(本文选自《经济学人》20201121期)
背景介绍：
日本是全球医疗水平最高的国家之一，也正因如此，日本人均预期寿命也一直位居世界前列。但与之先进的医疗水平不相匹配的则是数字化医疗水平，为什么日本在数字化医疗之路上走的如此艰难呢？
The pandemic is inducing Japanese doctors to go digital
Telemedicine and electronic record-keeping are at last on the rise
As covid-19 spread through Japan this spring, a doctor despaired. What
appalled
him was not the pace of infection, or a lack of protective equipment, but the
archaic
systems used to
tabulate
test results and so track the course of the epidemic. “Even with corona, we’re handwriting and faxing,” he groaned on Twitter.
今年春天，随着新冠肺炎疫情在日本蔓延开来，一位医生感到绝望。令他绝望的既不是疫情传播的速度，也不是防护设备的缺乏，而是用来将检测结果制成表格以追踪疫情发展状况的陈旧系统。他在推特上抱怨称：“即使在新冠病毒肆虐下，我们仍在使用手写和传真的方式。”
Japan has excellent health care. Life expectancy at birth is 85 years, the highest in the world. But doctors have been slow to embrace the efficiencies of information technology, despite Japan’s reputation for technical
wizardry
.
日本拥有先进的医疗水平。在日本，人们的预期寿命是85岁，处在世界最高水平。尽管日本在医疗技术方面享有盛誉，但医生们却迟迟不肯接受高效的信息技术。
The OECD, a club mostly of rich countries, ranks it last among its members for its management and use of data in health care. A commission of experts convened by the Asia-Pacific Initiative, a think-tank in Tokyo, declared Japan’s response to covid-19 a “digital defeat”.
在医疗保健的数据管理及使用方面，日本在世界经济合作与发展组织（OECD，一个由发达国家组成的俱乐部）各成员国中排在末位。一个由东京智库“亚太倡议”召集的专家委员会宣称，日本在应对新冠肺炎疫情中遭遇了一场“数字化的失败”。
But the coronavirus is also providing a sharp spur for change. The new prime minister, Suga Yoshihide, has made digitising Japan the centrepiece of his economic agenda. The potential benefits are especially big in health care, because costs are rising as the population ages. Spending on health accounted for 11% GDP last year, up from 7% in 2000.
不过，新冠肺炎疫情也为日本的数字化变革提供了巨大的动力。新任首相菅义伟已将数字化日本作为其经济议程的核心内容。由于医疗费用随着人口老龄化的加剧而上升，因此在医疗保健方面的投入有着巨大的潜在收益。日本医疗支出占GDP的比重已从2000年的7%上升至去年的11%。
Telemedicine could help cut costs. But the Japan Medical Association (JMA), a powerful lobby, has long opposed online consultations, citing concerns about safety and privacy. Resistance is in part generational. Japan’s 327,000 doctors are ageing alongside their patients: nearly half are over 50. In small clinics, the average age is 60.
数字化医疗有助于降低成本。但日本医学协会（JMA，一个强大的游说团体）长期以来一直以担心安全和隐私为由反对在线医疗咨询。这种反对在一定程度上是代际因素所致。日本32.7万名医生正在和他们的病人一起变老：近一半的医生年龄超过50岁。小诊所医生的平均年龄甚至达到了60岁。
Toyoda Goichiro of Medley, a telemedicine firm, says his colleagues often have to help new clients with digital basics, such as choosing computers and setting up Wi-Fi networks. But there is also an economic disincentive. As a government official puts it, “There are people in the JMA who are afraid of competition from telemedicine.”
数字化医疗公司 Medley 的丰田梧一郎说，他的同事经常要帮助新客户学习数字化的基础知识，比如选购电脑和设置 Wi-Fi 网络。但经济因素也是原因之一。正如一位政府官员所说，“日本医学协会中的一些人担心来自数字化医疗的竞争。”
In 2015 the government allowed telemedicine to treat a few conditions, albeit for less
compensation
and with more paperwork. Predictably, it did not take off: less than 1% of all medical institutions offered online consultations in 2018. But many restrictions on telemedicine were
suspended
in April because of the pandemic, sending patients and doctors flocking to their screens.
2015年，日本政府开始允许利用数字化医疗对一些疾病进行治疗，但相比传统医疗补贴更少，且文书工作更多。果不出所料，数字化医疗在日本并未得到发展：2018年，仅有不到1％的医疗机构提供在线咨询服务。但随着新冠肺炎疫情的爆发，日本在今年4月解除了对数字化医疗的许多限制，这促使病人和医生纷纷来到了屏幕前。
The situation “changed radically”, says Hara Seigo, the boss of MICIN, another telemedicine firm, which saw monthly registrations jump ten-fold. Government surveys show the share of institutions using telemedicine has risen to nearly 15% this year. Mr Suga hopes to make the changes permanent.
另一家数字化医疗公司 MICIN 的老板原村清子说，情况变得截然不同了，该公司月注册用户量激增了10倍。政府调查显示，今年使用数字化医疗的机构所占比例已上升至近15％。菅义伟希望这些改变得以长久。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
本文翻译：Vinnie
校核：Vinnie
编辑：Vinnie
日本虽然拥有着世界领先的医疗水平，但在医疗系统的数字化改革上却一直步履维艰。原因之一在于老龄化的医生及病人群体一时间难以掌握数字化医疗涉及的一些新技术。另一方面，一些人也担心数字化医疗所带来的竞争。但随着新冠肺炎疫情的爆发，日本正在迅速推进医疗系统的数字化改革。
重难点词汇：
appall
[əˈpɔːl] vt. 使胆寒；使惊骇
archaic
[ɑːrˈkeɪɪk] adj. 古代的；陈旧的
tabulate
[ˈtæbjuleɪt] vt. 把…制成表格
wizardry
[ˈwɪzərdri] n. 魔法：非凡成就
compensation
