Conference Presentations
The information systems management committee (SE committee), composed of TIS staff and systems engineers from Tokushukai Group hospitals,
actively participates in and presents at academic conferences, including the Joint Conference on Medical Informatics.
This page introduces the preparation process and examples of our presentations.
Benefits of Academic Activity
- Share Your Work and Results
Conferences offer a valuable opportunity to introduce your everyday work and activities to colleagues in the same and other professions, as well as external companies. - Review Your Activities
Preparing a presentation involves organising and reviewing the background, purpose, methods and results of your work. - Practise Presenting
At conferences, you may need to explain your work in terms understandable to people outside healthcare IT. This is a useful opportunity to practise presenting clearly within a limited time. - Build Motivation for Systems Engineering
Recognition and interest from others can motivate future work. - Discuss Ideas with Other Hospitals and Professions
Questions and answers after a presentation help you reflect on and refine your work. - Gather Information
Conferences bring together healthcare professionals and engineers from companies, providing different perspectives and insights into work in related research areas. - Make New Connections
Meeting participants face to face enables closer exchange. Listening to presentations of interest may also lead to collaboration or business opportunities. - Build a Record of Achievement
Poster and oral presentations become part of your professional record and can be listed on a CV or record of achievements.
Preparing a Presentation(Joint Conference on Medical Informatics)
- April
- TIS and the SE committee select topics and prepare draft short abstracts.
- May
- Finalise the presentation topic.
- June
- Submit a short abstract to the conference.
- August
- Submit a detailed abstract.
- October
- Prepare the poster and presentation materials.
- November
- Present at the conference.
Presentation Examples: Fukuoka, November 2024
Improving Stocktaking Efficiency with a Mobile Application
Challenges in Pharmaceutical Inventory Management
Our Group uses the MEDITIS pharmaceutical ordering and inventory management system at 75 facilities. Medicines are stored and managed on shelves in various departments, including pharmacies and laboratories.
Previously, stocktaking followed this process:
- Print stocktake worksheets from the system and distribute them to departments.
- Staff count stock and record quantities on the worksheets.
- Collect the worksheets and manually enter the results into the system.
- Track progress using a control sheet.
This approach presented several challenges:
- Paper management: printing, storing and managing worksheets took time.
- Data registration: results had to be entered manually from the worksheets.
- Input errors: checking and correcting manual entry errors took time.
- Staffing: working in pairs to ensure accuracy required more staff.
Developing a Mobile Stocktaking Application
To address these issues, we developed a stocktaking application for mobile devices.
Although existing products were available, we developed a new application to integrate smoothly with MEDITIS and incorporate the Group's own operating rules.
Our aim was to enable consistent processes and standards across Group hospitals.
Results of the Mobile Application
Introducing the application produced the following benefits:
- Less Paper and Administrative Work
Printed worksheets no longer need to be produced, stored or managed, and manual re-entry into the system is unnecessary. - Fewer Input Errors
Direct data integration eliminated errors caused by manual re-entry. - Standardised Workflows
System-controlled operating rules removed differences in interpretation and human error, enabling consistent operation across the Group.
The application has made a substantial contribution to improving pharmaceutical inventory management at Group hospitals.
We plan to refine stocktaking functions and develop support for other tasks, such as ordering and receipt inspection.
Developing Real-Time Integration between Electronic Patient Diaries and Medical Records
Connecting Patients' Voices with Clinical Information
Patient-reported outcomes (PROs), in which patients report their own symptoms and experiences, have become increasingly important. Electronic PROs (ePROs) make it possible to monitor day-to-day changes in real time and provide more attentive support.
Electronic Patient Diaries: Adoption and Challenges
In the United States and other countries, electronic patient diaries—a form of ePRO—have been introduced particularly in oncology. Patients record symptoms and adverse effects, helping healthcare professionals understand their condition more fully.
Collaboration between hospital and community pharmacists is also important in cancer care, supporting patients across the community.
Information sharing previously relied largely on fax, making electronic integration difficult and limiting efficiency. The Tokushukai Group therefore began introducing electronic patient diaries to support patient self-care and smoother pharmacy collaboration.
