Towards a national patient card system in Japan

Patient Card Systems (PCS) have been applied on a regional level to improve access to patient information. However, current projects lack a vision of future integration on a national level. In addition, Integrated Circuit cards and optical cards were introduced without considering that their cost and capacity limits impose significant constraints for future integration. The major arguments against PCS are the huge costs incurred by such a system and the limitations of the card capacities. In addition, standards and legislation have not been sufficiently developed. In this study, we propose a new model of PCS that employs recent communication and card technologies as a key to access a national medical information center. We demonstrate that PCS are feasible if implemented in several distinct phases and if the acceptance and cooperation of physicians and patients are achieved. However, political consensus about the necessity of reform in the health care sector must be established so that the necessary legislation can be enacted.