Impact of Engagement
Continuing our efforts to communicate the value of investing in health
By John Carlson
Japan faces a very modern problem: its success in delivering universal health coverage and fostering longer life expectancy has led to demographic and social changes that are giving rise to a new set of interconnected healthcare challenges.
As the Japanese government moves to reform its healthcare system to address these challenges, new policy approaches will be necessary. Promoting innovation in all areas of the system will allow for increased healthy life expectancy and improved productivity, helping Japan move to the next phase of economic growth. And all this can be achieved while maintaining Japanese patients’ access to the most cutting-edge medicines, technologies, and treatments, while ensuring the security and stability of health and social care.
With the right approach and policies, Japan can continue to improve the health of its citizens and create a blueprint that aging societies around the world can follow.
More Agile Advocacy
On the back of our successful health and retirement work, the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan Healthcare Committee is now moving forward with our biennial health policy white paper. The upcoming report will look different compared with earlier reports. Previous white papers published by the Healthcare Committee have included topics ranging from the use of advance modeling and simulation in pandemic-related planning to improving cervical cancer screening. However, the wide range of topics made it difficult to maintain an up-to-date and compelling narrative in a single document.
Starting with our next white paper, we plan to create more succinct recommendations that fit with the overall messages of our committee viewpoints. The individual viewpoints will become the tools with which to dig deeper into issues featured in the white paper, thus creating a hybrid set of materials that can be updated regularly and used with greater agility in our advocacy. We are excited about the new format, and appreciate the ongoing contributions of member companies.
In the forthcoming white paper, we plan to explore a range of issues, focusing our recommendations across four key themes:
Investing in prevention, early detection, and treatment of disease
Maximizing healthcare quality and efficiency through digital and data innovation
Developing innovation policy, exploring reimbursement models
Ensuring the financial sustainability of Japan’s healthcare system
We believe that each theme will help Japan chart a path to more sustainable healthcare, and we encourage you to join upcoming Healthcare Committee meetings to learn more about our ongoing efforts and to help us finalize our recommendations.
To help you consider what form those final recommendations should take, here is more information about each of the key themes.
1. Prevention, early detection, treatment
In recent years, the Japanese government has shifted its focus from simply caring for disease to applying the practices of prevention, early detection, and earlier aggressive treatment to reduce overall healthcare expenditure and to sustain the productivity of its citizens. While significant progress has been made, much more could be done.
2. Digital and data innovation to boost quality, efficiency
Recognizing the need for better healthcare data management, the Japanese government has begun to centralize data platforms, accelerate data-driven innovation programs, and strengthen cybersecurity infrastructures to safeguard against external threats.
Yet, despite these efforts, Japan trails other developed countries in the implementation of a comprehensive healthcare data platform. Much more could be done to incentivize better collection and utilization of healthcare-related data.
3. Innovation policy, reimbursement models
In response to calls for the acceleration of healthcare innovation in Japan, the government launched a healthcare innovation initiative in 2014. Since then, the government has pursued several broad initiatives for research and development support, as well as the registration, authorization, commercialization, and evaluation of new healthcare technologies.
Despite this, reforms made to the pricing of, and reimbursement for, innovative medical technologies threaten to undo the progress made over recent years. With the clear purpose of delivering innovative healthcare to people in need, as soon and safely as possible, more could be done to allocate physical, human, and financial resources to maximize the potential for innovation.
4. The healthcare system’s financial sustainability
Japan’s healthcare system is respected around the world for its quality of care and contribution to long life expectancy. However, the aging society and low birthrate are straining a system designed, starting in 1868, primarily to control infectious and acute diseases in a different population structure. Improving the overall financial health of the system will be critical as more of the population ages and the workforce shrinks further.
In recent years, the Japanese government has shifted its focus from simply caring for disease to applying the practices of prevention, early detection, and earlier aggressive treatment to reduce overall healthcare expenditure and to sustain the productivity of its citizens. While significant progress has been made, much more could be done.
John Carlson
Senior strategic assistant to Pharma Japan head
Novartis
Co-chair
ACCJ Healthcare Committee
THE ACCJ JOURNAL
Vol. 58 Issue 7
A flagship publication of The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), The ACCJ Journal is a business magazine with a 58-year history.
Christopher Bryan Jones,
Publisher and editor-in-chief
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