title: The expense for one implantation of a banked bone allograft from a cadaveric donor and the issues affecting current advanced medical treatment in the Japanese orthopaedic field.
abstract: Demand for banked bone allografts is increasing in Japan; however, there are too few bone banks and the bone bank network is not well-established. One reason for this was lack of funding for banks. Bone banks had to bear all material expenses of banked bone allografts themselves because this was not designated a covered expense. In December 2004, the Japanese government started a new "Advanced Medical Treatment" administration system which allowed an approved institution to charge the expense of authorized advanced medical treatments directly to patients. The treatment named "Cryopreserved allogenic bone and ligamentous tissue retrieved from cadaveric donor" was approved as an advanced medical treatment in March 2007. We present the calculation method and the expense per implantation of a banked bone allograft from a cadaveric donor under this treatment and raise issues which affect this advanced medical treatment and remain to be resolved in the Japanese orthopaedic field.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kitasato University School of Medicine, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 228-8555, Japan. kenurabe@med.kitasato-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Urabe
authors.forename: Kouji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Naruse
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uchino
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takaso
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Katsufumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchiyama
authors.forename: Takamitsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Midori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kasahara
authors.forename: Moritoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Itoman
mesh_terms: D018586:Bone Banks / Q000191:economics*; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000191:economics*; D002102:Cadaver; D015925:Cryopreservation; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D011859:Radiography; D014019:Tissue Donors