Market Overview

This research targeted ICT solutions for long-term care that are designed to increase productivity in long-term care insurance claims (reimbursements) and reduce the workloads of care staff, including long-term care systems, functional training support systems, pick-up and drop-off support systems, electronic billing and receipt systems, and intercommunication systems. The market size of ICT for long-term care in FY2023 (as a total of 5 fields) is estimated at 35,028 million yen, based on the sales figures of domestic manufacturers and service providers.

In addition to long-term care systems, there is an increasing demand for other solutions related to long-term care, such as pick-up and drop-off support systems, electronic billing and receipt systems, and intercommunication systems. Consequently, vendors of long-term care systems are progressively collaborating with service providers of these systems. With subsidies that support and fund installations continuing for FY2024, the promotion of ICT system installations at long-term care facilities will be advanced further.

Noteworthy Topics

Trends Pertaining to Functional Training Support Systems

Functional training support systems are designed to assist reimbursement claims for long-term care insurance, such as for individual functional training and the implementation of the Scientific Care Information System (LIFE). Target users are primarily daycare services for the aged, outpatient rehabilitation (daycare), intensive care homes for the aged, long-term care health facilities, and the rental service of equipment for long-term care covered by public aid. These systems are particularly employed at facilities that lack specialists for long-term care insurance claims or have limited experience in insurance claims, and facilities that aim to decrease workloads and enhance efficiency in paperwork.
Functional training support systems include systems assisting operation in general, such as user evaluation/assessment, care plan creation, nursing record management and scheduling, as well as specialized systems such as AI-powered system that can evaluate/assess physical function status using video and audio.

The government policy requires long-term care providers to provide functional training, oral health management, and nutrition care all in one, from the viewpoint of fostering independent living for seniors and preventive care.
Given the circumstances, the number of long-term care facilities that distinguish themselves by the quality of care services, while gaining experience in insurance claims —not only for functional training but also for oral health management, nutritional care, and the LIFE system —is projected to rise.
Consequently, providers of functional training support systems are anticipated to enhance the variety of systems that caters to the needs of these facilities.  

Future Outlook

Long-term care systems have traditionally been developed separately for each type of care service, reflecting differences in insurance claims, documentation requirements, and data management approaches. As a result, enterprises managing multiple long-term care facilities have had to adopt systems from multiple vendors.
Nonetheless, with advancements in cloud-based systems (driven by the requirement for electronic submission for long-term care insurance), along with the closure/merger of long-term care facilities and the growing need for efficiency and cost reduction, enterprises are increasingly consolidating their suppliers.
Because the majority of long-term care systems exhibit similar features, they can be readily replaced. To remain competitive, system vendors must distinguish themselves by enhancing user-friendliness and advancing integration with other solutions and ICT devices.

Research Outline