Joint Development
The Care Data Connect joint project emerged from a desire to ultimately eliminate data entry work at nursing care sites through automatic registration operations. Repeated improvements were made by overcoming numerous challenges through on-site testing, driven by a common mission to brighten the future of nursing care. This shared passion resulted in a system capable of truly supporting nursing care sites.
There’s no finish line for Data Care Connect—
we want to keep evolving in order to change the future of nursing care
INDEX
Developer’s Seeds x Nursing Care Field Needs = Lab Matching
Lab Mathcing Services
Development Company Seeds
Development expertise in Care Data Connect, a monitoring platform capable of automatically registering and linking data from multiple devices
Care Facility Needs
Easing the burden of operating and checking the screens of multiple pieces of equipment at facilities equipped with a variety of devices and technologies
Interview: Joint Development Story
Interview Participants
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(From the development company)
Brightvie Co., Ltd.
Tomokazu Iida
CEOIida worked for Fujitsu Limited for nine years after graduating university. He then became an independent freelance engineer, and took an interest in nursing care after building a data system for a care facility. He established Brightvie Co., Ltd. in 2014, and the company is dedicated to improving nursing care sites through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT).
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(From Future Care Lab in Japan)
Future Care Lab in Japan
Kenji Takahashi
Chief EngineerKenji Takahashi joined Sompo Japan after graduating university, and since then has been primarily involved in IT work across multiple departments, including the Information Systems Department, IT Planning Department, and Overseas Business Department.
Tell us how you ended up developing Care Data Connect.
Iida: My first job after I had gone out on my own as a freelance systems engineer was putting together a system for an intensive elder care facility. While working on that project, I spoke with caregivers and got to experience caregiving sites firsthand—including during the night shift. I also participated in training for caregivers, which made me feel like I was really a part of it. I realized how important nursing care is and how caregivers approach their work. The desire to use ICT to improve working conditions at nursing care sites continued to grow in me after that, and in 2014, I decided to start my own company. That same year I met Aki Ito, a nursing care consultant at Nekonote, at a nursing care training session. When I reached out to her, she wondered whether we could find a way to automatically record the vital signs taken in nursing settings. It was that idea that led me to come up with a plan proposal for Care Data Connect. Nobody had even considered the idea of linking measurement devices before then, so I had to go around to multiple manufacturers and ask them to help us streamline nursing care site operations. Eventually we were able to come up with a commercially viable product.
We really saw our product grow after we incorporated the Lab’s ideas
Tell us how the Lab decided to get involved in the Care Data Connect project.
Takahashi: At Future Care Lab in Japan (hereafter, Lab), we are exploring various technologies such as sensors. However, if multiple devices are introduced to a workplace, care staff have to check different screens and operate each device separately, resulting in a system with poor overall usability.
To solve this on-site issue, we realized the need to create a vision for what a nursing care system should look like from a medium- to long-term perspective. While searching the web as part of our research, we came across Bright Vie.
I immediately contacted Mr. Iida, asked him to visit the Lab, and that is how we started evaluating the system.
Takahashi: At Future Care Lab in Japan (hereafter, Lab), we are exploring various technologies such as sensors. However, if multiple devices are introduced to a workplace, care staff have to check different screens and operate each device separately, resulting in a system with poor overall usability.
To solve this on-site issue, we realized the need to create a vision for what a nursing care system should look like from a medium- to long-term perspective. While searching the web as part of our research, we came across Bright Vie.
I immediately contacted Mr. Iida, asked him to visit the Lab, and that is how we started evaluating the system.
Takahashi: I felt the same way. Because we were on the same page with everything—from the problems we needed to solve at nursing care sites to the way the system should look, I remember our conversation flowing effortlessly. When I found them online, I just got this intuitive sense from looking at their corporate philosophy and design approach that our ideas would be a good fit.
What was the specific process that the project used to move forward? Did you encounter any difficulties along the way?
