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.
Highlights
The Japanese government has set tourism by foreign visitors (FVs) as an industrial policy
Compared to 2018, the number of hospitals accepting FVs increased by 7.6% in 2019, and the annual number of accepted FVs increased by an average of 40.3% per medical institution [2]
The medical treatment price level for FVs was identified as the sum of the “additional expenses of foreign medical treatment”, which includes the cost of items other than regular medical treatment and the “increased expenses on regular medical treatment”, which includes increases in the unit price of medical care for FVs within the range of regular medical care
Summary
The Japanese government has set tourism by foreign visitors (FVs) as an industrial policy. In 2018, 31.19 million FVs visited Japan [1]; this number has since increased by. Compared to 2018, the number of hospitals accepting FVs increased by 7.6% in 2019, and the annual number of accepted FVs increased by an average of 40.3% per medical institution [2]. The number of FVs in Japan has decreased by more than 80% due to the COVID-19 pandemic over the last year; it is estimated that the inflow of FVs will increase when the pandemic recedes due to the spread of vaccination and the acquisition of herd immunity. Japan is set to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2021 and various international exposition events in the near future, which are expected to attract many international travelers. Japan’s medical security scheme is characterized by the Universal Medical Care
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