Supplementary Provisions

In this Act, the provisions of Article 1, the following Article through Article 12 of the Supplementary Provisions, Article 14 of the Supplementary Provisions, and Article 20 and Article 21 of the Supplementary Provisions come into effect as of the date of promulgation; the provisions of Article 13 of the Supplementary Provisions come into effect as of the date of enforcement of the Act on Promotion of Securing Human Resources Such as Nurses (Act No. 86 of 1992); and the provisions of Article 2 and Articles 15 through 19 of the Supplementary Provisions come into effect as of the date specified by Cabinet Order within a period not exceeding one year from the date of promulgation.

①The government is to continue to review the framework for providing medical care, including the state of general hospitals and other hospitals and clinics and the state of coordination of operations among facilities providing medical care in the region, such as enhancement of the family physician function, so that appropriate medical care can be provided according to the condition of the patient, and is to take legislative improvements and other necessary measures based on the results.

②The government is to make efforts for the training and securing of nurses and other medical care professionals, review the allocation of personnel by medical care professionals in hospitals, and take necessary measures based on the results.

In promoting the systematization of the functions of facilities that provide medical care, the government is to give consideration so that the necessary and appropriate receipt of medical examinations by the people is not restrained.

The provisions of Article 52 of the Medical Care Act after the revision by the provisions of Article 1 (hereinafter referred to as the "New Act" in this Article) apply to the documents prescribed in Article 52 of the New Act relating to fiscal years of a medical corporation beginning on or after the date of enforcement of the provisions of Article 1, and with regard to documents prescribed in Article 52 of the Medical Care Act before the revision by the provisions of Article 1 relating to fiscal years of a medical corporation beginning before that date, the provisions then in force continue to govern.

①With regard to the enactment of the Ministry of Health and Welfare Order under Article 14-2 of the Medical Care Act after the revision by the provisions of Article 2 (hereinafter referred to as the "New Act" in this Article), or the establishment of the matters listed in Article 69, paragraph (1), item (ix) of the New Act or the standards prescribed in paragraph (2) of that Article, the Minister of Health and Welfare may hear the opinion of the Medical Care Council even before the enforcement of the provisions of Article 2.

②With regard to the preparation of a draft of the matters listed in Article 69, paragraph (1), item (ix) of the New Act or of the standards prescribed in paragraph (2) of that Article, the Minister of Health and Welfare may hear the opinions of groups of persons with the relevant knowledge and experience in medical practice even before the enforcement of the provisions of Article 2.

③With regard to the enactment of the Cabinet Order under Article 70, paragraph (1) of the New Act, the Minister of Health and Welfare may hear the opinions of academic societies of medicine and medical science and the Medical Ethics Council even before the enforcement of the provisions of Article 2.

With regard to the application of penal provisions to acts committed before this Act comes into effect and to acts committed after the enforcement of the provisions of Article 1 in the case where the provisions then in force continue to govern pursuant to the provisions of Article 5 of the Supplementary Provisions, the provisions then in force continue to govern.

Beyond what is provided for in these Supplementary Provisions, transitional measures necessary incidental to the enforcement of this Act are specified by Cabinet Order.