[A questionnaire survey of medical cooperation by the Iwaki Medical Association]

It has been pointed out that currently, Iwaki City faces an insufficiency of doctors working at hospitals, compared with before. Such an insufficiency became more remarkable after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, as about 30,000 people relocated to Iwaki City from the evacuation areas. In this regard, the Iwaki Medical Association conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate the problems of medical cooperation and utilize the data to improve medical cooperation within hospitals and clinics. A total of 159 doctors answered the questionnaires: 64% were community physicians, 36% were doctors working at hospitals, and 42% were physicians. About 60% of the doctors were satisfied with the present medical cooperation. Home health care was performed by 25% of the doctors working at hospitals and 45% of the community physicians. Approximately 80% of the doctors felt the need for additional physicians to perform home health care, although more than half of the doctors answered that they do not perform it. Various problems exist in the context of medical cooperation, but many doctors still hope for its improvement, according to the answers in the questionnaires. Efforts have to be exerted further in order to enhance medical cooperation among the health care team.