Distribution of telemedicine in Japan

This paper reports the situation of telemedicine in Japan. A comprehensive database search showed that a total of 1,006 telemedicine projects had been implemented from 1997 to 2004. Teleradiology accounted for the largest proportion (37%) of these projects and home-care telemedicine (home telecare) accounted for one third of the total number of projects. The subsequent questionnaire-based survey revealed that 348 projects were active in 2004, indicating a more than twofold increase in the number of ongoing projects from the 151 projects reported in 1997. In particular, the use of home telecare and telepathology has exhibited an approximately fourfold increase since 1997. Telemedicine was most common in remote areas, although approximately 30% of the projects were implemented within urban areas. The number of telemedicine projects peaked twice: in municipalities with populations ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 and in municipalities with populations ranging from 100,000 to 300,000. However, with regard to the population density, there was no characteristic distribution of implementation. The present data suggest that in Japan, there are various population sizes and densities for which telemedicine may be valuable.