Japan turns eye on medical tourism before Olympics

 27-Oct-16, Medical Tourism Magazine

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has announced they will conduct a survey of the nation’s medical infrastructure, specifically to examine how foreign patients use the system. The purpose is to improve Japan’s medical services for foreign patients before the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Image: Medical Tourism Magazine

The survey will extend to approximately 4,000 medical facilities and hospitals, where officials will calculate the total number of foreign patients and which treatments they received; the accessibility of interpreters and facilitators to assist patients.

The survey will also ask municipalities and prefectures to explain what steps they are taking in order to draw foreign patients and the specific problems that they encounter when offering services.

Preliminary results show that foreign patients in Japan have had trouble locating a hospital where they can easily communicate with staff. The hospital staff, conversely, has shown concerns with diagnosing and treating a patient when they cannot communicate effectively with their patients. 

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