Archived content

NOTE: this is an archived page and the content is likely to be out of date.

Healthcare Solutions for the Future

2015-7 (Vol.51. No.3)

This special issue introduces Fujitsu's healthcare solutions for the future and related activities and examples, including the development of cloud-based healthcare solutions and the implementation of overseas projects.

Feature Papers

1. Preface (464 KB): Fujitsu began "Next-Generation Healthcare Innovation Center" activities in 2013 with the aim of creating new business opportunities that make maximum use of ICT by collaborating with leading research institutions and healthcare facilities. Going forward, the Fujitsu Group intends to be a unified, driving force behind business innovation in the healthcare field to create a livable and healthy society for everyone. ---[Hirofumi Gouda, Corporate Executive Advisor]

Overview

2. Future Challenges in Fujitsu's Healthcare Business —Activities of Next-Generation Healthcare Innovation Center— (592 KB): Since the mid-1970s, Fujitsu has been at the forefront of information and communications technology (ICT) in the field of medical care. Being the first in Japan to develop and launch package solutions for medical care providers, Fujitsu has always moved in step with customer needs and expectations. A major paradigm shift is taking place today in tandem with remarkable advances in medical technology and ICT against the background of a super-aging society and a changing disease structure. The degree of health information sharing is expanding along with advances in networking, and an era is approaching in which healthcare information for the entirety of an individual's life is available through the network. This paper describes Fujitsu's efforts to date and its present situation in the field of medical care and introduces activities and specific examples of technology development at the Next-Generation Healthcare Innovation Center, which was established to bring about a society in which people can lead long and healthy lives. ---[Naoki Nakano, Masakazu Shimomura]

New Vision and Future Vision for Healthcare

3. ICT Trends in Japan's Healthcare Policy (645 KB): With the coming of a super-aging society, Japan is faced with pressing social problems including medical expenditures increasing at an annual rate of about 1 trillion yen and an overstretched healthcare system—drastic structural reform in healthcare and medical care has become an urgent matter. Under the Japan Revitalization Strategy (revised in June 2014) to promote national growth, Japan aims to "extend the nation's healthy life expectancy" while simultaneously sustaining the social security system, providing high-quality healthcare services, and stimulating the healthcare industry in Japan. The government has also enacted the Act on Promotion of Healthcare Policy, which aims to promote medical care using world-class technologies and contribute to economic growth as basic principles, and the Healthcare Policy (July 2014), which incorporates specific measures and emphasizes the importance of applying ICT to medical care. This paper describes the latest policy trends in using ICT in the healthcare, medical care, and nursing care fields with a focus on the Healthcare Policy. ---[Takeshi Onaya, Mariko Taketomi, Hiroki Fujii, Taimu Negishi]

4. New Solutions Using ICT in Clinical Trials and Clinical Research (756 KB): Fujitsu has been providing electronic medical record (EMR) solutions to medical institutions for many years. Now, with the increasing penetration of EMR systems, there is a growing desire to apply the data accumulated from medical consultations and examinations to diagnosis support and to link EMR data with tasks performed in clinical trials and clinical research. Specifically, there are expectations of using information and communications technology (ICT) in trials and research centered about large medical institutions such as university hospitals, of incorporating genome information management in research conducted by faculties of medicine in universities, and of feeding back knowledge so gained to medical practitioners. To enable the practical application of EMR data accumulated over many years, Fujitsu is offering new solutions and working to create new lines of business based on those solutions. This paper describes Fujitsu's approach to next-generation EMR solutions and the use of ICT in linking them with clinical trials and clinical research. It also touches upon Fujitsu's approach to the future with a view to creating a personal health record (PHR) system. ---[Toshihisa Yamaguchi]

5. Health Study Support System Using Windows 8 Tablets —Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization Case Study— (835 KB): The Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization (ToMMo) established by Tohoku University, Japan, is conducting a longitudinal study of the health of residents in the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The aim is to support reconstruction efforts by restoring community medical systems. Fujitsu is contributing to this project through its development of a system for Windows 8 tablets that presently supports seven health testing applications: a basic examination, an eye examination, a color vision test, a dental examination, a dental questionnaire, a clinical psychology examination, and a cognitive psychology examination. This health study support system, developed as a Web application, leverages Fujitsu's know-how in Web system development and facilitates accessibility and usability. It is designed to run health testing applications that are on a Windows Store application form. The system supports the ToMMo study in various ways, such as by improving the accuracy of the test results, enabling collection of data with a higher level of sophistication, reducing the time needed to digitize the test results, and simplifying test implementation. This means that human resources can be more efficiently deployed in comparison with conventional paper-based methodologies. This paper first describes the common structure of the health testing applications and then explains their key features. ---[Tsuyoshi Fujita, Katsuya Tsukada, Hiroaki Yamada]

