Paper Info
Title
Computerizing medical records in Japan.
Abstract
The present study reports the current status of computerizing medical records in Japan. In 2001, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare formulated the Grand Design for the Development of Information Systems in the Healthcare and Medical Fields. The Grand Design stated a numerical target for "spreading the use of electronic medical records (EMR) in at least 60% of Japan's hospitals with 400 or more beds by 2006." The objective of this study was to examine the extent to which EMR and order entry systems (OES) have been adopted as of February 2007 and to evaluate the Japanese government's policy regarding the computerization of medical records.We conducted a postal survey targeting medical institutions throughout Japan. In February 2007, we mailed self-administered questionnaires to all 1574 hospitals with 300 or more beds, and to a random selection of 1000 hospitals with less than 300 beds in addition to 4000 clinics. Responses were received from 812 (51.6%), 504 (50.5%), and 1769 (44.8%), respectively. We asked questions concerning: (i) the extent to which EMR and OES had been introduced; (ii) the reasons why certain institutions had not introduced EMR and (iii) the subjective evaluation of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of EMR.The percentage of institutions that had introduced EMR as of February 2007 was 10.0% for hospitals and 10.1% for clinics. Even the percentage for hospitals with 400 or more beds was just 31.2%, illustrating that the government's target had not been reached. The most common reason given for not introducing EMR was: "The cost is high" which was observed in 82.0% of hospitals. It was considered that the introduction of EMR could improve 'inter-hospital networks', and 'time efficiency for physicians' by around 45% and 25% of hospitals, respectively.Healthcare information computerization in Japan is behind schedule because the introductory costs are high. For the computerization of healthcare information to be further promoted, prices of EMR systems should be lowered to a level which individual hospitals can afford. Furthermore, the communication between EMR systems should be further standardized to secure functional and semantic interoperability in Japan.
Year
DOI
Venue
2008
10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2008.03.005
International Journal of Medical Informatics
Keywords
Field
DocType
Healthcare information technology,Electronic medical records,Order entry system
Information system,Health care,Christian ministry,Nursing,Alternative medicine,Knowledge management,Semantic interoperability,Medical record,Medical emergency,Welfare,Medicine,Government
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
77
10
1386-5056
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
14
1.70
1
Authors
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Hideo Yasunaga1243.69
Tomoaki Imamura2202.16
Shintaro Yamaki3141.70
Hiroyoshi Endo4152.07