TARO KITA

Age: the younger generation has the capacity to accept and adapt to new technologies.
Experience in successfully accepting new technologies
Certain social status allow people to expose more new technologies, and gain necessary support to adapt.

When replacing an old technology with a new one, a new technology needs to be expected to provide more benefits, including usable, useful, desirable, and credible than the conventional ones.

Efficacy measures the capacity for beneficial change in ideal environments and conditions, while Effectiveness measures to do so in realistic environments and conditions.
Efficiency refers to the ability to do things in the most economical way.

Based on one of the widely used definitions of the Young Adult (18-35 years old), a possible confounder could be “the most diverse social role”. It is the generation that is most socially involved with others (including other generations), as they may be students or office workers. They may be married couples and they may be parents. They may also…[Read more]

Case-Fatality rate (CFR)
1. Definition of each vital statistic?
Case Fatality Rate (CFR) indicates the severity of a particular disease by defining the total number of deaths as a proportion of reported cases of a specific disease at a specific time.

2. How to calculate each vital statistic?
CFR is presented as a percentage (0%-100%) or a ratio…[Read more]

We have conducted the following measures to reduce the incidence of COVID19 infection, although many of which were mentioned by others;

1. Telework to reduce the chances of physical contact with your colleagues;
2. Wearing facemasks in the workplace and checking body temperature on entering the office;
3. Conducting virtual meetings and…[Read more]

The Universal Health Coverage in Japan dates back to 1961 when a public health insurance scheme was established to cover all citizens. And, following the Cabinet’s decision in 1973, to establish “One medical college in each prefecture” that improved the access to medical service, Japan achieved UHC, and subsequently became a country with one of th…[Read more]

Since the beginning of the introduction of electronic medical records, the role of medical informatics has become more and more important in Japan.
However, it seems that the role of informatics is still vague and not widely understood.
Although there is a certification system, it is not a national certification, and there are no prerequisites for…[Read more]

Yes. Sharing health data will definitely contribute to the development of medicine.
I would promote data sharing only for research or public health purposes, not for business, by restricting data access, and only anonymized data, to registered users.

As for the Privacy and Ethical Issue, while the use of “new social contract” for data utilisation seems to be realistic, as stated in the article, the establishment of a recently proposed model in which “authorised institutions” with data processing technology convert personal information into anonymized information using a defined technique, and…[Read more]

The good points of EMR introduction:
– Improved operational efficiency and reduced waiting time
– Reduced storage space of patient records
– Data can be accessed from anywhere in the facility
– Technical capability to import outsourced data

The bad points of EMR introduction:
– It takes time for staff to get used to the system, may need to…[Read more]

Regarding the measures to address corruption, I agree with all the recommendations given in the article.
As a first step in promoting transparency, it is important for all stakeholders to have a common understanding about the definition of corruption, although it might not be as easy as it sounds in some contexts. As mentioned by others, social…[Read more]

Please let me share the challenge we observed when my former hospital tried to introduce the laboratory management system as part of the hospital’s electronic medical record system in Japan over 20 years ago.
The newly introduced system with a very simple LAN and client/ server system, although the latest technology back then, was expected to c…[Read more]

In my opinion, a disaster recovery plan shall be developed based on identification of threats and classification of risks, not only in terms of IT, but also infrastructure and human resources, as well as internal and external factors. For this purpose, the establishment of a disaster recovery committee at an early stage, consisting of multiple…[Read more]

High Availability technology in a hospital information system will allow clinicians access patients’ data whenever necessary, addressing critical conditions, as well as prescribing medication, ordering and confirming laboratory tests at any time.
In addition, the technology would promote patients’ satisfaction, as it will technically enable the…[Read more]

Personally, I have never had an experience of failure to preserve information security.
However, cases of unauthorized or inappropriate access to patients’ information by hospital staff have been reported occasionally in Japan.
In these cases, it seems that information access management, security awareness, or work station security were c…[Read more]

Please allow me to share my observations on the current situation in Japanese society following the COVID19 pandemic based on the STEEP factors, although some of these are not related to the health sector.

SOCIAL
– Increased optimism about the pandemic due to the decrease of the newly confirmed cases and progress in the national vaccination…[Read more]

Thank you for your response regarding the backup plan, which I think is well organized.
Furthermore, one of the characteristics of flooding in Thailand is that it seems to progress relatively slowly compared to other countries due to its geographic features, therefore each health facility may have a certain amount of time to prepare for a…[Read more]

Thank you very much for the comprehensive presentation.
Establishing a disease surveillance system in post disaster situations is very important especially for diseases that have occurred in the past. I find this presentation very interesting as cases of leptospirosis were also reported in Japan after floods caused by typhoons.
May I seek…[Read more]

Thank you very much for the presentation.
It is very important to establish a Cholera surveillance system in risk countries, because it is highly contagious and can lead to death if left untreated.
The inclusion of an environmental-based survey to detect V. cholerae in water sources would be useful for early detection and identification of the…[Read more]