Present and future research in dental practice administration in Japan

Abstract

Dental practice administration consists of practice administration and business administration. We examined current research in Japan about practice and business administration using original articles from the Japanese journals of dental practice administration through the Japan Medical Abstracts Society website. We found 648 articles. There were many original articles about survey research, practice administration and education from dental universities and faculties of dentistry, and many original articles about business administration from non-university sources. We analyzed keywords concerned with business administration from the 648 articles, and found that there were academic keywords from universities and keywords concerned with the management of dental clinics from non- university sources. Many studies related to business administration were published in the 2000s, but few studies in this area have been published since 2010. Health insurance claims in Japan are indicators used in business administration. Few investigators have studied health insurance claims in the dental field, although there are many studies of health insurance claims in the medical ield. There is great potential for development of research in the dental field using big data such as health insurance claims in the future. Academic staff in the dentistry faculty need to keep promoting the development of research and education in dental practice administration with dental practitioners. We believe that this will increase the safety of dental treatment for patients and support stable management of dental clinics, which is important for regional dental healthcare.