Min-Woo Kim, K.M.D., Jae Uk Sul, K.M.D., Jung-Han Lee, K.M.D., Wonseok Chung, K.M.D., Jung-Sik Park, K.M.D., Yun-Kyung Song, K.M.D.. J Korean Med Rehabi 2025;35:183-95. https://doi.org/10.18325/jkmr.2025.35.2.183

Hyun Jin Khang, K.M.D., Ji-Hun Park, K.M.D., Eui-Young Kim, K.M.D., Ji-Hye Lee, K.M.D., Myung-Seok Ryu, K.M.D., Jae-Uk Sul, K.M.D., Jung-Han Lee, K.M.D., Won-Seok Chung, K.M.D., Jung-Sik Park, K.M.D., Yun-Kyung Song, K.M.D.. J Korean Med Rehabi 2025;35:197-215. https://doi.org/10.18325/jkmr.2025.35.2.197

Background: Musculoskeletal surgery imposes extended recovery periods and significant financial burdens that can undermine individual and system-level health security. Patients undergoing musculoskeletal surgery often face prolonged recovery and substantial post-discharge costs, yet longitudinal evidence on their healthcare use remains limited. Methods: This study quantified two-year post-discharge utilization and identified predictors of high expenditure among Korean musculoskeletal surgery patients. A retrospective cohort was constructed from the 2019–2021 Korea Health Panel. Adults (n = 182) hospitalized for spinal, knee, shoulder or other musculoskeletal disorders between July 2019 and June 2020 were followed for 24 months. Outcomes were total healthcare expenditure (log-transformed) and in the top 25% cost group (“high-expenditure”) in the second post-discharge year. Results: Among 182 adults hospitalized for musculoskeletal surgery, first-year post-discharge spending averaged US $848 but fell to US $487 in the second year. Readmission fell from 19.2% to 7.1%, and Western-medicine outpatient visits declined from 18.3 ± 25.9 to 13.6 ± 22.9 per person. By contrast, Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM) visits rose from 2.3 ± 6.5 to 3.3 ± 10.0. In multivariable models, metropolitan residence, obesity, additional chronic conditions, and heavier first-year inpatient and outpatient use independently predicted higher second-year costs. Lower household income was associated with lower spending. Index diagnoses were pivotal: spinal disorders and shoulder disorders markedly increased the odds of falling into the top-cost quartile. Among the first-year TKM, frequent chuna/manual therapy sessions were marginally associated with higher costs, suggesting these rehabilitative modalities may serve as proxies for underlying health complexity during the stabilization phase. Conclusions: Spinal and shoulder disorders, metropolitan residence, obesity, multimorbidity, heavy inpatient and outpatient use during the first post-discharge year, and frequent TKM sessions, albeit marginally, jointly predicted the highest second-year expenditures. These findings highlight the value of early risk stratification and tightly coordinated Western-and-traditional care pathways that facilitate the shift from structural repair to functional restoration. From a policy perspective, these results suggest the need for integrated post-discharge care models and targeted financial support strategies to reduce avoidable costs and enhance equity in musculoskeletal rehabilitation.

Jung-Sik Park, Yun-Kyung Song. JKOMOR 2023;23:18-27. https://doi.org/10.15429/jkomor.2023.23.1.18

Seyune Lee, Ph.D., Boyoung Jeon, Ph.D., Yun-Kyung Song, K.M.D.. J Korean Med Rehabi 2026;36:117-28. https://doi.org/10.18325/jkmr.2026.36.2.117