860,763	72.538
2017	111,642	31,612,822	23,285,152	74.593
2018	110,596	34,068,179	25,606,301	76.512
2019	110,194	35,528,854	26,737,265	79.783
2020	97,246	35,585,162	26,604,445	92.351
2021	93,894	36,954,133	27,427,896	101.457

* NHIS: National Health Insurance Service

Table 4

Status for In-patients with Facial Palsy Treated Korean Medicine (unit: persons, thousand KRW)

	Number of patients (A)	Medical expenses (B)	Benefit (Paid by NHIS) (C)	Out-of-pocket per person ((B–C)/A)
2010	4,369	3,667,479	2,709,367	219.298
2011	4,444	3,873,383	2,869,929	225.800
2012	4,549	4,214,434	3,135,037	237.282
2013	5,090	4,796,133	3,584,126	238.115
2014	5,495	5,384,830	4,048,657	243.162
2015	5,351	5,250,958	4,042,822	244.466
2016	4,946	5,077,337	3,823,046	253.597
2017	4,776	5,260,179	3,976,128	268.855
2018	4,760	5,586,156	4,247,722	281.184
2019	4,389	5,947,015	4,467,522	337.091
2020	3,654	5,995,890	4,436,088	426.875
2021	3,318	6,072,274	4,507,219	477.714

* NHIS: National Health Insurance Service

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