Value of Online Medical Support in Saving the 'Ishikari Kikunosono' Nursing Home in Ishikari, Hokkaido, from Falling Below Nursing Staff Standards

Doctor Mate Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and Medical Doctor: Naoki Aoyagi; hereinafter 'Doctor Mate'), which provides medical solutions for care facilities, is introducing a case study involving 'Special Nursing Home Ishikari Kikunosono' (Ishikari City, Hokkaido; Facility Manager: Masanori Nishimoto; hereinafter 'Ishikari Kikunosono'), operated by the Social Welfare Corporation Ishikari Yuai Fukushikai. The facility has been utilizing Doctor Mate's services such as the 'Nighttime On-call Proxy™' and the medical education service 'DM-study (D-study)' since 2022.

This case study demonstrates how Doctor Mate's online medical support service helped the facility avoid the risk of falling below nursing staff deployment standards, ultimately leading to improvements in nurse recruitment and the education system.

■ The Reality of 'Nursing Staff Shortages' Linked to Regional Issues in Hokkaido

According to an 'Awareness Survey on Care Workers in Hokkaido (*1)' conducted by Doctor Mate in 2025, 67.1% of care workers in the prefecture feel anxious about the future regional care system.

Hokkaido, in particular, finds it harder to 'secure human resources (especially young people)' compared to other regions. Furthermore, the 'inconvenience of transportation and burden of movement' tend to be high, acting as a barrier to recruitment. This is likely due to geographical and seasonal factors such as vast land areas and winter snow accumulation, leading to feelings of burden from commuting and anxiety about the future among staff.

'Ishikari Kikunosono', the subject of this case study, also faced challenges in securing personnel, particularly in hiring nurses.

*1 From the press release "Awareness Survey of Care Workers in Hokkaido! Despite Working with 'Gratitude' as a Driving Force, Unique Prefectural Issues and Anxiety About the Future are Revealed" URL: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000095.000047082.html

■ Changes and Outcomes from the Introduction: Solving Regional Issues Online

Under these circumstances, Doctor Mate's online medical support services (Nighttime On-call Proxy™, Daytime Medical Consultation, and D-study) were sequentially introduced starting in 2022. As a result, three main outcomes were achieved:

1. Improvement in the Number of Nursing Staff Hired

Before the introduction, the facility struggled to meet nursing staff allocation standards and harbored concerns about penalty deductions in compensation. However, adopting Doctor Mate's services turned the recruitment situation around. Specifically, stating that they 'have introduced Doctor Mate's Nighttime On-call Proxy™' became a strong selling point in recruitment, reducing the psychological and physical burden on nursing staff.

Consequently, the number of new hires significantly improved from a critical situation of 0 hires before the introduction (FY Reiwa 3/2021) to 2 immediately after the introduction (FY Reiwa 4/2022), and 6 in the most recent fiscal year (FY Reiwa 7/2025).

2. Positive Evaluation of the Statutory Training Management System During Administrative Audits

During operational guidance (on-site audits) conducted by Hokkaido Prefecture in August 2025, the statutory training management system utilizing the educational service 'D-study' was highly praised. The facility was particularly evaluated for its highly transparent management and operation, such as the ease of checking schedule plans and attendance logs.

3. Operational Stabilization Through Standardization of Medical Coordination

Utilizing the knowledge gained through Doctor Mate's 'Daytime Medical Consultation' and 'Nighttime On-call Proxy™', the facility was able to standardize the previously individualized methods by which nursing and care staff reported to and received instructions from doctors. As a result, a system was established that enables a consistent standard of response, leading to a greater sense of security in frontline operations.

■ Comment from Masanori Nishimoto, Facility Manager of Special Nursing Home Ishikari Kikunosono

Masanori Nishimoto, Facility Manager of Special Nursing Home Ishikari Kikunosono:

At the time, our facility found it extremely difficult to hire nurses and was in a critical situation, just one step away from falling below the minimum staffing standards. Through interviews, it was obvious that the obstacle to hiring was the 'nighttime on-call' duties.

It was Doctor Mate that turned this situation around. By outsourcing the majority of on-call duties to them, the psychological and physical hurdles were lowered, and our hiring situation improved. Additionally, as a byproduct, individualized judgments were standardized based on data, creating a sense of security that anyone can provide a certain standard of response.

Securing medical resources is a common challenge across the vast expanse of Hokkaido, but we are confident that the 'nighttime peace of mind' and 'sustainable system' we gained through utilizing Doctor Mate will serve as a great hope for resolving social issues for other facilities in the prefecture as well.

■ Future Outlook: Improving the Accuracy of Emergency Transport Judgments and the Quality of Regional Healthcare

Currently, Ishikari Kikunosono and Doctor Mate are continuing discussions on improving the accuracy of 'emergency transport judgments' on-site to realize more sustainable and stable services at care facilities.

By leveraging the frontline intuition alongside over 150,000 consultation records accumulated by Doctor Mate, the manuals are being optimized. The aim is to improve service quality and precision, contributing to regional