2023 Volume 7 Issue 1 Pages 1-8
As the birthrate declines and the population ages, medical care will focus on home care. Post-COVID-19 pandemic medicine and the physician work style reform that will be implemented in April 2024 must be adequately addressed, and local emergency medicine is no exception. The system for providing medical care varies greatly depending on the medical region, and a system suitable for each medical region is required. Here, regional medical collaboration in southwestern Okayama Prefecture, centered on Kurashiki, and a medical ecosystem that forms the basis of this collaboration are presented.
A medical ecosystem is the sharing of resources and functions among various medical institutions and nursing facilities. The effective functioning of this ecosystem can improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare across the region. How the infrastructure for building this ecosystem was developed, how this ecosystem functioned against past disasters, namely the torrential rains in western Japan in 2018 and COVID-19 since 2000, and how to prepare for the physician work style reform are discussed.
