Medical Internet exchange project in Japan

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Network Engineering
• Telemedicine

Background:

• Limited telemedicine adoption due to bandwidth and security concerns.
• Existing independent medical networks (e.g., Cancer Information Network, cardiovascular centers) in Japan operate with intranet characteristics.
• Numerous hospitals and clinics connect to the internet via commercial providers, lacking unified secure connectivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a secure and efficient network connecting disparate medical networks and sites.
• To address the low utilization of the internet for telemedicine.
• To create a Medical Network Operation Center for linking medical networks.

Main Methods:

• Development of the Medical Internet eXchange (MDX) project in Japan.
• Establishment of the Medical Internet eXchange Association for administrative policy.
• Utilizing an IP network with an ATM backbone connecting national hospitals.
• Implementing secure network infrastructure including firewalls and defined routing policies.

Main Results:

• Successful operation of the Cancer Information Network and cardiovascular center networks.
• Progress towards connecting all 240 national hospitals via a unified IP network.
• Initiation of the MDX project to bridge existing medical intranets and internet-connected facilities.
• Formation of the Medical Internet eXchange Association to govern the network.

Conclusions:

• The MDX project provides a foundational secure network for telemedicine in Japan.
• Plans are underway for international expansion to Asian-Pacific countries via APAN and globally.
• The project aims to foster a global structure for secure medical networking, addressing current limitations.