6. Prospect of ICT Utilization at Core Clinical Research Hospitals (643 KB): One of Fujitsu's endeavors in healthcare is to develop coordinated solutions for medicine and pharmaceuticals, and is focusing on clinical trial research at medical institutions to enhance the development of drugs and medical equipment. Today, Fujitsu aims to develop a stronger system of medical cooperation by introducing the tsClinical DDworks21 series, developed for the pharmaceutical industry, into the existing healthcare product range including the Hope series. They will be used with electronic medical records and other medical information systems. It is also promoting the Fujitsu Healthcare Solution HOPE New Medical Good Clinical Practice (NMGCP), a clinical trial management solution to help trial implementations. Three systems are applied at medical establishments, namely the GCP Management System for managing clinical trials, the Electronic Data Capture (EDC) System for collecting case data, and a warning system for managing side-effect information. The coordinated solution for medicine and pharmaceuticals thus helps to improve the process efficiency in the development of drugs and medical equipment, and renders powerful support for quality management (validation), which is important and in fact essential in this field. This paper describes the development of Fujitsu's coordinated solution that focuses on the clinical trial research at medical practices. It describes its role, effects and future prospects, drawing on the social current in relation primarily to the core clinical research hospitals program. ---[Koki Akahori]

7. Project on Information-support Solution in Emergency Medical Service (948 KB): Recent years have seen reports of incidents in which patients die during emergency patient transfer before reaching hospital to be treated. Further, there are an increasing number of cases to be addressed where ambulances are on site for longer than 30 minutes in search for a hospital with a capacity to receive patients, and this number is predicted to grow further. These are becoming social problems. This paper explains the development of an emergency medical system in Japan and issues regarding the information system in emergency medical services. It also describes some of the projects at Fujitsu that address these issues, including the information-sharing system for an emergency medical service that allows for data-sharing between paramedics and hospital staff to minimize the patient transfer time. Another project at Fujitsu is a system to support emergency medical services for elderly patients, which draws on regional health information exchange (HIE) systems to select an appropriate destination hospital and facilitate preparations for timely acceptance. ---[Takeharu Sonoda, Kenji Ishibai]

Set of Solutions to Realize Japan Revival Strategy (Japan is back)

8. HumanBridge —Cloud Computing Solution for Regional Health Information Exchange: from Preventive Medicine to Regional Comprehensive Care (1.09 MB ): HumanBridge EHR Solution was launched in Japan in 2011 as a cloud-based service in order to share healthcare information between medical facilities. As of July 2014, HumanBridge has been introduced in nearly 400 hospitals. Regional medical network is now considered to have moved into the distribution stage and application of the system is now expanding beyond conventional collaboration between hospitals and clinics. In response to this expansion, Fujitsu continues to develop various features and provide new solutions. This paper describes the features and services of HumanBridge as applied to various areas, such as emergency medical treatment, remote medical care, home-care networks, pharmacy and hospital networks, health information-sharing over a wide area, and regional disease management. It also introduces actual use cases. ---[Yoshiki Tanaka, Kyou Watanabe, Takeshi Yanagihara, Kazuyuki Heishi]

9. Cloud-based Electronic Medical Record System for Small and Medium Hospitals: HOPE Cloud Chart (670 KB): An electronic medical record system allows doctors, nurses and other medical staff to share patient records with great efficiency, while at the same time enabling them to provide medical services that give patients a sense of safety and peace of mind. By leveraging the electronic medical record system in regional medical networks, patient records can also be shared with other hospitals in the same region. In July 2014, Fujitsu launched an electronic medical record system, Fujitsu Healthcare Solution HOPE Cloud Chart, which incorporates standard processes for medical treatment in Japan, and was developed based on Fujitsu's know-how gained through installing systems at more than 600 hospitals. Because HOPE Cloud Chart is a service based on cloud technology, it comes with the advantages of requiring less initial investment and reducing operation and maintenance workload, and it can be quickly installed. This paper describes HOPE Cloud Chart in terms of its features, system configuration, installation method and anticipated benefits. ---[Hiroaki Yamaoka, Takuto Morimoto, Yuusuke Tanaka, Masaaki Tokioka]

10. Nursing Care Cloud Computing Solution towards Construction of Integrated Community Care System (637 KB): The population in Japan is aging at an alarming rate. According to the Annual Report on the Aging Society 2014 by the Cabinet Office of Japan, 31.9 million people were aged 65 or older as of October 2013, while the number of people in this age bracket is estimated to reach as high as 38.78 million in 2042. Given this situation, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare aspires to establish an integrated community care system designed to allow elderly citizens to stay in the communities they are attached to and lead dignified, independent lives. An array of laws are in development, such as the Act for Securing Comprehensive Medical and Long-term Care in the Community that was passed in June 2014. The integrated community care system must address the increasing need for maintaining the quality of nursing care against the background of the growing elderly population requiring care at home. At the same time, it needs to establish a system to enhance efficiency in service provision and information-sharing among key players such as physicians and nursing care providers. This paper describes the efforts at Fujitsu to develop an integrated community care system that is built upon a Fujitsu's solution to assist care providers in their service provision and management. ---[Shinichi Uchida, Teruhide Kuroki, Shuichi Hoshino, Shigeru Ohashi]

