2000 Volume 10 Issue 1 Pages 145-157
The Fukuoka prefectural government founded the Fukuoka Medical Network for Seriously Intractable Neurological Diseases(FIND-Net)in 1998 to improve the environment surrounding medical care for patients with seriously intractable neurological diseases. The coordinator of FIND-Net finds the available beds for the registered patients. This paper examined the activities of FIND-Net during the first 10 months. Fifty five percent of the entire number of presentations were rejected by the registered hospitals. Sixty percent of the registered hospitals did not give their support to FIND-Net.
Most counseling was given to patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In spite of the activities of FIND-Net, it is still difficult to provide beds for those patients requiring long-term care. The role and right of the coordinator should be defined more clearly in order to give support to FIND-Net. The analysis of economical incentive for registered hospitals willserve as a guide in making a public policy for treating those patients.
