Strategies for Work Style Reform to Increase Job Satisfaction at a Regional Core Hospital That Was the First in Japan to Integrate Local Municipal Hospitals

Abstract

In our regional core hospital that was the first in Japan to integrate local municipal hospitals, by strengthening education, we have been able to allow trainee doctors to manage emergency treatment, which has led to an increase in the number of visiting medical students, resulting in a full match of 14 initial trainee doctors over a five-year period. We have also increased the number of medical secretaries (from 22 to 42), shortened the length of hospital stay (from 10.5 days to 9.0 days), promoted early postoperative rehabilitation, established an outpatient referral system, reduced the number of meetings, and promoted e-mail conferences. We have introduced an at-home electronic medical record viewing system, which has made it possible for physicians to respond to emergency patients over the phone. The number of full-time doctors working more than 720 hours of overtime has gone from 22 to three, and the number of doctors working more than 960 hours has gone from eight to zero. We have promoted work style reforms that have led to increased job satisfaction, improved quality of medical care, and creation of a system that expands activities outside the hospital, such as home medical care.