Overview
Japan continues to rank among the top export prospects according to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Health IT Top Market Report. This position reflects the facts that Japan has the third highest GDP level globally (behind only the United States and China); a large Health IT market size; the oldest-skewing population distribution; a high concentration of population clustered in urban areas; a tech-friendly society; and very good Health IT infrastructure. All of these factors indicate that Health IT already has a good foundation in Japan, with the potential for continued growth.

The Japanese government implemented the “Social Security and Tax Number System” (or “My Number System”) in January 2016 to improve the social infrastructure and governmental administrative efficiency. The system’s utilization in the healthcare area is limited to administrative procedures for health insurance. In May 2019, the Health Insurance Law was revised so that people can present “My Number Cards” as the national health insurance certificates from 2021. The Japanese government also aims to utilize the anonymous data for research purposes.

The Japanese government expects the adoption of information technology in the medical care and home nursing care fields to increase, and regional medical cooperation will expand through information sharing between these two fields. However, security and privacy protection concerns still exist over the utilization of medical databases and healthcare big data, and the linkage of medical information numbers and the My Number System.

The adoption of electronic medical records to use health information big data is a major priority in Japan. According to an industry source, the adoption rate for electronic medical records and ordering systems among hospitals in 2017 was 34.4% and 43.6% respectively. 76.3% of hospitals with more than 400 beds have electronic medical records and 83.1% of them have electronic ordering systems. Due to rapid demographic changes and hospital shortages, demand for home nursing care is expected to grow.
Market size (USD million)

Source: Japanese Association of Healthcare Information Systems Industries (JAHIS)

Leading Sub-Sectors
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW)’s artificial intelligence (AI) advisory panel released a report on “Utilizing Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Sector” in June 2017, which discussed important areas for AI development, including genomic medicine, diagnostic imaging support, diagnostic treatment support, drug development, nursing care, and surgery assistance. With the MHLW’s telemedicine guideline released in March 2018, U.S. technologies in the areas of security/privacy and cloud computing will see increased market opportunities.

Opportunities
The International Modern Hospital Show 2019
July 17-19, 2019
Tokyo Big Sight

CEATEC Japan 2019
October 15-18, 2019
Makuhari Messe

Medical IT Expo 2019
October 23-25, 2019
Makuhari Messe

HOSPEX Japan 2019
November 20-22, 2019
Tokyo Big Sight

Pharma IT & Digital Expo 2020 (https://www.cphi.com/japan/)
March 16-18, 2020
Makuhari Messe

Web Resources
American Chamber of Commerce Japan
Japanese Association of Healthcare Information Systems Industries
Japan Medical Imaging and Radiological Systems Industries Association
HL-7 Japan
Integrating the Health Enterprise Japan
Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium)

CS Japan Contact:
Ms. Yasue Morimoto, Commercial Assistant
Yasue.Morimoto@trade.gov