2023 Volume 50 Issue 4 Pages 151-161
Purpose: Cardiac rehabilitation has been rapidly spreading in recent years; however, the recent outbreak of novel coronavirus infection has affected usual practice. In this study, we investigated the progress to date and the current status of cardiac rehabilitation from the perspective of insurance reimbursement.
Methods: I examined the number of calculations of "cardiac rehabilitation fees" and number of points from 2009 to 2021 using the social medical practice statistics published by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and examined the annual change, percentage and annual change by age group, and annual change by non-hospitalization and hospitalization from 2019 to 2021.
Results: The number of cardiovascular disease rehabilitation charges was 99,865 in 2009 and 791,226 in 2019, an approximately eight-fold increase over 10 years. However, in 2020, the number was 651,118, down 18% from the previous year, and in 2021, it was 758,232（95.7% of the 2019 value）. The number of calculated points was 21,210,079 in 2009 and 186,409,625 in 2019, an approximately nine-fold increase over the previous 10 years, but in 2020 it was 157,369,680, a 16% decrease from the previous year. In 2021, the number was 181,145,440, 97.2% of the 2019 value. By age group, patients of ≥70 years and ≥85 years of age accounted for 78% and 32% of the total patients, respectively. The annual trend by age group shows that the rate of increase was highest among those in their early 80s. However, in 2020, there was a decrease in the 45-89 age group, which was mainly seen outside of hospitalization, with a particularly marked decrease in the late 70s, and only a slight decrease in hospitalization.
Conclusion: Cardiovascular disease rehabilitation reimbursement had been increasing until 2019, but decreased in 2020, probably due to the epidemic of novel coronavirus infection.