Takahashi: Our goal was ultimately to use automated recordkeeping to eliminate data entry tasks entirely at nursing care sites, but there were a lot of problems with that and way too many things we wanted to do. So we came up with a sequence of steps that would get us there. Once the system was developed, we tested it at a nursing care facility. Mr. Iida and his team expertly handled the development itself, so the Lab didn’t run into any difficulties there. The hardest part was the on-site testing itself. We started running into all kinds of problems and needs once we actually put the tablets and sensors in the individual rooms at the senior care facility and started operating them, so we shared those with the developers and started looking into solutions that would inform the next step. It wasn’t easy, but I think it was the most important part of the project.
Iida: The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on our field testing. Normally, we would have visited to help out, but due to infection control measures, only Lab staff were allowed into each room. Because of this, the installation work must have been very difficult for Mr. Takahashi and his team.
Also, while we eagerly take on software challenges, it is difficult for us to deal with hardware issues. For example, even if we want to detect falls in our system, we cannot make fall sensors or find good products from overseas by ourselves.
In that respect, the Lab conducts thorough research and gathers excellent products from both Japan and abroad, allowing us to find the best options quickly. Then, products that pass the Lab’s tests are connected to Care Data Connect. This process greatly helps raise the overall quality of our products, and we are very grateful for it.
Takahashi: It’s true that the Lab specializes in finding the right products for the right applications. If we’ve got a need or a problem, we research globally for a way to solve it, and then subject whatever we pick to our own tests and evaluations. I think that’s a key role we play in this process.
A reminder that creating ideal nursing care conditions is behind everything we do
What were your big a-has or lessons during the course of the joint project?
Iida: The Lab thinks of things we could never achieve, figures out what the front lines need, and actively works to collect information that a development company like us could never get no matter how hard we tried. And because they are always guided by their mission to create better nursing care in Japan five or ten years down the road—never just for the sake of Sompo Care—I realize again just how narrow my view is every time I talk to them. On one hand I walk away a bit deflated almost every time I meet with them, but it’s an incredible motivator—all I ever want to do is help achieve our shared mission.
Takahashi: Technology is just a means to an end, but the technology itself often tends to become the goal. Mr. Iida is someone who can return to the basics and discuss how to create a better working environment for care staff, and what is necessary for ideal, better nursing care. His attitude reminds us of what our true focus should be.
Also, we reaffirmed that our greatest reward is seeing the on-site staff happy with our work. When we first introduced the system, there was an incident where the toilet icon for a user’s room stayed on. Since it was the first time, we thought it was a system error, but upon checking, we found that the user had fallen in the restroom. Unexpectedly, this proved that Care Data Connect can effectively support care staff, and they were very grateful to us.
Iida: That was a bit of a shock. It was the first day after installing the system, so we thought we had overlooked something in the settings. When I heard that someone had actually fallen and that there wasn’t anything wrong with the accuracy of the system, I breathed a sigh of relief. Looking back, I realize how important it is to accumulate those times of real-world experiences.
Where are the product and project now, and what are your hopes for them in the future?
Iida: Currently, the Care Data Connect series has been introduced to about 300 organizations nationwide. Also, regarding “Care Data Connect for FCL,” which is a joint project with the Lab, field testing is currently underway in the Lab’s rooms and at SOMPO Care’s La Vile Kawasaki.
Our first goal is to thoroughly resolve the issues identified at the Lab so that the system can be fully utilized. Since there are many facilities facing similar challenges—not just SOMPO Care—we want to create a product that meets those needs and hope to see it spread nationwide. We want to refine our product quality to the point where users truly feel it is a great product, ensuring they never feel their investment was a waste.
Additionally, we plan to offer a series designed for home care in the future. The trend of using sensors to reduce the burden in nursing care settings has only just begun, and various manufacturers are developing a wide range of products. In this environment, we hope to reduce the burden of monitoring with a human-friendly system, bringing us closer to achieving our mission of “creating nursing care workplaces where people want to continue working.”
Takahashi: As Mr. Iida mentioned, we are currently conducting demonstration evaluations and making improvements based on those needs. We hope it will grow into a system that is useful for many nursing care providers.
We believe this product has no final form, as it will continue to evolve alongside the development of devices and sensors. We are confident that it will ultimately evolve into a product that changes the future of nursing care.
Interviews based on information current as of September 2021.
Message From the Development Company
