New Report Sheds Light on Japan’s Digital Healthcare Economy

LONDON, Sept. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HIMSS, a global advisor and thought leader in health information and technology, announced today that it has published a report titled “Capitalising on Japan’s Digital Healthcare Economy during this Era of Ageing Societies.” It is authored by Professor Sudhesh Kumar, Dean of Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick.

Key findings:

• Japan shares some common traits with the UK in healthcare and society. It provides universal health care and, being mature, developed economies, face an aging demographic trend. 28.1% of the total Japanese population is aged 65 and over; 13.9% of the total population was 65 – 74, 14.2% was 75-year-old and over.
• Japanese healthcare market, the world’s second largest for pharmaceutical products, medical devices and healthcare services, is characterised by an abundance of data, generated from the citizens of more than 126 million which its healthcare system covers. It includes health care insurance claims, healthcare records from regulatory annual health check-ups, and data regarding nursing care through its Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) system.
• Japan has recently started harnessing those data for digitalisation of its healthcare services to create of its Next-Generation Healthcare System with introducing advanced technology. The government has introduced a new law to make the data make more useful to research institutions and private-sector companies for the purpose of advanced research, innovative drug discovery, and new business creation.
• Japan’s unique data set that reflects the world’s leading ageing population, coupled with the recent transformative policy, would be invaluable to testing innovations that will be in high demand across the world as other countries follow in the super-aging trend. The UK’s joint research programme with Japan announced this January to help ageing populations live independently for longer and to develop new treatments for chronic conditions like dementia and heart failure might be a precursor. As the UK is more advanced than Japan in terms of digital healthcare, partnership in this field by the two counties can harness unprecedented potential to resolve some of big problems of today’s humankind and lead a new digital healthcare economy during this era of ageing societies.

About the author:
Professor Sudhesh Kumar is Dean of the Warwick Medical School and Director of the Institute of Digital Healthcare at University of Warwick. In addition to these roles, he is also a member of the Coventry & Rugby Health and Wellbeing Board, and the Medical Schools Council. He is a clinical endocrinologist by background with 22 years experience as a Consultant Physician in the NHS. His research interest is obesity and its complications, particularly Type 2 diabetes. His interests include developing novel approaches to managing obesity and diabetes that has helped to transform and improve patient care and treatment. He has published over 240 papers and 6 books on these subjects.

About HIMSS
HIMSS is a global advisor and thought leader supporting the transformation of the health ecosystem through information and technology. As a mission driven non-profit, HIMSS offers a unique depth and breadth of expertise in health innovation, public policy, workforce development, research and analytics to advise global leaders, stakeholders and influencers on best practices in health information and technology. Through our innovation engine, HIMSS delivers key insights, education and engaging events to healthcare providers, governments and market suppliers, ensuring they have the right information at the point of decision. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, HIMSS serves the global health information and technology communities with focused operations across North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. Our members include more than 80,000 individuals, 475 provider organizations and 650 health services organizations.

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