# Japan's health insurance pays for outpatient nutrition guidance only when a registered dietitian, on a physician's instruction, gives each patient a meal plan suited to their life and tastes

Page: https://flyvolo.ai/en/changes/ev-20260601-dietitian-16
Date: 2026-06-01 · Stage: Constraint
Can this record move a task judgement? yes
Occupation: https://flyvolo.ai/en/careers/dietitian

## Scope

Japan, national health insurance. The ministry's notice on the 2026 fee schedule says the outpatient nutrition guidance fee is billable when a registered dietitian (kanri eiyōshi), on a physician's instruction, gives each patient as needed a draft meal plan taking account of their living conditions and tastes and gives the guidance needed for treatment, about 30 minutes or more the first time; fee 1 requires the institution's own registered dietitian; and the dietitian must keep a guidance record for each patient with the main points and the time spent. The notice applies from 1 June 2026; the 2024 notice it replaces used the same wording. It is a payment condition, not a ban on drafting tools.

## Source

- 厚生労働省 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan) — 「診療報酬の算定方法の一部改正に伴う実施上の留意事項について」(令和8年3月5日 保医発0305第6号) 別添1, B001-9 外来栄養食事指導料 (applies from 1 June 2026) — https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/12400000/001757385.pdf (primary source)

## What this means

In Japan's insurance system an individual meal plan is paid for as a registered dietitian's work, done face to face and recorded under their name, whatever helped draft it.

## What it does not show yet

One country's reimbursement rule for outpatient guidance; it does not forbid AI-drafted plans and says nothing about plans outside insured care.

## How to verify it yourself

Open the MHLW notice of 5 March 2026 on implementing the revised fee schedule, attachment 1, item B001-9, and find 「食事計画案等を必要に応じて交付し」.


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