Just got a weird situation at my local clinic. I had an annual health check there for my current employer. Today I got the result in the clinic in a closed envelope with my name on it. I opened it and asked the clinic to provide a separate paper for my employer. The doctor himself (not a nurse) said that the envelope that I had opened was for my employer and I had no right to open it. It has my name on it because the clinic doesn’t know the name of my employer. He refused to issue a separate paper for my personal use and explained that the rule says I can know the results my health check only if the employer agrees to provide the copy.
At my previous company we had a health check at an assigned by employer clinic. Then we got separate papers: one paper for employer (that I never saw) and a closed envelope for me with full results for my personal use only.
Here, at a local clinic, I assumed the doctor just got lazy, which is unacceptable. I want to contact a relevant department at a city hall. But before doing that I would like to know if anybody had anything similar. If somebody knows the regulation or law that would justify the doctor’s refuse to provide my health check results for me (he issued for employer only), I would appreciate it.
14 comments
Please check out the medical resources on the [wiki!](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/wiki/medical)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/japanlife) if you have any questions or concerns.*
can’t you just copy the result and submit the envelope to your employer? looks like you’ve too much time on your hands.
Your employer probably didn’t pay for an extra copy for you.
I just asked my company if I could make a photocopy of the results for myself (at work using the work printer). No problem.
I think clinics only give one copy, intended for your employer.
Employers get the results but they usually pass it to the company physician. They then look at it and notify the employer but only if there are any irregularities.
Personally I think it’s great that employers have to provide annual health check ups but at the same time the results of the test shouldn’t be for them but only for the employee. However, the logic here is different. The employer is responsible for making sure you are fit to work.
At my company I get a copy and to my knowledge the company gets a copy too.
Funny, I always got it mailed to me at home and then I was required to hand in a copy to my company. I guess it was just that clinic being weird. Whether it goes to your company first and they give you a copy or the other way around, of course you have to be able to see it if you want
My company always gave me the full results as soon as it’s out. I thought that was the norm rather than the exception.
I always got the results mailed directly to my home. I assume our company or the company physician has access to the results as well, but I haven’t bothered to ask.
Your employer paid for the report. Technically they should also be paying for your time to visit the hospital as well. Normally they can give you a copy or you can take the tests again and pay yourself
My doctor went through the results on the day and then sent the paper to my company who then sent it back to me.
Today I learnt that my employer can see my health check results.
I thought it was confidential…
The privacy invasion angle on this…
When I first came to Japan and got all my paperwork for my work visa, I was completely freaked out that I had to do a medical check almost immediately. I learnt that all my medical data gathered would be shared with my new employer. The clinics who take blood samples can and do also check for various “chemicals” it seems (eg. THC). For my “fairwell party”, before coming to start that job in Japan, I’d smoked a bit of a joint (extremely rare for me) in my home country. I guess at the time I may have had traces of THC still in my body…maybe not ….
Luckily nothing came of it….(nothing detected or maybe nothing was said about it…?). However at the time, I felt like my private life (in another country!) was already being invaded from almost “day one”.
Luckily now I don’t work in such a company and any medical data that I have (blood work etc) is not shared with anyone but the lab, my doctor and me….. Or is it!? What about the whole MyNumber medical records thing..!
Anyone know how this works beyond the companies themselves seeing all your “private” medical data? And do they share that with their insurance providers!?
This is covered under the Industrial Health and Safety Law. Your employer is permitted to see health information, *but only to the degree that it is necessary for implementing safety measures in the workplace*.
The results are also supposed to be restricted to persons involved in the actual process of the examinations (for companies that have in-house medical), relevant members of the HR department, and the direct managers/supervisors of the employees in question.
It is a requirement that the examinee be notified in writing of the examination results. As a result, there *should* be two copies of the results – a complete set for the examinee, and a limited subset for the employer. It seems this clinic isn’t aware of the proper procedures, even though the current rules have been in place since 2009.
It’s all here (Japanese only) for reference: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/file/04-Houdouhappyou-11202000-Roudoukijunkyoku-Kantokuka/shishin.pdf
Or you can just go to wherever you want to go and then give them the bare minimum for the health check. What they require is specified by the government.