2021 Volume 21 Issue 4 Pages 256-260
In April 2017, the “Corporation for Regional Medical Care Promotion” (hereinafter “corporation” ) became effective as one form of the “regional medical concept” systemized by the government in 2014. Three corporations were established immediately, and one of them is our corporation “Bihoku Medical Network”.
As stated in the feature article of “Nikkei Healthcare” at the time of the start-up of “corporation,” “Bihoku Medical Network” is characterized as a remote medical institution survival type. This is the establishment of a corporation to survive, to protect community medicine, with a major proposition to obtain a common recognition in “securing doctors.” Supporting doctors working in remote areas and continuing such support system will induce and maintain a doctor's motivation to work in the community. We also realize the importance of investing resources in creating an environment that will tempt the doctors to want to go work again in a remote area after they transfer out.
Over the past few years, issues of work style reforms for doctors and other healthcare professionals have been taken up and discussed all over Japan. The doctor support measures of our corporation can be a model of work style reform for the times to come. Above all, it is important to create an attractive support structure by strengthening collaboration. Specifically, designing systems that include dispatch of substitute doctors so that duty doctors could attend academic meetings or have long-term leaves, and holding workshops such as case study meetings, and dispatch of specialists from core hospitals to small hospitals (specialized outpatients, lectures, etc.) .
