ALL JAPANHOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
公 益 社 団 法 人 全日 本 病 院 協会
入 会 の し お り１． Mission of the All Japan Hospital Association
The All Japan Hospital Association (AJHA) is dedicated toimprove the quality of hospital managements and the health andwelfare of the society by offering high quality, effective andvaluable healthcare service.

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２． Greeting message from the President
The AJHA, a nationwide hospital association, was established in 1960.
Nowadays it represents about 2,200 member hospitals, most of which areprivate hospitals.
Healthcare is one of the most important public issues related directly
to the health and living of individuals and communities. Lately the public
is paying more and more attention to healthcare, and in order to respondto these expectations the AJHA thinks it important to establish a healthcare
system where healthcare staff can take pride in providing credible andcapable healthcare services to public.
The Japanese society is experiencing rapid aging and financial problems.
A healthcare reform lead by the government focuses mostly on financial
aspects. But what Japanese people really want are safe, equal and quality
healthcare services and information, which enables them to choose healthcare
services rationally, although they stay anxious about the increase of
medical and long-term care costs. Healthcare staff in practice demands thatthe reform should pay more attention to the actual situation of healthcare
provision, regional differences and the establishment of a fair
reimbursement system. No one is satisfied with the present reform.
In these rapidly changing circumstances, the AJHA researches what
hospitals and healthcare providing systems ought to be to establish ahealthcare system, which can satisfy both, the Japanese people and thehealthcare providing staff. The results of the discussion were released
as a series of publications. The AJHA is willing to solve major challenges
to contribute to quality and sound management of member hospitals.
Without understanding and support from the public, even a good idea
cannot be realized. To gather correct data, to report evidence-based
recommendation and to meet expectations support from the people is essential.
The AJHA is an organization dedicated to the quality healthcare for theJapanese people.

President
Hirotoshi NISHIZAWA, M.D.

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３.

History1960Establishment of AJHA in Osaka
Dr. Yoshio OZASA elected as 1st president
Certification as a non-profit organization
1st All Japan Hospital Management Conference
Publication of the “Journal of All Japan HospitalManagement”
Publication of the “All Japan Hospital Association News”
Dr. Shinichiro KIKUCHI elected as 2nd president
Dr. Jisuke KINOSHITA elected as 3rd president
Dr. Takamasa TAMAKI elected as 4th president
30th anniversary
Dr. Hiroshi HIDESHIMA elected as 5th president
Dr. Hidetatsu SASSA elected as 6th president
40th anniversary
Dr. Hirotoshi NISHIZAWA elected as 7th president

19601962196419691976
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2007

４． Member hospitals
The number of AJHA member hospitals has increased steadily,
although the total number of hospitals in Japan decreased. InOctober 2008, the AJHA covered 2,258 member hospitals, 25.6% of
all hospitals in Japan. Most member hospitals (99%) are private
hospitals. The AJHA is the biggest and most influential private
hospital association in Japan.
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Member hospitals
All Hospitals

8800
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8500
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20082000

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Figure1: Trend of member hospitals of the AJHA

５． Organization of the AJHA
Board meetings are the supreme decision-making organizationof the AJHA. There are 19 committees supporting the board. A listof the committees is shown below. In 2009 the “AJHA General
Research Institute” was established to further enhance thefunction of all committees.
(List of Committees)
General Affairs
Finance
Regulations
Future Planning
Public Relations
Future of Hospitals
Healthcare Providing System and Taxation
Health Insurance and Reimbursement
Healthcare Improvement
Long-term Care
Human Resources
Patient Safety
Hospital Accreditation
Art and Science
Emergency Medicine and Disaster Damage Prevention
International Exchange
Physical Checkup
Examination and Accreditation of Medical Administrators
Personal Information Protection5６． Major Activities of the AJHA
1) Survey and Research
The AJHA historicallyactivities.

emphasizes

surveyandresearch(1) Committee on the Future of Hospitals
The Committee on the Future of Hospitals is composed of thechairpersons of all committees and mainly discusses how thehealthcare system and hospitals in Japan ought to be. The resultsof these discussions are summarized every 2 years in thepublication called “What hospitals ought to be- Report of theCommittee on the Future of Hospitals”. These reports describe
the direction and activities expected of each committee in thefollowing 2 years. In 2008 the report was rewritten and published
as “On medical care and long-term care in Japan-A message fromthe AJHA Committee on the Future of Hospitals to the Japanesepeople, 2008” so that the general public had access to theinformation as well.

