It has been nearly a decade since the first EMR solution was developed in Japan. In 2001, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced the "Grand Design Toward the Implementation of Information-Oriented Medical/Healthcare System", targeting the EMR adoption rate at more than 60% of hospitals with 400 or more beds and more than 60% of clinics by the end of 2006.

Following the release of the Grand Design, the Japanese government opted to subsidize the EMR systems. With these movements as a major driver in the market, the EMR systems saw a rapid increase in adoption rate from 2001 to 2002.

Being at the dawn, the EMR market faces a pile of problems despite the growing market momentum. Typical issues include: standardization of codes, data exchanges, and file structure, etc., measures to be taken for privacy protection and to minimize system down time, as well as perception by physicians and medical staff.

This report addresses current issues and seeks solutions in the emerging electronic medical record market through the findings of the interviews with vendors and hospital representatives.