Shanghai Children's Medical Center and Baidu Health Sign Strategic Cooperation Agreement to Co-Build Digital Specialized Departments

As information technology continues to advance, digital transformation has become a key enabler for improving quality and efficiency in the context of high-quality hospital development. In recent years, governments at all levels and health-related authorities have actively promoted innovation in healthcare service models, encouraged the establishment of internet hospitals, and worked to build “smart hospitals” characterized by high quality and convenience. Against this backdrop, the National Children’s Medical Center (Shanghai) and Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, have continuously improved and optimized their internet hospital infrastructure and enhanced their medical service capabilities, ranking first among pediatric departments in popular hospitals designated as key municipal-level internet hospitals in Shanghai in 2022.

On March 27, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center held the “Award Ceremony for the Stars of the Internet Hospital in 2022 and the Signing Ceremony of the Strategic Cooperation with Baidu Health.” The event aimed to recognize medical staff who made outstanding contributions to the development and service delivery of the Internet Hospital over the past year, while further advancing the construction of a “Smart Hospital.” In partnership with Baidu Health, the center launched the “Precision Empowerment for Specific Diseases” project to strengthen digital specialty development, expand the reach of medical services, and enhance the convenience and experience of healthcare for pediatric patients.

 Signing Ceremony

 Award Ceremony for the 2022 Internet Hospital Stars at Shanghai Children's Medical Center

It is reported that the strategic partnership between Shanghai Children’s Medical Center and Baidu Health will leverage Baidu Health’s “Precision Doctor-Patient Matching Engine.” By integrating technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, this collaboration aims to establish a digital gateway for specific diseases at Shanghai Children’s Medical Center. This initiative will enable precise online linking and matching of patients with specialized conditions to specialists in public hospitals, thereby shortening the patient journey and enhancing the efficiency of allocating high-quality medical resources.

The initial phase of the collaboration will focus on the key specialty areas of the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, while further deepening internet-based medical services. Covering five major disease categories—pediatric heart disease, tumors, leukemia, allergies, and nutrition-related disorders—the initiative enables patients to access a smart mini-program by searching “Shanghai Children’s Medical Center” or related specialty-specific terms on Baidu. This platform facilitates convenient medical services, including appointment registration, report inquiries, and online consultations.

Shanghai Children’s Medical Center was approved as the National Children’s Medical Center in 2017. It is one of the leading centers in China for pediatric congenital heart disease, hematology/oncology, and developmental-behavioral pediatrics. The center boasts eight national key disciplines and national clinical key specialties, and hosts a number of provincial- and ministerial-level key laboratories and research institutes, including the NHC Key Laboratory of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Clinical Molecular Diagnostics, the Shanghai Clinical Research Center for Rare Diseases, and the Shanghai Institute of Pediatric Cardiovascular Disease, as well as the School of Pediatrics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine affiliated with Shanghai Children’s Medical Center. This collaboration with Baidu Health marks another significant milestone in the digital transformation of Shanghai Children’s Medical Center. In the future, both parties will leverage their respective strengths to jointly explore new technologies and solutions for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of specific diseases, promote innovative research in frontier medical science and technology and the translation of its achievements, and enable more patients to benefit from these advancements.

 Shanghai Children's Medical Center Night View

Currently, Baidu Health has established a healthcare service network covering 19 provinces and more than 70 public tertiary hospitals (Grade A), with initial success in digital infrastructure: it has achieved multi-disciplinary and multi-disease coverage in Central China, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Greater Bay Area. In terms of digital specialty development, it directly connects to over 20 national or provincial regional medical centers and more than 80 national key specialties. Hundreds of thousands of patients have obtained precise appointment and medical services through Baidu Health’s “Precision Doctor-Patient Matching Engine.”

 Address by Professor Hong Li, Vice President of Shanghai Children's Medical Center

Whether it is the high-quality development of hospitals or the widespread adoption of digital technologies, the ultimate goal is to provide patients with higher-quality and more convenient medical services. Regarding this collaboration, Professor Hong Li, Vice President of Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, stated that against the backdrop of the new era, “patient healthcare experience” will remain a core issue, both from the perspective of national public health and hospital high-quality development. It is hoped that the partnership with Baidu Health will further upgrade the digitalization of Shanghai Children’s Medical Center’s leading specialties, enabling its advanced treatment protocols and technologies to meet the needs of pediatric patients across the Yangtze River Delta region and throughout China, thereby enhancing the overall patient healthcare experience.