Summary of Research Findings

There are various PHR services available today, which are digital services (mostly smart apps) that deal with PHR (Personal Health Record). In addition to B2C services that enable individuals to record and manage their health information (weight, steps, diet, sleep, blood pressure, etc.), B2B2C PHR services that provide services to individuals through medical institutions, health insurance societies, and local governments are increasing in the last few years.

Major B2B2C PHR service includes “PHR services for medical examination centers” (apps to view medical checkup results), “electronic maternity records” (apps to view maternity records), “PHR services for health insurance association” (apps to view medical receipts, find medical checkup information, etc.), “PHR/PRM services for hospitals” (apps to view clinical records/prescription records, check wait time at hospital, etc.), “inspection PHR services for clinics” (apps to view specimen data, etc.), and “services to share PHR to medical institutions” (apps to share personally recorded data to medical institutions).

Noteworthy Topics

PHR and Personal Data Trust Bank

In 2018, the “Study Group for Certification Scheme of Information Trust Functions” under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) drafted the first version of “Guidelines on Certification of Information Trust Functions” (ver. 3.0 was issued in July 2023). The guideline defined the personal data trust banks as “a mechanism with the objective of increasing effective involvement of individuals (controllability) in use of personal data and promoting the distribution and use of personal data, which allows individuals to entrust their personal data to trusted entities that may provide this data to a third party within a scope agreed by the individuals concerned”.

In the same year, the Information Technology Federation of Japan (IT Renmei) established a certification scheme for Personal Data Trust Banks (although such banks are not required to be certified). There are two types of certifications: “Standard Certification” is for Personal Data Trust Bank that is already in operation, and “P-Certification” is for business preparing to start Personal Data Trust Bank service, which ensures its operation plan and organization structure are ready for the launch. As of October 2023, DataSign (service name: “paspit”) is the only one that has earned “Standard Certification”. MILIZE (service provisionally called “insurance data bank service”), Chubu Electric Power (service provisionally called “regional trust data bank”), and DNP (service name: “FitStats”) obtained “P-Certification”.

In addition to a large company like DNP, startups that excels in blockchain technology are entering the market of Personal Data Trust Bank that relates to PHR. Given the fact that some companies have already declared their entry into the market, while others have indicated their intention to do so, the market has a lot of potential to grow.

Research Outline