Japan Expands Online Medical Consultations Triggered by COVID-19... Permanent Approval Under Consideration

"Plan to Fully Allow Initial Consultations Based on Telemedicine"

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Japan is pushing for a system change to allow online medical consultations permanently in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 11th, the Japanese government reaffirmed its policy to continue allowing online medical consultations, including first-time visits, even after the COVID-19 outbreak ends.

On the 9th, Takuya Hirai, Minister in charge of Digital Reform, Taro Kono, Minister in charge of Administrative Reform, and Norihisa Tamura, Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, stated in an online press conference that "based on safety and reliability, we will in principle lift restrictions including for first-time visits," expressing their stance on online medical consultations.

However, online consultations conducted via telephone will be excluded from the scope, and in principle, only video-based online consultations will be permitted. Regarding this, Minister Hirai explained, "Having more information allows for diagnoses and treatments without mistakes." Currently, telephone consultations are recognized as a form of online medical consultation, but once COVID-19 is under control, the special measure allowing online consultations will continue on the premise that methods not using video will be excluded.

Online medical consultations were introduced in Japan quite early. Japan first recognized online consultations for remote areas such as isolated islands in 1997, expanded it to general medical consultations in 2015, and began insurance coverage in 2018.

In principle, online consultations for first-time patients were prohibited, but as COVID-19 spread, conditional approval was granted in March this year for mild or asymptomatic patients, and in April, as a COVID-19 special measure, online consultations including first-time visits were fully permitted until the COVID-19 situation is resolved.

Regarding this, while the Japanese medical community is not entirely opposed, it is reported that there are opinions urging caution about permanently allowing online first-time consultations. On the 24th of last month, Toshio Nakagawa, Chairman of the Japan Medical Association, said at a press conference, "The risks of diagnosing someone for the first time online cannot be underestimated," but also stated, "We will discuss and expand what is possible one by one."

The newspaper also reported concerns that if online medical consultations become widespread, patients may flock only to hospitals with good reputations regardless of distance, causing financial difficulties for other hospitals.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.