| [ Summary ] |
The declining birthrate and aging population have become increasingly apparent in Japan. Fewer children limit economic resources and an aging society increases medical expenses. These two factors have a profound impact on medicine. Dialysis therapy is undoubtedly one of the representative fields for the elderly, and the biennial revision of medical expense reimbursement has brought dialysis medicine to a critical point, endangering the quality of dialysis medicine in this country.
There is a strong desire that the new reimbursement system for the elderly over 75 years of age, which is planned to start in April 2008, will not result in a decline of medical quality, exclusion of the elderly from hospitals or withholding or withdrawing of necessary therapy for the elderly. A well thought out strategy must be drafted for the efficient use of the limited medical resources. |