JAPAN SEES SURGE IN REMOTE MEDICAL CONSULTATIONS
coronavirus crisis has prompted Japan to ease regulations on remote medical treatment, allowing doctors to conduct first-time visits online or by telephone and expanding the number of illnesses that can be treated remotely.
The changes mark a potential shake-up in one of the world’s biggest medical markets, which has lagged behind Australia, China and the United States, where doctors were previously allowed to treat only recurring patients remotely and for a limited number of diseases.
The rapid pace of change caught executives at Line Corp. off guard, forcing Japan’s most popular social networking service to accelerate plans for the rollout of its Line Healthcare business in the coming months.
Huge innovation
“The effect that COVID-19 (the new coronavirus disease) brought was a huge innovation in the health-care industry,” said Shinichiro Muroyama, representative director of Line Healthcare. “The situation has totally changed, much more rapidly than we thought.”
Line, which says it has 84 million users in Japan, aims to link doctors and patients by video.
Homegrown medical startups, such as Medley Inc. and Micin Inc., said they have also seen a surge in demand. Both companies offer application services for appointments, video consultations and payments.
Telehealth, or telemedicine, refers to technology that includes online consultations, cloud-based medical records, remote monitoring of patients and use of artificial intelligence to screen for diseases.
Japan’s market for such technology is set to grow by 60 percent to nearly $185 million in the five years to March 2024, according to the Yano Research Institute, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made deregulating the medical industry part of his growth strategy.
So Ishii, a doctor who runs a clinic in Tokyo that started offering telehealth in 2017, has seen a jump in online consultations since the outbreak, with 600 patients using the service as of mid-june compared to 400 two months earlier.
Ishii said telehealth could lead to better treatment for patients with lifestyle-related diseases, like diabetes and hypertension, that require continuous attention because it gave them easier access to doctors.
Available when needed
“Ideally, medical care should be designed to provide necessary support for patients regardless of whether it is online or on site,” he said.
About 16,100 Japanese medical institutions, excluding dentists, offered remote medical services, as of early July, according to the health ministry, compared to 970 medical institutions in July 2018.
Still, the health ministry has not decided whether to make the changes permanent, while the national medical association is less than enthusiastic, citing concerns about misdiagnosis.
Goichiro Toyoda, a physician at Medley, agrees doctors can better check first-time patients in person but says telehealth suits patients who want second opinions, have trouble visiting hospitals or need longterm treatments.
“Telemedicine will not replace face-to-face treatment,” said Toyoda. “But I’ve been stressing the importance of it becoming an option.”