Equitas Medical Selected as Tokyo Institute of Science Certified Venture — Launching Comprehensive Initiative to Sustain Regional Healthcare Through Clinic Succession, Medical DX, and Hospital-Clinic Collaboration

Equitas Medical Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Takanori Kuki; hereinafter "Equitas Medical") is pleased to announce its designation as a certified venture of Tokyo Institute of Science (formerly Tokyo Medical and Dental University).

Equitas Medical is a healthcare company committed to the mission of "continuous healthcare for everyone," working to rebuild regional healthcare infrastructure through clinic business succession, operational support, and medical digital transformation (DX).

With this certification, the company will now fully launch an integrated initiative addressing structural challenges in regional healthcare—such as lack of successors, physician aging, staffing shortages, complex back-office operations, and unclear role division between hospitals and clinics—by advancing clinic succession and roll-up, generative AI-driven medical DX, and enhanced hospital-clinic collaboration.

About the Tokyo Institute of Science (Formerly Tokyo Medical and Dental University) Certified Venture Program

The Tokyo Institute of Science Certified Venture designation is awarded to venture companies that utilize the university’s research outcomes or human resources.

Tokyo Institute of Science was established through the integration of Tokyo Institute of Technology and Tokyo Medical and Dental University, possessing interdisciplinary expertise in engineering, medical and dental sciences, life sciences, data science, and medical innovation.

The former Tokyo Medical and Dental University has long-standing achievements in clinical medicine, dental care, clinical research, and medical talent development. It has promoted clinical-based research, social utilization of medical data, development and commercialization of clinical innovations, and industry-academia-government collaboration.

Equitas Medical’s business model, which sits at the intersection of medicine, clinical practice, and technology, aligns closely with the intellectual foundation of Tokyo Institute of Science, enabling it to tackle the critical social issue of regional healthcare sustainability.

Background: Local Clinics Are Quietly Disappearing

Japan’s regional healthcare system is at a pivotal turning point.

Across the country, numerous clinics serve as the frontline of healthcare, supporting residents’ daily health needs. They play a vital role as entry points to the healthcare system—managing lifestyle diseases, pediatric care, geriatric medicine, home healthcare, and referrals to specialists.

However, even clinics that have long served their communities are increasingly unable to continue operations due to lack of successors, aging physicians, staffing difficulties, and growing burdens related to management, labor, and IT systems.

The loss of local primary care providers not only deprives patients of accessible medical services but also disrupts connected hospitals, pharmacies, nursing care providers, and regional integrated care systems.

Equitas Medical recognizes these challenges not as isolated clinic-level issues, but as systemic problems affecting the entire regional healthcare ecosystem.

Equitas Medical’s Approach

Equitas Medical aims to ensure that essential local medical services are passed on to the next generation—not through simple M&A or brokerage, but through comprehensive post-succession management improvement, operational support, medical DX, and hospital-clinic collaboration.

- Clinic Business Succession and Roll-Up

For clinics considering succession due to lack of successors or increasing operational burdens, Equitas Medical supports smooth transitions while preserving patient trust, staff employment, and community ties.

Rather than treating succession as an endpoint, the company views it as a new beginning. By establishing strong operational foundations post-succession, it ensures that essential medical services continue to serve local communities.

- Operational Support via the Medical-Business Separation Model

To allow medical professionals to focus on patient care, Equitas Medical, operating as a medical service corporation, supports administrative functions such as recruitment, attendance management, accounting, billing, appointment scheduling, patient communication, patient acquisition, back-office operations, and clinic workflows.

Under the "medical-business separation" model, while medical institutions remain responsible for delivering care in compliance with regulations, specialized teams handle management and operations—ensuring both high-quality care and sustainable business practices.

- Generative AI-Native Medical Digital Transformation (DX)

Equitas Medical does not view medical DX as merely introducing IT tools.

By integrating electronic medical records, appointment systems, patient intake forms, LINE, Google Workspace, and accounting/labor systems—designed with generative AI at the core—the company structurally reduces the workload of physicians, nurses, medical staff, and back-office personnel.

The goal is to move away from person-dependent operations and build clinic management models that remain stable and efficient even with small teams.

- Regional Clinic Network as a Hub for Hospital-Clinic Collaboration

The divide between hospitals and clinics is a major structural issue in regional healthcare.

When patients who could be managed at clinics are instead concentrated in hospitals, hospitals cannot focus on advanced medical care. Conversely, when local clinics close, post-discharge follow-up and chronic disease management lose their support base.

Through succession, operational support, and digital transformation, Equitas Medical aims to build a regional clinic network that naturally collaborates with hospitals, ensuring patients are connected to the right care at the right time.

Leveraging Tokyo Institute of Science’s Medical Expertise for Real-World Implementation

Healthcare challenges cannot be solved through theoretical system design alone. Success requires understanding the complex realities of clinical settings involving patients, physicians, nurses, administrative staff, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, nursing care providers, and local governments.

The clinical, medical-dental, and talent development expertise cultivated by the former Tokyo Medical and Dental University, combined with Tokyo Institute of Science’s strengths in engineering, data science, and technology, form a crucial foundation for future medical DX and the redesign of regional healthcare.

Equitas Medical aims to build a new model that combines real-world implementation capabilities with technological transformation to enhance the sustainability of regional healthcare.

Vision: Bridging the Gap Between Search Funds and Startups

Equitas Medical positions itself between traditional search funds—which acquire and operate existing businesses—and high-growth startups aiming for rapid scale.

While valuing the stable healthcare delivery platform provided by acquiring existing clinics, the company drives structural change in regional healthcare through AI, DX, operational improvements, and network integration.

Public benefit and business sustainability in healthcare are not mutually exclusive. Without sustainable operations, healthcare cannot continue. Equitas Medical aims to build a fair and sustainable healthcare infrastructure that benefits medical professionals, patients, communities, retiring clinic owners, staff, hospitals, pharmacies, nursing care providers, financial institutions, and business partners.

Future Plans

Equitas Medical will advance clinic succession, partnerships, and operational support—focusing on key medical fields such as internal medicine, pediatrics, otolaryngology, orthopedics, and home healthcare—primarily in the Kanto and Kansai regions.

The company will also collaborate with medical institutions, physicians, healthcare workers, clinic owners, hospitals, pharmacies, nursing care providers, local governments, financial institutions, corporations, and investors to build a sustainable regional healthcare ecosystem.