Preliminary Examination of an Appropriate Price Calculation Method and Medical Treatment Costs for Foreign Visitors in Japan

Tomoyuki Takura and Study Group: Research on Appropriate Medical Treatment Prices for Foreigners Visiting Japan
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Tomoyuki Takura: Department of Healthcare Economics and Health Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan
Study Group: Research on Appropriate Medical Treatment Prices for Foreigners Visiting Japan: Department of Healthcare Economics and Health Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: This study proposes a method for calculating the appropriate medical treatment price level for foreign visitors (FVs) in Japan. Hospital management costs and foreign prices were analyzed from a market principles perspective to determine the medical treatment price. The study involved two stages: a preliminary survey and an extended survey, supplemented by an international survey. Relatively frequent diseases were selected, and the costs incurred by hospitals for the treatment of FVs were analyzed though data from three hospitals, covering 24 outpatients and 4 inpatients. Payments made by three insurance companies for overseas medical institution services for Japanese tourists with pharyngitis were analyzed. This study shows that the appropriate medical treatment prices for FVs, considering profits, were 1.22–4.26 times higher compared with prices under Japan’s public health insurance plans. Furthermore, these prices were 1.31–4.26 times higher for outpatients with pharyngitis and external injury and 1.22–3.66 times higher for inpatients with appendicitis and femoral fractures. The price of pharyngitis treatment in 12 countries was USD 20.32–158.75 per patient for Japanese tourists, whereas FVs paid 60.24 dollars (1.13 times higher than Japan’s public healthcare price) in Japan. This study shows it was appropriate to set the ideal price level for FVs higher than that for Japanese patients.

Keywords: market price; health insurance; foreign patients; cost accounting; pharyngitis; external injury (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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