Japanese startups tout chatbot-powered apps as treatment for medical conditions

For Taro Ueno, a psychiatrist and president of Susmed, the idea to develop an app for insomnia came from observing how doctors in Japan overprescribe sleeping pills. Japan's medical industry has generally been slow to embrace digital technology, with many clinics still keeping patient records and writing prescriptions on paper. But a few domestic startups have recently launched chatbot-powered apps designed to help treat a range of conditions, such as hypertension, alcohol addiction and insomnia. Unlike the plethora of lifestyle apps anyone with a smartphone can download, these are prescription-only medical apps whose efficacy has been demonstrated in clinical trials. For Taro Ueno, a psychiatrist and brain researcher, the idea to develop an app for insomnia came from observing how doctors in Japan overprescribe sleeping pills. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.