医療情報電子化 被災地から全国へ展開したい

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Sep. 27, 2011)
Computerizing medical records will save lives
医療情報電子化　被災地から全国へ展開したい（9月26日付・読売社説）

The March 11 disaster has thrown into sharp relief the importance of making medical information such as clinical records digitally available.
　東日本大震災では、カルテなどの診療情報を電子化することの重要性も浮き彫りになった。

The lesson must be reflected in future medical reforms.
この教訓を今後の医療改革に生かすべきだ。

Medical records at many hospitals along the Tohoku coast were lost in the huge tsunami.
　沿岸部で多くの病院が津波によってカルテを失った。

Even when their patients were taken in by other hospitals, it took some time for doctors to determine the most effective treatments because there was little information on hand about the patients' ailments, such as high blood pressure, and prescription drug records.
別の病院で患者を受け入れても、高血圧などの病歴や投薬歴が分からず、有効な治療ができるまで相当な時間を費やした。

Such a lack of medical information was also one of the major difficulties faced by doctors from across the country when they gathered at evacuation centers.
　避難所で全国から駆けつけた医師らが苦闘したのも、そんな要因が大きかったと言える。

The lives of more disaster victims could have been saved if records of their examinations and treatments had been quickly confirmed online.
　もし、被災者の健康診断データや、医療機関で受けてきた検査と治療内容を、どこでもパソコンで確認できれば、より多くの命が助かったことだろう。

In its own disaster reconstruction plan, Miyagi Prefecture put forth "a medical integration plan utilizing information and communication technology."
　宮城県は、県独自の震災復興計画の中で「情報通信技術を活用した医療連携の構築」を掲げた。

The prefecture is divided into seven medical regions, each with its own core hospital, but the plan calls for making information about clinical records, prescriptions and nursing care electronically available and administering it in a streamlined fashion for all regions through a data center.
　県内七つの医療圏ごとに、カルテや調剤、介護などの情報を電子化し、データセンターで一元的に管理する。

Authorized medical institutions and nursing care facilities would be able to access the information online via an Internet service.
情報を見る許可を得た医療機関や介護施設などが、インターネットを経由して閲覧できる仕組みを作る。

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Govt support vital

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is considering subsidizing the application of cloud computing to medical records.
This would be a move in the right direction, and we urge the ministry to give it sufficient support.
　総務省が「医療情報のクラウド化」とも呼ばれるこの構想を、補助金などで支援することを検討しているのは妥当だ。しっかり後押ししてもらいたい。

Electronically available medical information is useful not only in times of disaster but also in ordinary times.
　電子化された医療情報は、災害時だけでなく平時にも役立つ。

For example, cooperation between major hospitals and nearby clinics and between home-visit nurses and nursing care services could be made easier.
　たとえば、大病院と身近な診療所、訪問看護と介護サービスなどが連携しやすくなる。

Superfluous medical examinations and inconsistent drug prescriptions could be averted.
検査や投薬の重複も防げるだろう。

Patients taken to hospitals for emergency treatment could receive the most appropriate treatment more quickly.
救急病院に担ぎ込まれたケースでも、適切に処置できる可能性が高まる。

Computerization of medical information would also be helpful in regions suffering from a shortage of doctors. 　医師不足に苦しむ地域医療の現状を、改善する方向にもつながるはずだ。

More integrated record-keeping among medical institutions would make it less necessary for local governments to maintain major central hospitals, thus facilitating a more efficient dispersal of personnel.
医療機関の連携が進むことで自治体がそれぞれ大きな病院を維持する必要性は薄れ、人材を効果的に配置できる。

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A medical reform drive

The shortage of doctors is most serious in disaster-damaged areas.
　被災地は全国の中でも医師不足が深刻だ。

This is one of the reasons behind Miyagi Prefecture's call for computerization of medical treatment information in its rebuilding plan.
宮城県が復興計画に医療の電子化を掲げた理由の一つはそこにある。

Iwate and Fukushima prefectures must make similar efforts.
岩手、福島両県も同様の取り組みが必要になろう。

Computerization of medical information had been called for since before the March 11 disaster.
The government's IT Strategic Headquarters, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry and the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, among others, have been trying to achieve such a system.
　医療情報の電子化は震災前から必要性が叫ばれ、政府のＩＴ戦略本部や総務省、厚生労働省などが実現を図ってきた。

But actual progress so far has been limited to trailblazing hospitals and local governments.
しかし、まだ先駆的な病院や自治体などで行われているに過ぎない。

Of course, sufficient measures must be taken to protect personal information.
　無論、個人情報保護に十分な対策を講じなければならない。

High costs and other challenges must be overcome. But the creation of an online medical information on a prefectural basis would be a significant achievement.
システムの構築には相当な費用がかかるなど課題は多いが、医療情報の電子化が県単位で実現すれば、その意義は大きい。

We hope reforms in medical record-keeping, beginning in disaster-devastated areas, will spread throughout the country.
　被災地から全国へ、医療改革の道筋をつけたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 26, 2011)
（2011年9月26日01時04分 読売新聞）