[The Future of Peripheral Nerve Block from the Perspective of Medical Economics].

Abstract

Increasing healthcare costs have pressured govern- ment finances and threatened the sustainability of the national health insurance program introduced by the government, namely the Diagnosis Procedure Combi- nation/Per-Diem Payment System (DPC/PDPS) estab- lished in 2003, a prospective payment system for inpa- tients as part of changes to the provider reimburse- ment system to ensure the long-term sustainability of the healthcare insurance program. Under the DPC/ PDPS system, anesthesiologists can help reduce medi- cal costs by applying peripheral nerve blocks (PNB), because many databases have verified that they improve surgical outcomes and reduce hospital stays. These outcomes confer a considerable advantage upon healthcare insurance, demand for which has surged due to rapid population aging and significant progress in medicine. The present study compares general and neuraxial anesthesia to determine the advantages of PNB in terms of reducing medical costs.