Abstract
Proprietors have a duty to conduct health check-ups for workers and have the right to hold the related data. Private organizations for health check-ups are generally used to perform the examinations. Our institute belongs to the health insurance organization of an electric company and is required to implement measures for primary medical prevention, to manage mass screenings for cancer or other health check-up programs in worksites, and to conduct diagnostic examinations following mass screenings. The personal information protection law restricts allocation of personal information in the field of mass screening. To cope with this problem, an agreement has been obtained between the proprietor, the private health check-up organization and those of us who hold various data concerning health check-ups and mass screenings. All workers are notified of this agreement through our homepage on the Internet and print leaflets.
Measures to protect personal information are also required. Entrance to the rooms where medical records are stored or computer servers containing databases for mass screening and health checkups are located is restricted and reallocation of such data is forbidden.
This law prohibits obtaining the result of a diagnostic examination from a mass screening program without the permission of the relevant individual in the case that an examinee undergoes the examination at a medical facility other than ours. This poses a problem for conducting accuracy control for the mass screening. On the other hand, the law allows communities to investigate the results of diagnostic examinations without any permission. It would be necessary to remodel the mass screening system in cooperation with communities in order to conduct accuracy controls in worksites.
