Development and analysis of a nationwide cost database of acute‐care hospitals in Japan

Abstract

After designing a costing framework, a nationwide database comprised of individual case-level costs with components for acute-care hospitals in Japan was successfully developed. We hope this study contributes to appropriate decision making and helps motivate further research geared towards efficient hospital management and a rational payment system in Japan.

Comparative study of functional outcomes of three laparoscopic intestinal surgical procedures

“…For TC, charges for hospital care are determined by a standardized fee-for-service payment system of the national uniform tariff table and considered to be a good estimate of healthcare costs [23]. TC included fees for hospital administration, physicians, instruments, laboratory studies, and imaging; all fees were determined by the MHLW.…”

Impact of teaching intensity and academic status on medical resource utilization by teaching hospitals in Japan

“…Relative medical resource utilization for each patient was determined according to the fee-for-service charge schedule, which is a good estimate of health-care costs because there is a high correlation between the cost and the charge [29]. Case-mix adjustments by the DPC code group were performed as follows: first, for each DPC code group, the average fee-for-service charge value for service categories such as laboratory test, radiological examinations, and so on, was calculated.…”

Early Crystalloid Fluid Volume Management in Acute Pancreatitis: Association with Mortality and Organ Failure

“…The MHLW also provides the charge and quantity of all types of medical care items per one unit. Therefore, we were able to determine total charge, a good estimator of cost, as well as fluid volume every day using this database [19]. …”