Comprehensive study of " Physician as a double agent" argument

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K10510
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 58010:Medical management and medical sociology-related
• Research Institution: Okayama University
• Principal Investigator: Saito Shinya 岡山大学, 保健学域, 教授 (10335599)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 下妻 晃二郎 立命館大学, 生命科学部, 教授 (00248254) ; 白岩 健 国立保健医療科学院, その他部局等, 上席主任研究官 (20583090) ; 児玉 聡 京都大学, 文学研究科, 准教授 (80372366)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: ダブルエージェント / double agent / 医師-患者関係 / 医療経済学 / 費用対効果 / 配分的正義

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In addition to being agents of their patients, physicians are also agents of society. A survey of 248 physicians was conducted to determine how physicians perceive the conflict between these two standpoints. Seventy-two percent of the physicians thought about the burden on healthcare budgets in their daily practice. In addition to purely medical decisions, 75% also considered the cost of each health care. While 90% of the physicians thought that it was necessary to consider the national health care system as a whole, 54% said that they should do their best to treat their patients without considering the cost of care. While many physicians took into account the agentic considerations of society, a few emphasized the agentic role of the patient, revealing the double-agent nature of physicians in Japan.

Free Research Field

医療倫理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

今回の研究の結果から、我が国の医師は「医師の『ダブルエージェント』性」を認識しており、社会のエージェントとしての役割を引き受けていることが明らかとなった。このことは、医師は患者第一に行動するという大原則を前提に、社会からの要請を医療政策の中で実現するという、かなり困難な課題をこなしてゆける主体足りうることを、社会に向けて証明したと言える。このことは、今後の政策の推進に役立つ成果と考えられる。