"Enhanced Blood Sugar Level Cloud Management System" Launched at Keio University Hospital Facilitating Cloud Collaboration with Medical Device Manufacturers for Diabetes and Obesity Telemedicine Services

On November 20, 2020, Keio University Hospital (Hospital Director General: Morio Matsumoto), Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. (President & Director: Kingo Hayashi; "Chubu Electric Power"), and Medical Data Card, Inc. (President & CEO: Yasuyuki Suzuki; "Medical Data Card") launched a telemedicine support system utilizing a cloud management system for blood sugar level that Keio University Hospital employs as part of its diabetes and obesity outpatient services. (announced on December 22, 2020)

Chubu Electric Power, the system’s data platform operator, along with medical device manufacturers, LifeScan Japan, Inc. (President & CEO: Akira Sasaki), ARKRAY Marketing, Inc. (President & CEO: Yoshihiro Fukunaga), and Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co., Ltd. (President & CEO: Shusaku Isono) recently agreed to collaborate on cloud interfacing of patient data, albeit premised upon patient consent, and today started implementation of the Enhanced Blood Sugar Level Cloud Management System.

This system will allow physicians to make use of blood sugar level data across different cloud systems maintained by medical device manufacturers via Medical Data Card’s MeDaCa system, which Keio University Hospital employs for its telemedicine services.

1．System overview

The Enhanced Blood Sugar Level Cloud Management System utilizes Chubu Electric Power’s data platform and Medical Data Card’s MeDaCa system to expand the system’s structure so that patients may record their own blood pressure, weight, blood sugar level, and other information and then physicians view the data on a centralized platform. At Keio University Hospital, the system was launched for obstetrics outpatient services in June 2020 and then for diabetes and obesity outpatient services in November 2020.

2．Conventional system challenges

The system makes it possible, with patient consent, for physicians to check patient data remotely and verify blood pressure, weight, blood sugar levels, and insulin usage recorded at home. Previously, inputting blood sugar level and insulin usage presented a burden for patients as they had to do manually. On the other hand, although home blood glucose meters manufactured by LifeScan Japan, Inc., ARKRAY Marketing, Inc., Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Co., Ltd., and other manufacturers automatically input data into proprietary apps, this still presented an issue for physicians as they had to log into the cloud service maintained by each manufacturer of the medical devices which the patient used, and found it difficult to take advantage of each company’s cloud service features during the short time allotted for consultations.

3．New initiative

Today, the collaboration of the clouds maintained by three medical device manufacturers and the cloud managed by Chubu Electric Power, which operates the system’s data platform, has launched. That makes it possible via the MeDaCa system for physicians to check the data and other information recorded by patients seamlessly across medical device manufacturers and medical institutions as well as to view the integrated medical data. This is expected to improve the quality of consultations.

4．Effect of deploying the Enhanced Blood Sugar Level Cloud Management System

It is expected that this collaboration will serve as a model case for a new cloud collaboration in which the systems used by hospitals serve as a hub to link data from medical device manufacturers. The expansion of this structure is expected to contribute to realizing new medical services achieved with digital technology fully utilizing data.

In addition, the Enhanced Blood Sugar Level Cloud Management System interfaces with Medical Data Card’s MeDaCa system to continue to enable physicians and patients to conduct video-call consultations as well as transmit test results, prescriptions, and other data to patients. Data sharing between medical institution and patient will also serve as a bridge for connecting information between the patient and diabetologist as well as the diabetologist and patient’s family physician.

Currently, since the MeDaCa system makes it possible for physicians to check blood sugar level data in real-time, it has been employed at Keio University Hospital for telemedicine consultations. In addition to remote prenatal checkups as part of obstetrics services, it is being used for patients with gestational diabetes or pregnancy-induced hypertension who require follow-up at short intervals, patients with type I diabetes and others who require precise fine-tuning of insulin dosage, as well as obesity outpatient services where dialogue is emphasized and physicians need to have an understanding of not only the patient’s lifestyle but also psychological aspects of the patient’s life. The Enhanced Blood Sugar Level Cloud Management System is expected to further enhance patient convenience.

5．Future outlook

Progress is currently being made on expanding the number of partners collaborating and interfacing data with the Enhanced Blood Sugar Level Cloud Management System. The increase in use cases will provide greater convenience and versatility. In the future, the aim is to further centralize information across distinct platforms and develop analytical techniques so as to construct a telemedicine system achieving seamless data interfacing. Keio University Hospital and Chubu Electric Power will be at the core of these efforts in propelling development for implementation of Society 5.0 as envisioned by the Cabinet Office.

6．Notes

The Cabinet Office commissioned Keio University Hospital to participate in a research and development project entitled the Cross-Ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program: Advanced Diagnosis and Treatment System by AI (Artificial Intelligence) Hospitals. As part of this project, Keio University Hospital has been conducting research jointly with Chubu Electric Power on monitoring patients at home, remote medical consultations, and community health care support. This initiative is one of the achievements on this program.

We will continue to harness AI and IoT technology as we strive to develop services that support physicians in making more accurate diagnoses and communicating with patients, thereby allowing people to enjoy healthy lives and even better medical services.