Column Finance and the Social Security System 2020.09.01
【Aging, safety net and fiscal crisis in Japan】No.270: Telemedicine has not become more popular, despite the spread of COVID-19
In this column series, Yukihiro Matsuyama, Research Director at CIGS introduces the latest information about aging, safety net and fiscal crisis in Japan with data of international comparison.
People have begun to refrain from going to hospitals and clinics to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infection. Therefore, the use of telemedicine is being accelerated in many countries to improve access to medical services. However, the spread of telemedicine has not progressed in Japan.
Telemedicine refers to receiving medical services remotely using information devices such as smartphones and personal computers. On April 10th, 2020, telemedicine, which is called “Online Medicine” in Japan, was deregulated by the government. Until then, the government did not allow patients to use telemedicine in their first visit and limited its application to some lifestyle-related illnesses. These restrictions have been lifted until the end of the COVID-19 crisis.
As shown in Figures 1 and 2, among the 110,898 medical institutions that exist, the number of medical institutions implementing telemedicine increased slightly from 10,812 (9.7%) in April 2020 to 16,202 (14.6%) in June. Of this number, only 6,801 (6.1%) medical institutions implement telemedicine for a patient’s first visit. It has been pointed out that this deregulation will only last until the COVID-19 problem is resolved, and that the medical fee for telemedicine is lower than that for face-to-face treatment. However, the root cause of telemedicine’s delay in Japan is the lack of an organization that acts as a platform for sharing patient information. If there were a system for sharing patient information, a patient’s medical history could be known, making it possible to provide medical services that satisfy both the patient and the doctor, even in the first visit. While there are 275 national hospitals, 917 local government hospitals, and 47 national university hospitals in Japan, none of them serve as a patient information sharing platform.
Figure 1 Number of medical institutions implementing telemedicine
Source: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare
Figure 2 Percentage of medical institutions implementing telemedicine
Source: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare