From April 1, 2024 most physicians will no longer be able to work more than approximately 4 hours of overtime every day; Will it lead to concierge medicine?
First, thanks for reading. Regarding your question, my short answer is, "Probably not." The language barrier--particularly as it relates to medical issues--is simply too high for large numbers of Japanese to travel abroad for surgery. While "medical tourism" may continue to exist on a small scale--particularly for plastic surgery and extreme cases such as pediatric heart transplants--I doubt that significant numbers of Japanese people would feel comfortable having elective surgery outside Japan. While access to medical care may become more limited in the future, I suspect that the system will work out the kinks and reach a new equilibrium once the new overtime rules have been adopted.
Do you foresee Japanese having to go to other countries to get surgery, like Canadians do now?
First, thanks for reading. Regarding your question, my short answer is, "Probably not." The language barrier--particularly as it relates to medical issues--is simply too high for large numbers of Japanese to travel abroad for surgery. While "medical tourism" may continue to exist on a small scale--particularly for plastic surgery and extreme cases such as pediatric heart transplants--I doubt that significant numbers of Japanese people would feel comfortable having elective surgery outside Japan. While access to medical care may become more limited in the future, I suspect that the system will work out the kinks and reach a new equilibrium once the new overtime rules have been adopted.