On October 16, 2019, Health and Global Policy Institute held the first meeting of the “Rebalancing Healthcare Systems: Innovation and Sustainability” Taskforce on the topic of “Measures to Increase Spending Efficiency.”

Since the achievement of universal health coverage in 1961, the Japanese health system has supported the growth of the one of the healthiest and longest living populations in the world. As that population continues to age, Japan is being presented with a tremendous opportunity: to show the rest of the world how a super-aging society can successfully maintain a national health insurance system that works for all generations, and that can incorporate medical innovations and ensure healthy longevity even under circumstances in which members of the population regularly live to over 100-years of age.

As part of its “Rebalancing Healthcare Systems: Innovation and Sustainability” project, HPGI has formed a taskforce to debate policy measures that can support the achievement of such a system. This taskforce aims to produce an expert report on the health policy opportunities available to Japan within FY2020.

At this first taskforce meeting, taskforce members debated measures to increase spending efficiency. Debate focused on implementation of Health Technology Assessment (HTA), as well as questions on how to define efficiency, value, and waste within the healthcare system in the future.

■Overview
Date and time: Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Organizer: Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI)

■Program
Roundtable Discussion
Participants (alphabetical order by last name):
Ataru Igarashi (Associate Professor, Unit of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Yokohama City University of Medicine)
Satoshi Imamura (Vice-President, Japan Medical Association)
Isao Kamae (Project Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo)
Toshio Nagase (Senior Director, Government Affairs Japan, Gilead Science K.K.)
Hiroshi Nakamura (Professor, Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University)
Kazumasa Oguro (Professor, Faculty of Economics, Hosei University)
Naokazu Saito (Director, Policy Intelligence Department, Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K.)
Naomi Sakurai (President, Cancer Solutions Co., Ltd.)
Eiko Shimizu (Project Associate Professor, ITHC, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo)
Mitsuo Umezu (Director, Institute for Medical Regulatory Science, Waseda University)
Hirokazu Yoshii (Special Advisor to the President, Health Insurance Claims Review & Reimbursement Services)

Moderators:
Isao Kamae (Project Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo)
Joji Sugawara (Senior Associate, HGPI)