2. THE TELEHEALTH SYSTEM
The telehealth systems of Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture; Nishiaizu Town and
Katsurao Village, Fukushima Prefecture; and Sangawa Town, Kagawa Prefecture
mentioned earlier are basically the same, and here we take Kamaishi City, Iwate
Prefecture as an example, which started its telehealth system in 1993, for it has one of
the longest records of implementation. In addition, the system comprises a medical
corporation named Rakuzankai which operates the system at a monthly charge of 2,500
yen (approximately US$20) per family up to four persons, and a users’ association
which conducts many events to promote usage. Since it uses the CATV network, the
transmission charges are free. The peripheral device used by Kamaishi City called
“Urara,” is manufactured by Nasa Corporation. The device is equipped with memory,
an electric sphygmomanometer, electro-cardiograph, electric signboard, and button for
answering questions. At the hospital, nurses check transmitted data and report to the
doctor as well as its users, whenever they notice abnormal symptoms. The hospital
sends monthly reports to all users with comments, which are used for their health management. There are 211 devices and the total number of users is 348 (as of
October 2000).
Table 1 provides the basic comparison of the four systems. In regions other than
Kamaishi City, the local governments own and operate their systems; that is, they are
operated by tax money. Three regions except Katsurao Village involve medical
doctors in the systems, but in Katsurao only public nurses take care of the system.