The Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) Healthcare DX Project aims to achieve “A digital transformation (DX) in healthcare that generates benefits for both individuals and all of Japan by promoting the effective use of personal data for society.” The digitalization of society serves as the basis for healthcare DX and its greatest strength is that it allows for all forms of information to be converted into electronic data and shared over the cloud. The top priority when attempting to leverage this strength in the field of healthcare will be establishing an environment for collecting citizen and patient health data. However, efforts to accumulate data with the intent to share it can only advance when safety is guaranteed, and it will be difficult to gain cooperation from the public without benefits that make daily life feel more convenient for individuals. In addition to the public benefits that are currently outlined, it will also be important to highlight initiatives that will enable individuals to benefit from healthcare DX over the course of their own interactions with healthcare. As such, it is desirable that we pursue transformations that will benefit both individuals and the public. Emphasizing the perspectives of patients, affected parties, and citizens and making more efficient and accessible healthcare services by introducing such transformations will be key elements of future reforms that are created while keeping in mind our experiences with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as well as healthcare system sustainability and resilience.

To this end, the first step will be improving access to personal health data to encourage people to exercise proactive self-determination in addressing health-related issues. Doing so will enable citizens and patients to make decisions regarding their own health in a more conscious and autonomous manner. Second will be aiming to build a healthcare system in which citizens and patients can enjoy real benefits and are satisfied with services. This includes improving the quality of services, shortening wait times, and providing a wider variety of treatment options. Third will be making efforts to encourage innovation in the use of health data and responding appropriately to unfair discrimination and forms of use that are detrimental to individuals.

The Government of Japan has taken a number of steps to advance healthcare DX. These have included integrating My Number cards and health insurance cards, establishing a nationwide platform for healthcare information, standardizing data stored within electronic medical records, implementing DX in medical service fee revisions, and clarifying an administrative body to lead healthcare DX. These efforts will improve public health, provide higher quality healthcare, streamline operations at health institutions, ensure effective use of information systems personnel, and enable secondary use of health information. Achieving healthcare DX goals is likely to transform healthcare experiences for citizens and patients in various ways, such as popularizing online medical examinations, improving healthcare access, making medical information more transparent, enabling the provision of personalized treatment plans, and reinforcing public health risk management.

While broadening a deeper understanding toward the basic concepts of efforts from the Government’s Headquarters for Medical DX Promotion and examining its specific initiatives and future plans, this forum featured a multi-stakeholder discussion that would identify concrete issues and next steps in response to expectations and concerns of patients, related parties, and citizens for healthcare DX that had been gathered over the course of HGPI activities.

[Event Overview]

• Date & Time: Thursday, February 22, 2024: from 16:00 to 18:00 JST (Open 15:30)
• Format: In-person meeting at Global Business Hub Tokyo Field, Grand Cube 3F (Otemachi Financial City, 1-9-2, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
• Language: Japanese
• Hosted by: Health and Global Policy Institute
• Supported by: National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) Global Health Innovation Policy Program (GHIPP)

[Program] (Titles omitted)

16:00-16:10 Opening remarks

Ryoji Noritake (CEO, Board Member, HGPI)

16:10-16:20 Video Message1: The Current State of and Future Outlook for Government Efforts in Healthcare DX

Keizo Takemi (Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare)

16:20-16:30 Video Message2: Digital Transformation and the Positioning of Healthcare DX in Japan

Taro Kono (Minister for Digital Transformation; Minister of State for Regulatory Reform)

16:35-17:55 Panel discussion: Achieving the Healthcare DX Envisioned by Citizens

Panelists:
Mamoru Ichikawa (President, General Incorporated Association of Medical Journalism, Japan)
Hiroaki Kato (Specially–appointed Professor, Digital Hollywood University Graduate School / Clinical professor, Tokyo Medical and Dental University)
Yuko Kidoguchi (Vice President, Corporate Affairs, AstraZeneca Japan)
Tomohiro Sonoo (Chief Executive Officer (M.D.), TXP Medical Co. Ltd.)

Moderators:
Takanori Fujita (Research Fellow, HGPI; Project Associate Professor, School of Health Innovation, Kanagawa University of Human Services; Project Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Medicine, Keio University)
Yusuke Tsugawa (Board Member, HGPI; Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA; Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, UCLA)

17:55-18:00 Closing remarks

Kiyoshi Kurokawa (Chairman, HGPI)