Yinchuan Launches Digital COPD Patient Management Project Under Chronic Disease Initiative

Shanghai, August 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 18, 2020, the "Yinchuan Chronic Disease Management - Digital Management Project for COPD Patients," hosted by the Yinchuan Municipal Health Commission and organized by Hangxin Jinglian Internet Hospital and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), was officially launched.. ThisThis project serves as an extension and expansion of the chronic disease management system in Yinchuan City. It is dedicated to pioneering the exploration of a novel online-offline integrated management model for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) based on “Internet + Healthcare,” actively establishing a smart healthcare demonstration system for the management of chronic respiratory diseases, thereby helping to enhance the overall level of standardized diagnosis and treatment of COPD in China.

The “Opinions on Promoting the Development of ‘Internet + Healthcare’” (hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”), issued by the State Council, emphasize expanding the scope and content of medical services through the application of information technologies such as the Internet, and constructing an online-offline integrated healthcare service model covering pre-diagnosis, during-diagnosis, and post-diagnosis stages. It also calls for improving the tiered diagnosis and treatment information system based on Internet and big data technologies. Meanwhile, the “Opinions” highlight advancing the application of “Internet +” in healthcare management, particularly in chronic disease screening and proactive intervention.¹Latest research shows that the number of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (hereinafter referred to as: COPD) in China has reached nearly 100 million, making it the third largest chronic disease in the country. However, more than 80% of these patients have not received standardized diagnosis and treatment.²Against this backdrop, in March 2019, the Yinchuan Municipal Health Commission signed a strategic cooperation agreement with GSK. The launch of the “Yinchuan Chronic Disease Management – Digital Management Project for COPD Patients” will further implement the practical application of information technologies such as the internet in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). By leveraging digital technologies, the project aims to close the loop in chronic disease management by integrating front-end hospital visits with back-end out-of-hospital monitoring, striving to create China’s first digital ecosystem management system for COPD. This initiative seeks to establish a demonstrative role for China in exploring innovative digital healthcare models and standardized diagnosis, treatment, and long-term management of COPD, thereby setting an industry benchmark.

Li Jiyue, Deputy Director of the Yinchuan Municipal Health Commission, stated, “The launch and implementation of the ‘Yinchuan Chronic Disease Management – Digital Management Project for COPD Patients’ marks a breakthrough following the signing of the strategic cooperation agreement in March 2019. It also advances Yinchuan’s chronic disease management from ‘single in-hospital management for COPD patients’ to a combined model of ‘in-hospital and out-of-hospital management for COPD patients,’ ensuring that this beneficial initiative is effectively implemented to truly benefit the public.”

As a key initiative of the “Yinchuan Chronic Disease Management – Digital Management Project for COPD Patients,” the “Respiratory Disease Digital Management Innovation Center” at Yinchuan First People’s Hospital was officially unveiled on the same day. Leveraging advanced information technologies such as digitalization, “Internet + Healthcare,” 5G, and the Internet of Things (IoT), the center provides multiple health big data analytics services for patients with chronic respiratory diseases, aiming to establish an innovative chronic disease management system. The center’s core facility, the “Real-Time Data Dashboard for COPD Patient Management,” will also be put into operation this month. By integrating smart wearable devices and IoT sensors, it dynamically monitors in real time key disease indicators—such as lung function, blood oxygen saturation, and pulse—as well as home treatment status of COPD patients. Fully combining artificial intelligence and big data technologies with Yinchuan’s family doctor contract-based management system, the platform enables real-time assessment of disease progression in COPD patients, providing timely medical intervention guidance to those at high risk of acute exacerbations or to their family doctors, thereby effectively enhancing the quality and efficiency of chronic disease management.

To further expand Yinchuan’s “Internet + Healthcare” services to cover basic medical insurance for eight major outpatient diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), GSK will collaborate with Hangxin Jinglian Internet Hospital to launch the “Innovative Primary Care Services” project. This initiative will implement China’s first IoT-enabled digital support program for COPD patients in Yinchuan. By leveraging GSK’s innovative IoT sensor technology solutions and Hangxin Jinglian’s team of health managers, and relying on the professional expertise of Yinchuan First People’s Hospital and Yinchuan Third People’s Hospital, the project aims to accelerate the exploration of a medical consortium model for respiratory disease management through digital means. Through new digital management mechanisms, the project will provide services such as personal disease profile establishment, including disease data storage and patient education records. It will offer multi-channel disease management approaches focusing on lung function assessment, symptom evaluation, frequency of acute exacerbations and hospitalizations, and patient medication adherence. Initially, the project is expected to manage 1,000 diagnosed COPD patients, committed to providing standardized COPD disease management, improving medication adherence among COPD patients, and effectively enhancing their health outcomes.

Mr. Wang Jiong, Chairman of Hangxin Jinglian Internet Hospital, stated, “As one of the first batch of internet hospital enterprises nationwide to be established in the ‘Internet + Healthcare’ Demonstration Province/Region, we have been committed since our inception to providing convenient, professional, and precise one-stop pharmaceutical services and health management solutions for patients with chronic diseases. In Yinchuan, we were also the first internet hospital to successfully achieve online settlement and reimbursement for major outpatient chronic diseases under the medical insurance scheme. Our current collaboration with GSK on the ‘Yinchuan Chronic Disease Management – COPD Digital Management Project’ represents a further extension and exploration of our chronic disease management models, following our O2O management for hypertension and MDM management for diabetes. At its core, this initiative employs a tiered and stratified co-management service approach, leveraging comprehensive, professional out-of-hospital management to tangibly improve the health status of COPD patients in Yinchuan, stabilize their conditions, reduce complications, and enhance both their quality of life and their capacity for self-health management at home.”

Qi Xin, Vice President of GSK and General Manager of China Prescription Drugs and Vaccines, stated, “With over 30 years of service in China’s respiratory therapy field, we have been committed to close collaboration with the Chinese government, relevant organizations, and a wide range of clinical physicians. By leveraging advanced information technologies such as digitalization, the Internet of Things (IoT), and big data, we aim to deliver innovative respiratory disease treatment solutions to Chinese patients while accelerating the decentralization of high-quality medical resources to grassroots levels and enhancing disease management capabilities in western regions. Looking ahead, GSK will work hand in hand with industry partners across all sectors to continuously advance the construction of an innovative healthcare ecosystem, jointly improve the prevention and control of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and contribute to the realization of the grand blueprint for ‘Healthy China 2030.’”