In-house app bridges language gap at hospital in Shizuoka

Asahi Shimbun

3 days ago

Yoshinori Asahina of Iwata City Hospital, who developed a language app to help foreign patients, on April 23 in the city's Okubo district (Hideki Aota)
IWATA, Shizuoka Prefecture--An in-house hospital team here has developed a language app for foreign patients to prevent delays in medical care and avoid miscommunication that could cause potentially disastrous mistakes.
Like other medical institutions around Japan, Iwata City Hospital in Shizuoka Prefecture has seen an increasing number of foreign patients who lack a sufficient command of Japanese.
Since its inception in autumn 2022, the language app, called 'Furenavi,' has undergone continuous improvements and refinements.
It now provides essential explanations and confirmations before medical tests or surgical procedures in nine languages at the municipal general hospital, home to more than 30 clinical departments.
Hundreds of standard medical phrases are organized to align with the typical flow of hospital operations. With a simple tap on a tablet screen, the appropriate text—accompanied by illustrative visuals—appears, and it can also be read aloud using a built-in voice function.
For instance, for an X-ray examination, the procedure through the app might unfold as follows: staff confirm the patient's identity by asking for name and date of birth; the patient is instructed to wear only undergarments on the upper body; the patient is asked to remove bras and accessories; and finally, staff ask the patient to take a deep breath and hold it.
Furenavi displays each question and instruction in English and other supported languages, helping to ensure the process runs smoothly and without confusion.
In the past, explaining procedures to foreign patients often added considerable time to already crowded X-ray schedules. Miscommunication sometimes led to retakes, increasing patients' exposure to radiation.
Iwata is home to about 165,000 residents, including around 9,900 foreign nationals, or 6 percent of the population.
The western region of Shizuoka Prefecture, known for its concentration of motorcycle and automobile manufacturing plants, has a notably high percentage of foreign residents, particularly from Brazil.
As a result, more than one in every 20 patients at the hospital is a foreign national.
However, interpreters are not always readily available, and existing translation tools were often time-consuming with questionable accuracy.
Although not designed for two-way communication, Furenavi delivers precisely translated instructions, verified by native speakers.
It also features phrases that allow users to confirm simple responses, such as 'yes' or 'no,' through pointing.
The app was developed by 38-year-old Yoshinori Asahina of the Radiology Department. After being transferred to the department, which deals with a high number of foreign patients, he quickly recognized the communication barriers.
Drawing on his university experience building image analysis systems, Asahina teamed up with like-minded supervisors and colleagues to develop the app. Working after conventional jobs, he completed the project in about three months.
Initially available in English, Chinese and Portuguese, the app has since expanded to include six more languages, including Vietnamese, Tagalog and Indonesian, thanks to support from the prefectural government.
A newly added AI feature can even estimate a patient's likely language based on their name. As of this spring, Furenavi was also being used in emergency outpatient care and disaster response settings.
CUSTOM TAXI BOOKING SYSTEM
The success of Furenavi inspired the development of another in-house tool: a booking system for taxis that can accommodate wheelchairs and stretchers. Such vehicles are in short supply and typically face peak demand during morning hours for discharges and patient transfers.
Previously, arranging one could take more than an hour. The new system allows staff to check real-time availability online and complete bookings in just minutes.
In most public institutions and private companies, such digital tools are either purchased as commercial software or outsourced to external developers. But with limited budgets and staffing, few hospitals have the capacity to develop systems internally.
'It makes me happy to be of help to both patients and staff,' Asahina says. 'Technology only has meaning when it's put to use.'
He hopes to make the app available to health care facilities both within and beyond the prefecture.
Interest in Furenavi is growing, even among major medical equipment manufacturers. As a homegrown app, it not only helps keep costs low but also holds potential as a source of revenue.
Plans to digitize hospital operations are often scrapped due to budgetary constraints.
Shohachi Suzuki, director of Iwata City Hospital who is responsible for overseeing the municipal government's hospital operations, notes, 'We want to create environments where talented individuals and teams can flourish.'