24-Oct-16 Leading Singaporean medical service provider Raffles Medical Group is eager to enlarge its footprint in Japan, encouraged by the success of the clinic it launched in Osaka in 2015. The facility has received a steady flow of patients thanks to the large number of Chinese tourists visiting the city. [image: Nikkei Asian Review]

27-Oct-16 The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor & Welfare announced it will conduct a survey of medical infrastructure to examine how foreign patients use the system. The purpose is to improve medical services for foreign patients before the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Preliminary results show foreign patients have had trouble locating a hospital where they can communicate with staff. [image: Medical Tourism Magazine]

12-Oct-16 Hoya Corp is to buy Performance Optics for USD476 mn. “Performance Optics provides Hoya with additional capabilities in polycarbonate, photochromic and polarized lens technologies, as well as an expansion of our global footprint,” Hoya Vision Care CEO Girts Cimermans said. Performance Optics has manufacturing facilities in the US, Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.

21-Oct-16 Keio University Hospital, one of Japan’s most prestigious medical institutions, has rolled out a network that facilitates collaboration between basic research and clinical healthcare. The new network is based on NEC's Software-Defined Networking, used to integrate networks that were divided between electronic charts and other medical care systems and basic research systems, and then connect these networks whenever necessary. [image: Keio University Hospital]

20-Oct-16 The first Japanese private hospital has opened in Cambodia, aimed to reduce the flow of Cambodian patients to neighboring countries. The hospital provides a 52-bed health service with more than 100 staff, of whom 30% are Japanese. Some 150,000 Cambodians travel abroad annually for health treatment, spending around USD600 mn. Vietnam and Thailand are their main destinations. [image: KYODO / The Japan Times]