11. Developing Biomedical Simulations for Next-generation Healthcare (1.40 MB ): Supercomputers today are applied in ways that go beyond academic research and into diverse fields such as manufacturing and climate/meteorological predictions. Meanwhile, the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in medicine goes only as far as the latest medical equipment such as medical imaging diagnostic systems, or administrative support such as electronic medical record systems. Supercomputers, computer simulation in particular, have developed few practical applications in medical and surgical therapy and healthcare. We believe there is great potential for using computer simulations in this domain, and therefore we are pursuing research and development of several biomedical simulation systems. In this paper, we describe one of our projects, a biomedical simulation system using the heart simulator which has been under development since 2007 in joint collaboration with Specially Appointed Profs. Toshiaki Hisada and Seiryo Sugiura from the Graduate School of the University of Tokyo and their research team. We present an overview of the heart simulator, followed by descriptions of pre-processing and visualization in simulation with accounts of a case of application. Finally, we conclude with issues and future developments in order to realize practical application. ---[Yoshimasa Kadooka, Takashi Iwamura, Machiko Nakagawa, Masahiro Watanabe]

12. Project on Bio-IT for Next-generation Healthcare (701 KB): As part of its computing and simulation technologies in science, Fujitsu has been engaging in R&D of IT-Soyaku (in silico drug design) that makes it possible to generate chemical compound information and search for potentially efficacious materials. A joint research study started in FY2011, conducted with the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology of the University of Tokyo and some pharmaceutical manufacturers. It successfully composed a new compound with high activity that held promise in terms of having possible medical potency. This development was made possible by the improvement of computing capacities such as the K computer, together with enhanced computer simulation technology. New initiatives are already underway to realize the next-generation healthcare system. One such initiative is a project to develop a single-cell diagnostic system. It takes a minute sample of a single cell and manages to measure and analyze component materials, and it has potential to be applied to health check-ups and other areas. Another case is the development of analytical technology for genome data, which is expected to occupy a significant place in future personalized medicine. These projects aim to develop technologies by joint studies with academic and research institutes. In this paper, we introduce some initiatives at Fujitsu in relation to the development of bio-IT, and describe the potential to change future healthcare. ---[Tatsuhiro Yamashita, Nozomu Kamiya, Atsushi Tomonaga, Shunji Matsumoto]

Trends of Overseas Markets and Cases of Activities

13. Introduction of Regional Health Information Network in Vietnam (560 KB): Fujitsu, together with the Fujitsu Research Institute and VNPT-FUJITSU Telecommunication System J.S.C., a Fujitsu group company in Vietnam, recently examined the feasibility of introducing regional health information networks in Vietnam to secure the endorsement of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Vietnam urgently needs to improve regional healthcare services to address the severe shortage of medical resources. The Vietnamese Ministry of Health is greatly interested in deploying a regional health information network to enable medical resources to be deployed more efficiently by sharing data among medical institutions. Vietnamese medical facilities are equipped with an IT infrastructure sufficiently reliable for providing the basis of a regional health information network. This paper describes the need for an information network in Vietnam and presents an overview of the regional health information network and the steps needed for introducing such a network. ---[Narutoshi Sakano]

14. European Union's Growth Strategy for Healthcare (622 KB): The European Union (EU) is investing extensively in healthcare-related research and development as part of its Europe 2020 growth strategy, striving to address such long-term issues as the ageing population and increasing unemployment. Research has been conducted mainly in the areas of understanding chronic disorders—prevalent among people of advanced age—and medical system efficiency. There has also been research on developing new drugs and developing methodologies, tools, and technologies to deliver healthcare adapted to individual needs such as personalised medicine and telemedicine. Horizon 2020, a new framework programme that began in January 2014, builds on previous research on advanced medical technology and includes many open projects related to information and communications technology (ICT) that are focusing on self-reliance support for the elderly, patient self-management, integrative care systems, new diagnostic aids, and other topics. Such efforts are directed toward reducing healthcare costs through the enhancement of data-based medical technology, personalised medical care, and home care systems. In addition, they should generate more employment by creating a data-based healthcare industry. In tandem with the EU's healthcare growth strategy, Fujitsu Laboratories is conducting joint research in Ireland, together with Fujitsu Ireland, to leverage daily health-related data to improve both disease prevention and illness management. This paper presents a summary of research programmes in relation to the EU healthcare growth strategy in terms of their structures and scope, followed by accounts of the joint research project currently being conducted in Ireland by the authors. ---[Yusuke Komaba, Anthony McCauley, Akihiro Inomata, Yoshinori Yaginuma]

Top of Page