Multiple perspectives need to be evaluated to address regional disparities in the use of long-term care insurance services. In this study, we identified regional disparities in long-term care insurance services usage on a municipal basis and then examined factors related to these disparities. First, we described the utilization rates of in-home, community-based, and facility-based services of long-term care insurers at a national level and by three sub-national levels: large cities, regional cities, and depopulated areas. Next, regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between the utilization rate of each service and five exposure factors, adjusting for confounding variables. There were large variations in the utilization rates of each service, especially for in-home services, which were distributed from 0% to 20.4% among the municipalities. In addition, in-home services tended to be used more frequently in large cities, while community-based and facility-based services tended to be used more frequently in depopulated areas. Furthermore, all exposure factors, which included the rate of elderly single-person households, the employment rate of women, the employment rate of the elderly, the number of in-home care managers, and the capacity of facility-based services, showed an association with each service’s utilization rate, even after adjusting for confounders.

This study compares cases in which (1) doctors in Japan (D) provide remote image reading services directly to patients in China (P) and (2) doctors in Japan (D₂) share the diagnostic data with P’s physicians in China (D₁) with the aim of determining whether a remote imaging diagnosis service can be a legally viable business scheme and discussing the legal issues that could emerge through these comparisons. According to Japan’s telemedicine guidelines, the first visit should be made to “the doctor who is familiar with a patient”, and thus, (1) violates the Japanese Medical Practitioners’ Act. Further, (1) also violates the Chinese Medical Practitioners’ Law, because in China, telemedicine is restricted to certain types of care such as re-examinations for chronic diseases. However, because D₂’s activities can be seen as merely giving advice to D₁, (2) is not illegal under the Japanese Medical Practitioners’ Act. Even if it is permitted under the Chinese Medical Practitioners’ Law, precautions must be taken to ensure that P’s personal information is transferred overseas securely and in accordance with the Internet Security Law. Although doctor to doctor (D to D) interactions are not covered under Japan’s telemedicine guidelines, remote diagnostic imaging is a practice that has an impact on treatment plans, emphasizing the significance of outlining the obligations of the medical professional who interprets diagnostic imaging.

Backgrounds: The costs considered in health technology assessment, including cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) may vary depending on the healthcare systems in countries and regions (hereinafter collectively referred to as “countries”). This study aimed to investigate the differences in analysis perspectives and considerations of productivity losses in each country.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative review of the guidelines relevant to CEA in European and Asian countries to investigate the recommended perspectives of guidelines and the descriptions of productivity losses.

Results: A total of 33 countries were surveyed. Fourteen countries (42.4%) recommended at least one of the societal and other perspectives. In these countries, all (100.0%) mentioned patients’ productivity losses, of which 9 (64.3%) also addressed caregivers’ productivity losses.

Conclusions: About 40% of the surveyed countries allowed the inclusion of productivity losses in the base analysis. Since the subjects to be considered for productivity loss and the calculation methods differ among countries, it is necessary to be careful in the intercomparison of the analysis results.

Introduction: Based on the experiences of COVID-19 respondents at Shimane University Hospital, this study investigated the COVID-19 infection status and number of relevant inquiries to the hospital’s administrative department to clarify information required by the hospital staff depending on the infection status of emerging infectious diseases.

Methods: The study covered the period from April 2020 to March 2021. The number of COVID-19–related inquiries to the hospital’s infection control department was tallied, and changes in the number of inquiries was statistically analyzed during the periods when a state of emergency was declared, when the number of infected patients was increasing in Shimane prefecture, the extended vacation period, and the nonvacation period.

Results: During the state of emergency period, inquiries related to anti-infection measures at hospital facilities increased (P=0.013). During the period when the number of infected patients was increasing in the prefecture, inquiries related to medical consultation increased (P=0.024). Individual anti-infection measures were not affected by differences between these periods.

Discussion: Hospital administrators must share information according to the disease infection status and provide opportunities for acquiring basic anti-infection knowledge, even in nonemergency situations. Further studies are required to explore appropriate information-sharing approaches during emerging infectious disease pandemics.