The Japanese government plans to have all hospitals accept national ID cards in place of those for standard insurance starting in March 2021, aiming to boost their poor adoption rate and accelerate the country's digital transition.

A patient going to a hospital will be able to scan the chip-equipped "My Number" card at the reception desk, and insurance information will be sent automatically to the facility.

The change is part of a planned push for broader use of the national identification cards. The My Number program is meant to play a central role in the government's shift to digital as it works to make Japan a world-class technology power. All citizens and long-term residents are assigned a number, but a person is only issued a physical card if they apply for one. Just 15.64 million cards -- equivalent to about 12% of Japan's population -- had been issued at the end of December, three years after the system's launch.

To lift this figure, the government aims to have the cards serve as identification for not only administrative purposes such as tax collection, but private-sector services as well, in much the same way Social Security numbers are used in the U.S.

Tokyo will encourage both hospitals and health insurance providers to participate in the shift. Switching to the My Number system would save the latter group the cost of printing their own insurance cards.

Electronic insurance data could also be linked to treatment records, giving doctors an easy way to view the medical histories of consenting patients.

Amendments to the relevant legislation will be submitted during the current session of parliament.