The future of medical reimbursement for orthopedic surgery in Japan from the viewpoint of the health economy

Abstract

Background: The financial burden of medical insurance on the government of Japan has recently become severe, which has led to the control of outpatient orthopedic reimbursements for common procedures. On the other hand, the overall disease burden for total hip or knee arthroplasty, decompression for cervical myelopathy or lumbar spinal canal stenosis, and new surgical technologies to treat other painful conditions and the post-surgical care related to these procedures has been reduced.

Methods: Medical insurance systems in Japan are generally influenced by budget-balancing action. Consequently, the further development of interventional evaluation methods should be promoted. From the viewpoint of health economics, the value (meaning) of medical intervention can partly be explained by its cost-effectiveness. In order for appropriate medical reimbursement levels to be set for orthopedic surgery, the financial status of medical institutions needs to be concurrently reviewed. In particular, the relationship between the expense structure and medical reimbursement must be discussed to evaluate its role in community medicine system.

Results: Over the past 10 years, medical expenditures have increased by 9.6% in all fields, whereas the monthly medical reimbursements per patient have dropped by an average of 17.5%. Remarkably, surgery-related costs have increased by 36.5%, while other medical costs have decreased by 19.8%. There are a few reports of cost-utility analyses which investigate interventions such as total hip arthroplasty for hip osteoarthritis patients (US$ 4,600-70,500/QALY) and laminectomy for patients with spinal canal stenosis. Interventions may be an inevitable part of relative expense control under the current trend; however, there has been a slight increase in other parameters in response to changes in medical reimbursement evaluations - specifically, in the total income of medical institutions.

Conclusions: If medical professionals such as orthopedic surgeons contribute to the economic value of orthopedic surgery, it is crucial to clearly establish interventions among the different performances of medical reimbursement to motivate the increased allocation of management resources. To further develop this concept, discussions between stakeholders should involve the value of medicine based on cost and benefit.