Medical Economics and Health Economics

2020/07/28

I graduated from the School of Medicine and became a doctor, but I only worked at a hospital for two years as a resident. Currently, I teach at the Graduate School of Business Administration and Business School. People are sometimes surprised when I introduce myself this way.

My family home was a private practice, so medicine was the family business. When I was a child, my monthly routine chore was to organize medical records and documents (recepts) for claiming medical expenses for insurance treatment. At that time, elderly patients with a "壽" (longevity) stamp were treated without charge (this was back in the 1970s). I remember wondering where our family got its money from and how different we were from other self-employed households.

My interest in the relationship between medicine, money, and systems was rekindled during my university years. There was a professor specializing in health economics in the Faculty of Economics at the same university, and I audited a graduate seminar. I soon learned that economics is not just about thinking about money, and I found it interesting to think about medicine from a completely different perspective than that of the School of Medicine. Since entering the Graduate School of Economics, I have belonged to economics and management departments and continued my education and research.

When people hear the term "medical economics," they may have an image of research into medical costs or improving the efficiency of medical institution management. While such analysis of medical services is important, medical economics is called "Health Economics" in English. Literally translated, it is health economics. This name conveys an attitude that places the health that we consumers seek at the center of research and considers medical care as one means of improving health.

Of course, medical services are often the most effective way to improve health. In this case, we are consumers. However, when we consider paying attention to exercise and diet, or nursing and caring for family members, we can also be said to be producing health ourselves or for our families—in other words, we are producers. Combining professional care with self-care and actively seeking health is one aspect of who we are.

Since last year, I have also been serving as a committee member of the Graduate School of Health Management. In addition to business people, I have had more opportunities to learn with medical professionals. I would like to continue thinking about health from both the perspective of professional medical care and the consumer's viewpoint.