Who we are

Normally, you are required to pay part of the expenses for the treatment (only 30% of total expenses in many cases) at medical institutions. Who will bear the remaining 70% of the expenses? The answer is: They are paid from the insurance premium and tax. Thus, individual patients pay only a part of the healthcare expenses and the remainder is paid from our public money.

As of 2018, the annual healthcare expenditure in Japan is about JPY 42 trillion, and this amount has been increasing year after year. Factors underlying such an increase include aging and development of new treatment such as medicines and medical devices. For example, imagine the launch of a new expensive medicine. Indeed, the medicine may alleviate the symptoms of the disease, but if the expenses for many patients are paid from the insurance premium and tax, it will affect the public healthcare expenditure.

Now discussions on “healthcare balanced well between cost and outcome”, which means “cost-effective healthcare”, are needed. Resources available for healthcare is limited. We believe that evaluation of such efficiency will make the current public healthcare more “sustainable.”

Many of you may feel that the methods for cost-effectiveness evaluation are too complicated and difficult to understand well. This website of C2H will provide information useful for you to gain a better understanding. Healthcare is indispensable for many people. Let us think about our healthcare system together.

C2H, i.e. “Center for Outcomes Research and Economic Evaluation for Health,” was founded in April 2018. It is a department of the National Institute of Public Health. The policy of introducing cost-effectiveness evaluation of medicines and medical devices was decided in June 2015 by the Cabinet. After being introduced on a trial basis in 2016, formal system started in 2019 at last.

Medicines and medical devices involve various stakeholders, including the manufactures, healthcare professionals, the patients, insurers and the general citizens. Because of this nature, cost-effectiveness evaluation of medicines and medical devices requires analysis from a public standpoint, independent of specific groups. We believe that C2H is capable of conducting scientifically rigid, fair and transparent analyses.

Value supplied to you from C2H

To: experts in “cost effectiveness evaluation”

C2H will supply diverse information which may be useful to you experts when conducting cost-effectiveness evaluation for research. For example, we provide you with guidelines of standard method employed during the processes at the Central Social Insurance Medical Council (Chuikyo). The results of such evaluation, and the tools for use developed by C2H are also provided.

To: manufacturer of medicines and medical devices

C2H is aimed at providing definite processes and analytical methods for cost-effectiveness evaluation to manufacturers, possessing products requiring cost- effectiveness evaluation or products which could require such evaluation in the future. We will help such manufacturer to conduct more scientifically appropriate analyses while maintaining communications over the analyses.

To: citizens and healthcare professionals

C2H will provide the results of cost-effectiveness evaluation concerning the medicines and medical devices specified by the MHLW as products requiring such evaluation. We shall additionally attempt to provide easily understandable explanations about the evaluation methods. C2H is a public and academic organization that performs the scientific analysis during the process of cost-effectiveness evaluation.