FOR MEDICAL
INSTITUTIONS

　As Japan’s population will decrease in the future, we believe that medical services relying only on domestic medical service fees will reach an impasse in maintaining the functions of the hospital as a corporation and continuing community healthcare services. We thus started to accept patients mainly from China and Southeast Asia.
　We first started acceptance of health checkups and gradually expanded to treatment to address demands of people who want to receive treatment of diseases identified during the health checkups in Japan. We accepted the first medical tourist in 2014.
　We have improved our system in line with acceptance of patients. We established a committee for medical tourism before accepting the first medical tourists but had to comply with various demands of actually accepted patients. We thus have gained experience with each patient and responded accordingly.

　In our hospital, the department dedicated to acceptance of overseas patients, the “International Medical Division,” when receiving inquiries, notifies the International Medical Care Unit, which in turn judges the possibility of acceptance in each case. The key factor lies in patient information. The International Medical Care Unit talks with physicians based on the information. Once the patient is accepted, the process proceeds with the specified procedure. It is critical at the first stage to obtain much precise information, such as the patient's current condition, medical history, and past treatment in the country of residence. Therefore, we hear requests of physicians and obtain precise information about patients and their requests so as to focus on enhancing patient satisfaction.
　You need not worry about languages. Staff members fluent in English, Chinese, Indonesian, Spanish, and Portuguese are stationed to help you. As an interpretation means necessary to support lives in the Hospital, we are fully equipped with POCKETALK, an AI translator. If you cannot communicate with the hospital staff even with POCKETALK, you may utilize our interpreter over the phone and can stay at the Hospital without concern.

　Our departments have provided technical guidance in overseas countries and accepted foreign physicians/surgeons for training at our hospital, and our acceptance of medical tourists started with requests of overseas patients for medical care in such departments.
　In addition, many foreign residents live near the Hospital and often visit the Hospital for daily care. We have not determined whether to be actively involved in medical tourism but have an intention to help overseas patients if they want or need to receive our medical care by visiting the Hospital. For example, we have had patients who wanted to receive “treatment for burns” and actually visited the Hospital. We are dedicated to accepting overseas medical tourists in a similar manner to accepting Japanese patients.

　In determining acceptance, the medical coordination operator contacts our Regional Medical Liaison/Consultation Office (Patient Support Office) about the request, and we receive Patient Referral Documents, etc. from the operator and determine whether one of our departments can accept the patient. The “Medical Tourism Committee” discusses the possibility of acceptance, and the Manager’s Meeting determines whether to the accept the patient.
　The existence of the Medical Tourism Committee makes the hospital staff feel protected by the Hospital and tries to form a consensus among those who actually deal with the patient, fostering a positive atmosphere of cooperation among each other as an organization in unison.

　After acceptance of an overseas patient is determined, we then must study how we can organize the environment. Preparation of interpreters poses a major problem. Even when a family member or a friend says that he/she can act as an interpreter, for example, we cannot verify whether the content and details are properly conveyed to the patient or whether only favorable matters are conveyed. While physicians and surgeons explain with figures and illustrations, the explanation should first be understood by the medical interpreter in order to convey it to the patient. In the case of failure in communication, a problem may arise from ‘what was said or not said’ once some kind of trouble happens. We have used a telemedical interpretation service, but we encountered many problems due to the highly technical contents of explanations, such as explanations of surgeries.
　When we accept patients via international medical coordination operators, they dispatch interpreters as needed, and we can avoid the above-mentioned problems. When we decide to accept a foreign patient in a difficult situation, including an emergency, we still recognize that medical interpretation is an issue.
　In addition, we have encountered various problems due to different customs when we have handled overseas patients in the same manner as Japanese patients, and therefore we have been improving the documents, such as informed consent forms for surgeries and examinations. To prevent accounts receivable problems related to medical fees, we keep in mind the fact that we must notify the estimated cost in advance and then proceed with the treatment.

　About 80% of medical tourists are from China. They often send inquiries to the Hospital via their acquaintances or relatives living in Japan. When receiving an inquiry, we usually ask the inquirer about the overseas patient’s “current place of residence, disease name, and medical condition.” In addition, we explain expenses in advance to prevent problems after they visit Japan. Once we confirm their intention to receive treatment with all details explained, we accept the patient with support from international medical coordination operators in terms of procedures for the visit.
　Patients accepted with no support from international medical coordination operators are difficult for the Hospital to provide appropriate medical care since their background and medical conditions are in many cases unclear. The Hospital can usually accept patients with no anxiety if supported by international medicala coorination operators.
　In accepting overseas patients, various non-medical follow-ups for the stay are required and can be outsourced to international medical coordination operators so that the Hospital can concentrate on treatment and thus provide medical care smoothly.

　For those who are actively serving as top leaders in various fields in North Amerca, Europe, and Asia centered around China, we provide highly accurate health checkups and advanced medical care. Since many medical tourists are active players in various areas, our dedicated section, the “International Medical Center,” accepts them with security and privacy properly protected. We also provide waiting rooms and examination rooms to accommodate a large number of accompanying persons, including children, other family members, and interpreters.
　We ask medical tourists in stable condition or those undergoing health checkups to stay in special rooms. Since special rooms are equipped with a small kitchen, many patients cook by themselves, and international medical coordination operators sometimes prepare tableware or the like for them.

　Before the COVID-19 pandemic, demands for medical checkups were high among Chinese patients, in particular, and we devoted our efforts to establish facilities and systems where overseas travelers can stop by in satisfying the demands.
　In the past, we consulted overseas travel agents and conducted tours including health checkups so that tourists could undergo health checkups at our hospital in Ichinomiya City in between sightseeing in Nagoya or Gifu.
　Now that COVID-19 infection has been categorized as Class 5, recovery of foreign tourists is expected. Chinese people are still highly interested in health checkups in Japan, and many visit on tours to Japan. Expecting an increase in inbound tourism, we thus try to work on acceptance of overseas patients and provide Japanese medical care based on reliable checkups.