OREANDA-NEWS. Hitachi, Ltd. announced that it will establish the new Health Care Group effective April 1, 2014, in an effort to build a framework for swiftly supporting a broad range of needs in the diversifying global healthcare field. The Health Care Group will be formed as Hitachi's seventh group. It will comprise the new Health Care Company, which will be established by realigning and integrating healthcare-related businesses that had previously been spread out among Hitachi's in-house companies, along with Hitachi's group companies such as Hitachi Medical Corporation ("Hitachi Medical").

Establishing the Health Care Group will facilitate the concentration of Hitachi Group's business resources and unify customer solutions within the Hitachi Group. In doing so, Hitachi will enhance its ability to propose solutions that answer the needs of the diversifying healthcare market with the view to bolstering its global competitiveness.

Under the 2015 Mid-Term Management Plan drafted in May 2013, Hitachi will develop the Social Innovation Business, a business that will "Identify issues from customer perspectives and work on solutions together with customers, as 'One Hitachi,'" and "Realize innovations by providing solutions that combine products, services and highly sophisticated IT (Cloud)," with the aim of driving growth in the global market.

Hitachi views the healthcare sector as an important one in which the Hitachi Group expand the Social Innovation Business, given that it is a sector where there are various challenges to be dealt with, such as aging populations in developed countries and improvement of medical standards in emerging countries, and that it is a sector expected to grow as a future market. In October 2013, Hitachi newly established a Healthcare Business Strategy Division to devise a business strategy in the healthcare sector for the entire group. Furthermore, by no later than April 2014, Hitachi plans to make Hitachi Medical, a manufacturer of medical equipment including diagnostic ultrasound equipment and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment, into a wholly-owned subsidiary. The goal is to expand solution businesses in the healthcare field such as by unifying customer solutions within the Hitachi Group.

Hitachi will establish the new Health Care Group, thereby reorganizing the existing six-group system into one made up of seven groups to strengthen Hitachi's market driven management. This reorganization will also facilitate the concentration of the Hitachi Group's business resources such as strategy formation and sales functions in the healthcare field. By integrating management, Hitachi will be able to quickly offer a wide range of optimal solutions to diversifying healthcare needs, including for medical checkups, medical testing, medical diagnosis and medical treatment, along with at-home medical treatment services and home care services.

Going forward, the Hitachi Group will offer solutions combining advanced medical equipment, services and IT, delivering them as "One Hitachi." Hitachi will globally expand its healthcare business, with the aim of driving further growth.