Candidate clinical outcomes might for example be readmission rates, prevalence of complication from surgeries or mortality rate from percutaneous coronary intervention. A last option would be to extend the coverage of hospitals costs paid under the DPC component such as clinical tests and diagnostics that are performed in outpatient departments (particularly when patients are admitted later). At the same time, Japanese authorities might want to take advantage of the fee schedule to introduce stronger financial incentives to drive improvement in quality of acute care.