Quality of health care in Japan

This chapter summarises the main policies and activities that are in place in Japan to assure and improve quality of health care. After describing the legal framework around quality of care in Japan, regional medical care plans to improve health system performance at the prefecture level, and the national fee schedule which is used to control health spending growth and also to stir changes in medical practice patterns and quality improvement, this chapter focuses on other quality governance structure such as mechanisms to assure quality of professionals, facilities, and pharmaceuticals. The chapter continues with clinical guideline development, information infrastructure for quality monitoring and reporting, and systems to promote patient safety. Specific attention is given, lastly, to policies aimed at strengthening the role and perspective of the patient in the health system.