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November 4, 2009

Japan looking at U.S. health care system

Jamie Jones

The United States isn’t the only country having a debate about health care.

A reporter from Tokyo-based Asahi Shimbun, the second largest of five national newspapers in Japan, was in Dalton on Wednesday interviewing Reiko Noll, a physician assistant in the Hamilton Medical Center emergency room. Masako Kinkozan, a staff writer for the newspaper’s medical news section, will spend the next three weeks visiting hospitals and speaking with experts throughout the United States to look at possible changes in Japan’s socialized medical system.

Chief on Kinkozan’s mind during her visit to Hamilton Medical Center was the role of the physician assistant, which Japan lacks. A physician assistant is licensed to practice medicine under the supervision of a physician and typically fills the gap between a doctor and a nurse. Physician assistants conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, assist in surgery and prescribe medications.

“I definitely hope it (Kinkozan’s visit) is going to benefit,” said Noll, who moved to the U.S. from Japan in 1990 and has worked in Dalton for three years. “A lot of surgeons and doctors in Japan are overworked and they’re doing a lot of the work that doctors here don’t have to do. They’re doing the interns’ jobs and are kind of getting worn out. They’re trying to find a mid-level position where they can take that pressure off of them.”

While Japan looks for answers to its health care problems, President Barack Obama is proposing sweeping changes including the much debated government run public option.

“I want to see the reality of the United States health care system,” Kinkozan said. “It’s especially interesting to me to see how the rural areas are being affected. That’s the major draw for me.”

How did Kinkozan, who writes for an 8 million circulation newspaper in one of the world’s largest cities, and Noll, who lives in a small, Southern town of some 30,000, cross paths? A mutual friend at Yale University put them in contact.

Kinkozan spent most of the day shadowing Noll in the emergency room. They chatted in Japanese about Noll’s daily routine, which includes diagnosing patients, writing prescriptions and filling out paperwork.

The journey for Kinkozan began on Halloween when she arrived in the U.S. She plans to write a series of five or six stories for the Asahi Shimbun. Her travels will take her to California, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington and several other states. She will depart for Japan on Nov. 19.

“I’m going everywhere by myself,” she said. “Driving to the cities and towns, flying on the planes. I hope to see a good cross section of the United States.”

Noll described being interviewed as “very interesting.” Kinkozan had the same reaction.

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