Japan sees its population ageing faster than any other countries in the world. The
government finds it more and more difficult in providing the sustainable health care
at affordable costs. The overhauling of the healthcare system is a solution to the
problem but it takes considerable time and the government has chosen less
burdensome approach – Shift from care at traditional hospital settings to
home health care. It increases the payout from national health insurance to
distribute more money to home health care and sets up more bases to provide such
care.
ICT plays a role to facilitate the move. Latest technological development makes it
possible to provide efficient, quality and timely home health care. The market of
ICT-based home health care is expected to double from JPY 11.8 billion (€90
million1
) in 2012 to 26 billion (€200 million) in 2020. Buoyed by the government
support, many players are entering the market with innovative services and
devices. Considering a number of pilot projects using ICT in progress by
municipalities tying up with academia and private companies, the market is
expected to grow substantially when the actual services are launched. This report
gives an overview of the ICT-based home health care market including the size
of the market by categories of services and devices. It also sketches the trend of
the market, information on the domestic market including major players and some
hints for entering the market