The spread of the new coronavirus is weighing on hospital management. The government should speed up its support to prevent the medical system from being shaken.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has decided on a special measure to raise medical service fees paid to medical institutions for accepting virus patients. This can be said to be an appropriate judgment based on how treatment is actually conducted and the characteristics of the symptoms.
For hospitals that treat patients with severe virus symptoms, the amount the hospital charges for the intensive care unit, which is normally 80,000 yen to 140,000 yen per day, has been tripled.
The fee was doubled in April and the government decided to raise it again. It took into consideration the fact that it takes more than three times as much labor to use an artificial ventilator or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which are necessary for the treatment of seriously ill patients.
According to a survey by the Japan Hospital Association and two other organizations, 339 hospitals nationwide that accept patients infected with the virus saw their incomes drop by 12% in April from a year earlier. About 80% of the hospitals that accepted such patients said they were in the red.
This is because the number of patients has drastically decreased as they have to restrict general medical care, such as outpatient treatment and operations, to prevent coronavirus infections in hospitals. The management of these hospitals has become increasingly difficult due to the higher cost of employing more medical staff, such as doctors and nurses.
The current situation in which hospitals on the front line of coronavirus treatment are losing revenue cannot be overlooked. It is essential that the government makes efforts to prioritize the support of these medical institutions in the event of a second wave of infections.
To fight a long battle against the coronavirus, it is important to establish a medical system that can deal with a rapid increase in the number of patients. Securing hospital beds, which have been in short supply, and procuring necessary equipment should be promoted.
The government included a subsidy worth more than 2 trillion yen in the second supplementary budget plan to support medical institutions and other entities. There are a wide variety of projects that are subject to the subsidy.
For example, if a hospital ward for the exclusive use of virus patients is established, the subsidy would be paid to cover the cost of vacant beds that are prepared for sudden hospitalizations. Financial support will be provided when negative pressure equipment to prevent viruses from leaving a room are installed in pediatrics and obstetrics wards. Medical staffers will be provided with special remuneration of up to 200,000 yen for their medical services.
What is important is to stabilize hospital management and ease the strain on doctors, nurses and other medical workers. Prefectural governments need to implement more urgent measures based on local circumstances.
In addition to hospitals that accept coronavirus patients, not a few medical institutions and nursing care facilities for the elderly are facing financial difficulties. This is because an increasing number of people have refrained from seeking medical care or using such facilities out of the fear of becoming infected.
The government should provide more emergency loans and other support, and shore up hospital management to help them maintain necessary medical and nursing care services.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on June 5, 2020.
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