A preliminary study on the knowledge and attitudes of physicians at two university hospitals towards the medical insurance system of Japan

OTA, H., TANIMOTO, S., TAKAYANAGI, K., KIMURA, T. and OIDA, T. A Preliminar y Study on the Knowledge and Attitudes of Physicians at Two University Hosp itals towards the Medical Insurance System of Ja pan. Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2000, 190 (2), 143-155 - In this preliminary study, we surveyed the physici ans at two academic hospitals on their knowledge of and attitudes toward th e medical insurance system in Japan. Most of the physicians had not read th e "Ministerial Ordinance on Insurance Medical Institutions' and Insurance M edical Doctors' Medical Treatment under Health Insurance." Of the 433 physi cians who filled out the questionnaire completely, 34% had either not read or rarely read the "Medical Fee Point List." Most (89.1%) of the physicians knew that there is a stepwise reduction in the hospitalization fee as the length of a patient's hospital stay increases. However, approximately 30% d id not know the stipulation of obtaining an informed consent from the patie nt prior to blood transfusion. As for the right of patients to see their me dical care remuneration statements, which was decided by the government in 1997, 26.8% of the physicians did not know this rule. Physicians who had re ad the "Ministerial Ordinance on Medical Treatment," were more likely to re ad the "Medical Fee Point List" frequently; were more likely to know the st ipulation about diminishing hospitalization fee; were more likely to know t hat an informed consent must be obtained prior to blood transfusion; and we re more likely to know that patients had a right to see their medical care remuneration statements. The longer the clinical experience of the physicia n, the more likely that the physician had read the "Ministerial Ordinance o n Medical Treatment" and know the other stipulations well. In these two aca demic hospitals, it is important to establish educational seminars for phys icians on the guidelines of the medical insurance system so that physicians mill become familiar with the medical insurance system quickly.-health ins urance system; physicians' knowledge; physicians' attitude;education (C) 20 00 Tohoku University Medical Press.