Using an information linkage tool (suitable for medical and long‑term care at home) to help provide services smoothly (2/2)

Using ICT to support the construction of an integrated community care system

Using community connections to support the lives of long‑term care recipients

There are regional differences in the aging situation. Even if a person is in severe need of nursing care, an integrated community care system that is tailored to the actual situation of the area is needed in order for the person to live in their own way in the community familiar to them.

Supporting the construction of an integrated community care system in the cloud

Hitachi has achieved sharing of information in the cloud among long‑term care recipients, their families, and stakeholders across multiple disciplines. This enabled smooth collaboration, which both improves the efficiency of medical and care operations and also improves the quality of that care. In addition, we have reduced the risk of identity theft and unauthorized access by strengthening security through encryption of communications and multi‑factor authentication, thereby enabling the construction of highly secure integrated community care systems.

For local governments, Hitachi can provide mechanisms to securely share data held by the local governments via the cloud. We can enable information collaboration among stakeholders and can improve the efficiency of home care services. In addition, since local government data includes information unique to the region, it is possible to build an integrated community care system that suits the actual situation of the region. For details of cloud solutions for local governments, see ICT Solution for Community‑based Care System (in Japanese).

With private customers, as in the case of the Hankyu Hanshin Minatowa project, which will be introduced below, we have been advancing the collaborative creation of community‑based services while listening to opinions and requests from long‑term care recipients, their families, and stakeholders.

Hankyu Hanshin Minatowa: Connecting for peace of mind

Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc. (hereinafter abbreviated to HHH Inc.) is working to create the means to extend healthy life expectancy and to enable people to live to a rewarding old age. In collaboration with Hitachi, HHH Inc. is working on the Hankyu Hanshin Minatowa (hereinafter abbreviated to HH‑Minatowa) system which is currently being deployed. HH‑Minatowa is a community‑based comprehensive care support service that supports the provision of optimal long‑term care services while safely handling personal information based on the consent of the long‑term care recipients.

Origin of the term Minatowa

In Japanese, Minatowa is a made‑up term with multiple meanings. Minatowa can mean “a circle with everyone,” which expresses the image of connecting the stakeholders who support long‑term care recipients in one networking ring. In addition, towa can mean eternity, which represents the permanence of the system. Also, wa can mean harmony or cooperation among people.

What can be done with HH‑Minatowa

• Share documents
  Users can share documents in the cloud, thereby reducing the time it formerly took to send faxes, etc. and reducing the amount of paper and printing costs. Users with required permissions can securely browse documents anytime, anywhere.
• Create and share records
  Users can create records, such as records of daily vital signs, and share the data by using photos and videos. This reduces operational workloads and facilitates information sharing.
• Schedule meetings and adjust schedules
  In a single operation, users can send event announcements and candidate dates and times to all persons who will attend a meeting, which reduces the time required to adjust the schedule. There is no need for separate interactions for each individual.
• Manage IDs centrally
  A representative user in an office becomes an administrator, and can centrally manage not only the IDs of all users but also all equipment. Administrators can quickly add or delete IDs if someone joins a group or resigns, and can quickly suspend use of a device (such as a smartphone) if the device is lost.

In addition, the customer center supports registration of information into HH‑Minatowa and supports training workshops using actual machines. We have a support team (an organizational structure) in place to help users and organizations start quickly.

Effects of introducing HH‑Minatowa

We interviewed care managers who use HH‑Minatowa and then analyzed their responses and performed calculations. The results show how much HH‑Minatowa can reduce the time required for administrative work by care managers, which equates to a corresponding increase in the time available for care of long‑term care recipients. The results also show how much HH‑Minatowa can contribute to reforming the work style of care managers.

• Before HH‑Minatowa was introduced
  Communicating with the families of long‑term care recipients and with all the stakeholders took up about 40% of care managers’ work. The care managers spent a lot of time and effort coordinating information among parties and making adjustments, and often needed to make many phone calls and send faxes to every stakeholder.
• After HH‑Minatowa was introduced
  Sharing data improved communication efficiency and saved up to 22 workhours per month. The breakdown is as follows.

• Daily communication of information with each stakeholder, etc.: Reduction of approximately 14 hours/month
• Preparation (information gathering, etc.) before visits: Reduction of approximately 6 hours/month
• Coordination of meetings where various stakeholders gathered: Reduced by approximately 2 hours/month

Starting a demonstration project aimed at preventing the worsening of diseases and preventing recurrence

HHH Inc. and Hitachi have agreed to expand and deepen their HH‑Minatowa initiatives. With the cooperation of the Osaka City Miyakojima Medical Association, we have started a demonstration project aimed at preventing the worsening and recurrence of heart failure, diabetes, and osteoporosis by utilizing a PHR^*2 app and a Community Cooperation Handbook.

HH‑Minatowa is linked to the PHR app, which can collect and utilize information on patient health, medical care, and long‑term care, and is also linked with the Community Cooperation Handbook for heart failure patients. This enables the families and stakeholders involved in medical care and long‑term care to understand the patients’ situations in a timely manner. By entering vital‑signs data and questionnaire results into the PHR app or Community Cooperation Handbook, patients themselves obtain a higher awareness for self‑management. In addition, by sharing the entered data quickly, safely, and reliably with medical institutions and long‑term care offices via HH‑Minatowa, it becomes possible to consider the optimum treatment and care.

In the demonstration project, we will verify the feasibility of this system with regard to the following two points.

• Improving the QOL (quality of life) of patients and their families
  The project will check whether, and to what extent, patient self‑management and sharing information among stakeholders prevents the worsening and recurrence of diseases and improves the QOL of patients and their families.
• Reducing the workload at medical and long‑term care sites
  The project will check whether, and to what extent, digitizing daily administrative tasks (observing, recording, reporting, etc.) reduces the workload at medical and long‑term care sites.

Based on the results obtained from this demonstration project, we plan to proceed with the next demonstration project.

• Supporting the provision of medical measures in collaboration with local governments
  The project will apply this system to support EBPM (evidence‑based policy making), in which policymaking and delivery of government services is based on data.
• Enabling quantitative evaluations of the effectiveness of services
  The project will examine the appropriate provision of services necessary for patients, such as services related to social participation, exercise, medication, and sleep guidance, and will provide the means to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of such services.

In the future, through DX (digital transformation) in the healthcare field, HHH Inc. and Hitachi will continue to contribute to the development of medical businesses and businesses that reduce the need for long‑term care, while contributing to the development of the means to extend healthy life expectancy and of communities. HHH Inc. and Hitachi have the goal of developing service businesses in this field by using the PFS (pay for success) model. In the PFS model, government services are outsourced to private businesses and the remuneration paid is determined according to how much medical costs are optimized.

*2

PHR is an acronym for Personal Health Record. This is an electronic medical record that keeps information regarding an individual’s health, medical care, and long‑term care throughout their lives.

For details on our solutions, see the following webpages.