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]

31-Aug-16  Japanese ophthalmology specialist Santen Pharmaceutical has announced the start of operations of its joint venture with state-owned Chinese group Chongqing Kerui. This partnership, which will involve the establishment of China’s largest manufacturing site for eye care treatments in the city of Chongqing, promises to provide people in China with affordable ophthalmic products. [image: Santen Pharmaceutical]