There's no doubt hospital stays are too long in Japan. Shortening them would allow more patients to be moved through the system.

And cost a lot less money

Ah, duh -- you think?

One thing I really appreciate about Japan is the healthcare, for many reasons. I've had family members who had hospital stays here. And I like the fact that they were not booted out the door quickly. And if you have the National Insurance, your co-pays are tiny compared to in the States, at least in my experience. Last winter, my wife fell and injured her arm. She was transported by ambulance, examined by a doctor, x-rayed, and had a cast put on. I was really dreading the trip to the payment window, but when they said "That'll be eight thousand something yen" my reaction was "That's it?" In LA, an ambulance ride alone would set you back hundreds of dollars.

Too long according to whom? Certainly not the patients. Japan does NOT have anything resembling a bloated, socialistic, European style welfare state. But lengthy hospital stays serve the people of Japan well and I doubt they are the ones clamoring for average stays to be shortened. Why are people like this Murayama fellow giving the world the impression that Japan has some kind of hugely wasteful health care system? It does not.

Gotta save every little Yen with Abe at the helm.

"Moved Through The System"

WTF does THAT mean?

How about more "patients' would be able to "receive medical treatment."

MASSWIPEOct. 25, 2014 - 10:27AM JST Too long according to whom? Certainly not the patients.

Did you survey the patients? I suspect you'll see the following pattern:

Elderly patients who recover very slowly and who may lack anyone at home to take care of them both want and need the longer hospital stays.

Middle-aged patients who work find that their companies will not question medical leave if they are in hospital, but will question the leave if they are at home recovering.

Younger patients recover far more rapidly than the current guidelines, and get bored quickly.

Therefore you can see that the current length of hospital stays are for there for reasons. These reasons aren't necessarily good, and we could find cheaper alternatives - for example elderly patients on long-term care could be provided with daily home visits by a nurse plus home-delivered meals, which would be considerably less resource-intensive than hospital stays, and companies could be instructed to respect home bed rest instructions rather than insisting on unnecessary hospital stays.

Frungy - I agree.

The current situation of long term stays is a drain on valuable funds (of course benefiting institutuions), which could / should be diverted to establishing community health services, networks and support systems.

At the moment many beds are filled because of a lack of alternatives, and as the world's # 1 aging society, Japan should be aggressively pursuing 21c substitutes for the all-too-easy system of leaving patients in beds forever.

You have to "read between the lines" of his comment...more patients means more money.

more patients means more money.

Exactly. Personally, I love the fact a person in Japan has the time to fully recover without the pressure to leave the hospital before doing so because of monetary considerations.

In more and more industrialized countries there is pressure on healthcare givers to get the patients out the door whether they are in or outpatient and get other moneymaker (patient) in their place. Thus sacrificing quality healthcare in favor of a quick turnover. I for one do not want to see this trend come to Japan any more than it already has.

If only doctors here were better....

Longer stays in hospitals can mean a greater risk of catching another disease or complications. I would rather stay just a few days like I did for my surgery and go back a few times to check than stay in the hospital longer. Did that for both my surgeries here and USA.

What gets me is that new mothers stay in hospital for a week!! What for if the births went smoothly? And then they go back to their parents for 1-2 months.It's like .. really?

It's more like 4 or 5 days these days. The mother is going to spend the next 18 years or so at the beck and call of junior, a few days recuperation and a bit of coddling from her parents isn't going to do anyone any harm. The new dad knows his wife and new baby are in good hands, the new mum gets a bit of a rest, and the grandparents get to spend a bit of quality time with daughter and new grandchild. I'm all in favour of new mothers going back to Mum's place for a month or so after the birth. My daughter did with her first two, it was magical and we're looking forward to it happening again in the near future.

Hospital stays here are stress free. Workers are great. Everyone tries to make you feel comfortable. Still, a general lack of privacy between Doctor and Patient could use some work.

The 5-day stay in the hospital after birth has been a godsend with both my children. My wife appreciated the full-support and chance to rest. And they keep the babies monitored for those five days, in case anything happens. No complaints from our end whatsoever.

This is a business like any other. I was told a few years back that I needed a six-week stay in hospital, then six months of outpatient treatment/ convalescence.

I checked myself out in five days and was back at work within the fortnight.

I'd be more concerned about the abuse of the ambulances here. I've spoken to people who've called an ambulance over a bad cold or stomachache... Seriously! One paramedic told me that they get 20,000 calls a year... and that's just one municipality!