Assistance to and cooperation with the Ministry of Health,
Labour and Welfare

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan provides grants for selected scientific research projects designed to contribute to increasing safety of citizens in the fields of health, welfare and labor. For three years starting in April 2000, JHIM was involved in two projects under the grant: one for increasing accessibility of medical records and health information and another for training professionals of medical record management. In April 2005, JHIM began conducting questionnaire surveys on physicians working in hospitals to study the relative standing of ICD in Japan, especially the use and recognition of ICD in medical practice. JHIM’s more recent research project under the grant revealed that assistance provided by health information managers, who are familiar with rules for selection of underlying causes of death, in preparing death certificates clearly improved the accuracy of death certificates in healthcare settings. The findings are expected to contribute to improving the accuracy of mortality statistics in Japan.

In fiscal 2006, the ICD Expert Committee was established as a standing committee under the Statistics Committee of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s Social Security Council to consider matters related to ICD on a permanent basis. As a member of the ICD Expert Committee, the Society is participating, together with 24 other Japanese medical societies, in the revision of ICD towards creation of the new ICD-11.