Surgical Robots Face Pushback due to Lost Hospital Profits

Although surgical support robots are effective for enabling early patient discharge, hospitals in Japan face profitability challenges, with some cases showing losses of 5.1 million yen per procedure.

While the 2026 diagnostic treatment fee revision introduced new reimbursement for robotic-assisted surgeries, bringing revenue artificially in line with manual surgeries, losses continue to accumulate. This ongoing ‘profitability crisis’ is causing pushback in the surgical robot field, especially in regional hospitals where it is needed the most.