Supporting Healthcare Institutions to Ease Visitor Restrictions in Response to FY2026 Medical Fee Revisions

Response to FY2026 Medical Fee Revisions and Support for Easing Visitor Restrictions

The fiscal 2026 medical fee revision (effective June 2026) has introduced new regulations ensuring visitation opportunities for hospitalized patients. While establishing a visitor policy has become a recommended general rule for hospital base rates, it is now a mandatory requirement for facilities billing for 'Admission and Discharge Support Addition (1, 2, and 3).' This includes the formulation, dissemination, and periodic review of visitor policies. Dr.JOY Inc. (Headquarters: Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO/Physician: Hiroaki Ishimatsu), provider of the visitor management system 'Smart Visitation,' supports institutions in establishing the necessary compliance framework and provides the operational infrastructure to move toward easing restrictions. Additionally, on May 22, 2026, the company will release a new feature allowing users to set hospital visit purposes and apply specific rules for each ward.

As of May 2026, the system has been adopted by 24 facilities nationwide (including those in preparation), ranging from university hospitals and acute general hospitals to rehabilitation and long-term care facilities.

### New Visitation Policy Requirements

The 2026 revisions added the following requirements to the facility standards for Admission and Discharge Support Addition (1, 2, and 3):

- Do not hinder family visitation to hospitalized patients without legitimate reasons such as infection control. - Even when restrictions are unavoidable, ensure they are not unnecessarily strict. - Formulate and periodically review visitor policies. - Display policies in visible areas of hospital wards to ensure they are fully communicated to patients and families.

This revision marks the formalization of ensuring visitation opportunities as a mandatory rule to address cases where pandemic-era visitor restrictions remain unnecessarily strict. Medical institutions billing for these additions are required to establish this comprehensive system.

### The Three Values of 'Smart Visitation'

'Smart Visitation' offers the following benefits:

1. **Support for Compliance Frameworks**: Comprehensively supports the formulation and disclosure of visitor policies, logging of dissemination efforts, and creation of evidence for reviews based on monthly usage data. 2. **Environment for Easing Restrictions**: Creates an environment where visitor restrictions can be safely eased through automated web reservations and check-in/out management. 3. **Operational Efficiency**: Reduces the burden on nursing, rehabilitation, and MSW staff through visitor arrival predictions and facilitates unmanned reception and decreased phone inquiries.

### Case Study: Koyama Memorial Hospital

Koyama Memorial Hospital in Kashima City, Ibaraki Prefecture (224 beds, acute care), faced challenges with congestion and long wait times due to manual, handwritten visitor logs. With the adoption of 'Smart Visitation,' they extended visitation time from 15 minutes to 1 hour and removed restrictions on the number of companions. Post-implementation, lobby congestion was significantly reduced, allowing the hospital to transition to unmanned operations in the afternoons. The administration office reported, 'Seeing patients check in smoothly proved that the implementation was well worth it.'