Policies toward coordinating acute medical care and long-term care in Japan

Abstract

Japan's demographic structure is changing dramatically. Due to an increase in the number of older adults, there is a growing need for acute medical and long-term care services. As a result, even after completion of treatment in acute care facilities, patients who have difficulty living independently may be transferred to long-term care facilities, facing the risk of developing pneumonia and other acute illnesses that require hospitalization at an acute care facility. If a patient in a long-term facility experiences a fall or another medical safety event, they must be promptly diagnosed and treated at an acute care facility. Consequently, collaboration between acute medical and long-term care is essential, and the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is promoting various initiatives to address this issue. The medical service fee, revised every two years, and the long-term care fee, revised every three years, will be used to achieve this goal. June 2024 presented a rare, once-every-six-year opportunity for these fees to be revised simultaneously, enabling the implementation of policies to promote coordination between acute medical care and long-term care. However, a significant challenge is the decline in the working-age population, which must be addressed. The details are presented in this study.