Toward establishment of the economical basis for medical care of neurology in Japan - Appropriate assessment of techniques for diagnosis and treatments in neurology

Appropriate assessments for medical techniques of clinical diagnostic examination have been one of long-standing issues in social insurance system in Japan. Assessments of those in the surgical fields in which the most of assessments are evaluated by surgical operations including related materials as well as surgeons' techniques, is rather easy to evaluate quantitatively. Comparing with this, medical fields including neurology, quantitative assessments of medical techniques either diagnostic or treatment is not so easy. In order to evaluate the burden in each technique in the medical fields, several research and surveillance have been performed. In terms of 'duration' of the medical techniques, there have been several date in favor of long duration techniques are evaluated as to be worth to cost higher. However, these data were criticized for the reasons of ignorance of patients' opinion such as satisfaction to the diagnosis and treatments. However, in neurological fields, "the neurological examination techniques" which has a consensus of taking long duration in each patient, was able to be evaluated as an independent item in medical social insurance system in 2008, albeit it is not as technique but as laboratory examination. Towards establishment of the economical basis for medical care, Japanese Neurological Association should have another identity of artisans' union as well as academic union.