About Us

 I am Takashi Kadowaki. I am honored to have been appointed Chairman of the Board of the Japan Medical Safety Research Organization (Medsafe Japan) on December 20, 2023.

 Medsafe Japan was designated by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare as the “Medical Accident Investigation and Support Center” (“the Center”) in October 2015 under the “Medical Accidents Investigation System,” which was put into effect in accordance with the amendment of the Medical Care Act. It has been performing the functions of the Center since then.

 The Medical Accidents Investigation System defines “medical accidents” as “unexpected deaths caused by provided medical care” and it obliges medical institutions in which such accidents have occurred to investigate the causes of death. Consequently, it requires investigation in all cases reported as medical accidents, which makes it an unprecedented system worldwide. Another characteristic is that the system places particular emphasis on the professional autonomy of medical practitioners by requiring medical institutions to conduct the investigation for themselves.
 The Center accumulates, organizes, and analyzes in-hospital investigation results reported by medical institutions, summarizes them into “recommendations for the prevention of the recurrence of medical accidents.” As of the end of January 2024, the number of in-hospital investigation reports had reached 2,561. We recognize that returning these invaluable insights to the medical community plays a vital role that only the Center, where accident reports are accumulated, can play.

 From the late 1990s through the 2000s, one medical accident after another developed into a major scandal and received heated media attention, thereby increasing social awareness about medical safety. Nineteen academic societies affiliated with the Japanese Association of Medical Sciences issued a joint statement on “Notifying Treatment-Related Deaths of Patients: Towards the Foundation of the Neutral Specialist Institution” in September 2004. The “Model Project for the Investigation and Analysis of Treatment-Related Deaths” managed by The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine, supported by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, was commenced in September 2005 (a forerunner to Medsafe Japan).
 Medsafe Japan was founded in April 2010 to take over the “model project” and commenced its operations as the Center under the “Medical Accidents Investigation System” in accordance with the amendment of Medical Care Act in October 2015, as mentioned above.
 I have been involved with Medsafe Japan for a long time, having served as Vice Chairman of the Board when I was Chairman of The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine and later as Auditor.
 I have also been engaged in the administration of medical institutions as Director of the University of Tokyo Hospital and as President of Toranomon Hospital. “Medical safety” has always been my everyday priority there.
 Ensuring medical safety in a real-life medical setting involves following the PDCA cycle of collecting as many incidents as possible, analyzing them, establishing measures to prevent repetitions, and reflecting the measures in the hospital’s system. This cycle for improvement starts by reporting each incident. The more incidents are reported, the clearer risks will be identified, leading to more effective recurrence prevention measures.
 The Medical Accidents Investigation System should aim to achieve this by requiring the investigation of all medical accidents.

 It has been more than twenty years since people began to recognize “medical safety” as a social task and eight years since the “Medical Accidents Investigation System” was established and enforced. Medsafe Japan will strive to assure medical safety by working with this system, which is soon to mark its tenth anniversary.

February 2024

Takashi Kadowaki

Chairman of the Board
Japan Medical Safety Research Organization