Developing an Integration Application
With the existing system, hospital pharmacists had to copy chemotherapy information from electronic medical records into the electronic patient diary, creating a substantial burden.
Treatment plans needed for pharmacy collaboration were also prepared manually in tools such as Excel, requiring time to transcribe regimen information and test results.
We developed an application that links electronic medical record information with electronic patient diaries and enables efficient preparation of treatment plans.
Results and Future Outlook
The application allows hospitals and community pharmacies to share chemotherapy regimens and medication follow-up reports alongside patients' own assessments. This helps them understand daily changes in symptoms and provide continuous, coordinated support in the community.
Improving Patient Satisfaction with a Patient Application across the Tokushukai Group
Waiting Times: A Major Source of Patient Dissatisfaction
Have you ever felt exhausted by a long wait at a hospital? Many patients are dissatisfied with hospital waiting times.
A Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare survey found that approximately 24% of outpatients were dissatisfied with the wait before consultation.
A Japan Medical Association survey also found that approximately 37% were dissatisfied with waiting times. These findings show that waiting can substantially reduce patient satisfaction.
Hospitals have tried various approaches to improve waiting times, including:
- Queue Display Systems
These show how many people are ahead in the queue. However, without an estimated time until their turn, patients still need to wait near the consultation room, leaving waiting areas crowded. - Appointment Systems
Even with appointments, emergency patients and testing schedules often cause delays, so appointments alone have not adequately addressed waiting times.
Our HOSPA Application
TIS worked with Group hospitals and affiliated companies to develop HOSPA, a smartphone application for patients. (https://hospa.tokushukai.or.jp/)
HOSPA notifies patients on their smartphones when their turn is approaching, freeing them from waiting directly outside the consultation room.
Results and Future Outlook
A survey of HOSPA users confirmed some reduction in the stress associated with waiting.
The function for checking the next appointment was also widely used.
We aim to improve patient satisfaction further by expanding the functions and sharing HOSPA's benefits and use across Group hospitals.
Using a Medical Questionnaire System and Sharing Real-Time Progress in Tokushukai Clinical Research
Challenges in Clinical Research
The Tokushukai Group is conducting clinical research on COVID-19. Such research is essential for discoveries that benefit patients, but involves many tasks, including patient registration, follow-up and progress reporting.
Experienced hospitals can manage these tasks relatively smoothly, but structures and capabilities varied across the Group.
At hospitals less familiar with research, the workload was substantial, and data entry errors and missed reports occurred. These problems could reduce research quality and prevent hospitals from participating even when they wished to.
Improving Efficiency and Data Quality through Systems
We focused on electronic collection of study data. Using medical questionnaire systems and other tools, we built a system for electronically registering and collecting patient information.
Introducing the system brought the following benefits:
- Reduced Hospital Workload
Less paper-based communication and data organisation allowed hospital staff to focus on patients. - Improved Data Quality
Fewer input errors and misunderstandings of responses enabled more accurate data collection. - Real-Time Progress Monitoring
Collected data is automatically aggregated and shared, making research progress visible in real time.
The aim was to improve both operational efficiency and data quality.
Accelerating Research and Strengthening Collaboration
The system reduced the administrative burden of research management, allowing hospitals to focus on enrolling patients. Real-time visibility and sharing of registration status enabled quicker follow-up by the research office, faster decisions at hospitals and headquarters, and easier participation by additional hospitals. This created an environment for collecting more cases and substantially accelerated the research.
Archive
FY2023
FY2022
FY2021
- Joint research with Shonan Fujisawa Tokushukai Hospital: “A Machine Learning Early Warning System (ML-EWS) to Predict In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest,” 23rd Congress of the Japan Society for Health Care Management, Osaka, June 2021.
- Joint research with Shonan Fujisawa Tokushukai Hospital: “Exploring a Machine-Learning Model to Predict Severe COVID-19,” 41st Joint Conference on Medical Informatics, Nagoya, November 2021.
Contact Us
Contact the Tokushukai Information System Department about these conference presentations.
Contact Us by Phone
06-6346-2821
Weekdays, 9:00–17:00 (development team)