TMCnet News
FEATURE: Speech privacy protection systems finding way into medical field(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Speech privacy protection systems are increasingly finding their way into hospitals and drugstores to prevent patients from being overheard by others when they divulge sensitive private information to staff. At Ebira Pharmacy, a drugstore in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, speakers in the waiting lounge start making a muffled sound when a patient talks to a pharmacist in a booth. There is a signboard in the lounge informing people that the pharmacy has "introduced a machine that makes conversations indiscernible." The system picks up conversations with a microphone and then coverts them into unrecognizable sounds, according to maker Glory Ltd. In addition to drugstores and hospitals, banks are also introducing the system. Ebira installed the system two years ago. A woman in her 50s in the waiting lounge said she was glad others would not be able to hear her discuss her condition, while a pharmacist said the system "makes our work easier because we don't need to lower our voices" in talking with patients. Shuichi Kasai, an Ebira executive, called the system "very meaningful," noting that pharmacists have to listen to patients about their conditions in detail under the revised pharmaceutical affairs law with its expanded role for pharmacists. Jinnai Women's Clinic in Tokyo, which specializes in fertility treatment, introduced a system that masks conversations with a sound like that of a crowd of people. "Special attention is needed for the privacy of patients when it comes to treatment for infertility," said Hikoyoshi Jinnai, director of the clinic. Inquiries about such systems have been increasing especially from obstetrics and mental-health clinics, said an official at Yamaha Corp., a leading musical instrument maker selling the system used at the clinic. At the same time, a lack of regard for patients' privacy still persists among some doctors despite a gradual increase in efforts to protect patient privacy in the 10 years since enforcement of the private information protection law. "There are still doctors who consider themselves superior to patients and do not take patients' thoughts into account," said Setsu Kuboi, a lawyer who heads Patients' Rights Ombudsman Japan, a nonprofit organization in the city of Fukuoka. COML, an Osaka-based NPO offering medical consultations, said inquiries about protecting patients' personal information are increasing. For example, a woman in her 50s complained that when she visited a general hospital due to an itch in her pubic area, she was upset because she was asked to describe her condition in front of other people. Ikuko Yamaguchi, head of COML, said medical professionals should "confirm patients' wishes first of all," advising them, for instance, not to come into the waiting room to discuss patients' conditions -- even though the practice is meant well. (c) 2014 Kyodo News |