Figure 2: “What hospitals ought to be- Report of the Committee
on the Future of Hospitals, 2007” (left) and “On medical careand long-term care in Japan-A message from the AJHA Committee
on the Future of Hospitals to the Japanese people, 2008” (right)(2) Survey on hospital management
Since 1993 a yearly survey on hospital management is conducted
to clarify the present condition of hospital managements suchas utilization, revenue and profit margins. Data of 500 hospitals
6are included in these surveys.
The results are available to thepublic on the AJHA website andare used in the discussion with
theChu-I-Kyo(NationalCommitteeonRevisionofReimbursement Tariff).
Figure3: Policy planning and proposal atMinistry of Health, Labor and Welfare(3) Clinical Outcome Evaluation Project (COEP) andInternational Quality Indicator Project (IQIP)
The COEP is a research project to measure the performance ofhospitals using clinical indicators. It was introduced in 2000
and there are currently about 30 hospitals participating in theproject. In 2005 5 of those hospitals participated in the IQIP,
an international project by the Center for Performance Sciences
to measure performance. Since most acute care hospitals arereimbursed by the Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC), the COEP
will be combined with the Medi-Target project in 2009.
(4) Medi-Target Project (benchmark using DPC data)
The DPC is a combination of fixed and fee-for-service payments
developed and first introduced in Japan. Currently about 700 acutecare hospitals are reimbursed by DPC and 700 other hospitals arepreparing to participate in the future. The DPC requires hospitals
to submit claim data electronically. The Medi-Target Project isa benchmark using DPC data. In 2009 this benchmark project,focusing on claim data, will be merged with the COEP with anemphasis on clinical outcomes.
(5) Other activities
The AJHA sends delegations overseas to South Korea, the Unites
States, Australia and other countries every year. Representativeinternational leaders in healthcare and health policies are also
invited to Japan regularly.

7(6) Research grant
So far the AJHA has received several research grants from theJapanese government. Some are listed below:(Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare)
2000-02

Research on Healthcare Providing Systems

2003-04

Introduction of electronic medical recording
system and development of standard work flow

2003-05

Performance measurement of healthcare, based on
patient case-mix and cost analysis

2005

Responses and solutions regarding

medicalincidents at hospitals
2005-07

Evaluation of safety and quality of healthcare,using the hospital information system and work flow
analysis

2006-08

Development of an outcome evaluation model toimprove quality of healthcare(Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)
2004-06

Demonstration of mutual usability of hospital informationsystems

2005-07

Development of educational programs for hospital managers

2007

Effective hospital management by introducing a facility
management system2) Education
Human resources are a very important part of any hospitalmanagement. The AJHA offers a variety of education programs toits member hospitals organized for the different managementlevels, professions and activities. The list below shows examplesof the programs:Top Managers
Managers
Nursing Managers
8Safety and Risk Managers
Supervising of clinical training
Annual check-ups and health consultations
Personal Information and Information Officers
Prevention of disaster damage

Figure4: Education courses for Nursing Managers(left), and forManagers(right)

3) Public Relations
To provide appropriate information timely, the AJHA publishes
the newsletter “AJHA News” to its member hospitals every 2 weeksand maintains its own website:
http://www.ajha.or.jp/Figure5: AJHA News(left), and AJHA homepage(right)
4) Policy Planning and Proposal
Based on the activities of its committees the AJHA plans and9

proposes health policies, some of which are listed below:(1) Health Sector Reform(2) Revision of Reimbursement Scheme(3) Long-term Insurance(4) Taxation of Hospitals(5) Patient Safety Issues(6) Guidelines on End of Life Treatment

5) Personal Information ProtectionIn 2006 the AJHA was the first organization in the area ofhealthcare to be certified as a certified organization for theprotection of personal information under the PersonalInformation Protection Law of 2005 by the Ministry of Health,
Labor and Welfare. The AJHA is engaged in (1) provision ofinformation to and education of member hospitals, (2)consultation of member hospitals and patients, (3) survey andresearch activities regarding personal information protection.
In 2008 the AJHA, on behalf of the healthcare field, was invited
to a public hearing organized by the cabinet office on theactivities relating to personal information protection.

７． List of publications
The attached list shows recent publications of the AJHA. The
publications report on the different activities and study resultsof the AJHA committees.
Clinical Paths (Concept, Practice), 2000
Standard Manual for Medical Recording, 2001
Standard Manual for Medical Recording and Management, 2004
Prevention and Countermeasure against Workplace Violence,
2005
Electronic Medical Recording and Business Renovation, 2005
Personal Information Protection Law - Q&A from healthcare staff,
2006
Introduction of a Hospital Information System, 200710

What hospitals ought to be - Report of the Committee on theFuture of Hospitals, 2007
On medical care and long-term care in Japan -A message fromthe AJHA Committee on the Future of Hospitals to the Japanesepeople, 2008

1Figure6: Recent Publications

11Tokyo Metro Mita LineSuidobashi-station A1 exit

JR Suidobashi-station
East exit
Tokyo Dental CollegeSuidobashi Hospital
Hotel Niwa Tokyo

All Japan
Hospital Association

Address：2-8-8 7F Sarugaku-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 1018378
TEL：03-5283-7441
FAX：03-5283-7444
URL ............ http://www.ajha.or.jp/E-mail ......... info@ajha.or.jp
Access：① 4 minutes walk from JR and Tokyo Metro Mita Line Suidobashi-station, East exit.
② 8 minutes walk from Tokyo Metro Hanzomon Line ,Toei Shinjuku Line and Mita Line,
Jinbocho-station③ 10 minutes walk from JR Ochanomizu-station
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