Alibaba Health Supports Chronic Disease Prevention and Control: Experts Highlight the Unique Value Created by Internet Healthcare
With economic development, changes in people’s lifestyles, and rapid population aging, chronic diseases in China continue to exhibit a persistently high incidence. Strengthening the prevention and control of chronic diseases has become a crucial measure for implementing the Healthy China strategy and safeguarding public health.
“Strengthening the prevention and control of chronic diseases hinges on primary care, making it urgent to establish an integrated chronic disease management system, in which ‘Internet + Healthcare’ can play a significant role.” This was the joint appeal made by Zhu Tongyu, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Vice Dean of Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, and Zhang Wen, General Manager of Ali Health Internet Hospital, during their appearance on the “Committee Living Room” program of the CPPCC Network.
It is well known that chronic diseases have become the leading cause of death and the primary source of disease burden among residents in China. Data shows that there are over 130 million patients with diabetes, 330 million with cardiovascular diseases, and nearly 100 million with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in China. According to the Healthy China Action (2019–2030), the disease burden attributable to chronic diseases accounts for more than 70% of the total disease burden, making it a significant factor constraining residents' health.
In Zhu Tongyu’s view, the high prevalence of chronic diseases is closely linked to unhealthy lifestyles. Additionally, many chronic conditions are positively correlated with age; as China’s population is undergoing rapid aging, this constitutes another major factor contributing to the high burden of chronic diseases in the country.
“The key to chronic disease prevention and control lies in shifting the focus downward and moving interventions upstream; in other words, the emphasis should be on communities and rural areas.” However, Zhu Tongyu noted that during his frequent field visits and free clinic services in grassroots and border regions, he observed that patients at the primary care level are often diagnosed at a relatively late stage. Primary healthcare capacity is weak, with limited physician expertise, staff shortages, and a disconnect between prevention and treatment. Another significant issue is the general public’s lack of medical knowledge and health awareness. These factors pose substantial challenges to chronic disease prevention and control at the grassroots level, particularly in remote areas where chronic disease management is even more difficult. Internet-based healthcare has broken through geographical barriers, largely compensating for the shortcomings of traditional healthcare models and enabling high-quality medical resources to benefit people in grassroots communities.
This advantage became even more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Going to the hospital for prescriptions always raises concerns about infection, while local pharmacies often have limited stock.” Zhang Wen noted that as pandemic control policies evolve, patients with chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart disease are increasingly facing a dilemma in securing their daily medications.
During the pandemic, demand for healthcare services reached new heights, ranging from online pharmacy purchases to health management and preventive care. Consumers’ understanding of internet-based healthcare has also risen to an entirely new level.
Zhang Wen introduced that, taking Alibaba Health as an example, the “Peace of Mind Initiative” was launched at the end of last year, providing professional services along two tracks—medical care peace of mind and medication peace of mind—and leveraging digital technologies and digital operational strategies to deliver inclusive and accessible disease management services for patients. This development brings benefits to the general public regarding online chronic disease consultations: physicians from public tertiary hospitals across China are gathered on the platform, offering precise 24-hour medical services during the pandemic control period. Doctors from public hospitals nationwide are available online around the clock, with initial consultations provided in as little as 60 seconds, prioritizing patients presenting with fever or other symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection. “The platform has specifically added four specialized online consultation services covering chronic diseases, maternity care, pediatrics, and psychological health, safeguarding key populations during the epidemic and enabling users to consult physicians without leaving home, thereby reducing the risk of infection associated with offline gatherings.”
Beyond online channels, Alibaba Health has launched a nationwide special campaign for epidemic prevention and supply assurance, establishing a “precision distribution platform for key medicines across all regions” that enables the completion of the purchase process for scarce drugs within three hours, effectively meeting the public’s medication needs.
“Through an integrated online-offline service model, the Chronic Disease Management Center actively encourages chronic disease patients who primarily require prescription refills and those living far from medical institutions to utilize online services. This approach spares patients from frequent trips and long waiting times, thereby helping to improve their healthcare experience,” introduced Zhang Wen. To date, Ali Health has provided patient management capabilities for multiple core conditions, including cancer, rare diseases, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, epilepsy, and asthma.
“Internet healthcare has created unique value for society.” Zhu Tongyu believes that Internet healthcare maximally breaks through geographical and spatial constraints, providing patients with timely online contactless medical services and making chronic disease management more intelligent. This approach not only ensures that patients with chronic conditions adhere to their regular medication regimens but also helps reduce healthcare costs for patients.
In the view of Zhang Wen, General Manager of Alibaba Health Internet Hospital, the new blueprint for "Healthy China" represents a true breath of fresh air for the healthcare sector. The emergence of numerous innovative medical products helps alleviate patients’ financial burden, significantly enhances the convenience of accessing medical care, and steadily improves the level of public welfare protection.
From the perspective of patient care, Zhang Wen stated that the essence of internet healthcare lies in leveraging technology to connect doctors and patients, thereby enhancing the matching of supply and demand. Meanwhile, by utilizing technological means to improve medical efficiency, optimize service processes, and expand medical supply capacity, the doctor-patient relationship on platforms will become more solid as the “Internet+” medical service model continues to innovate.
“In fact, our healthcare system is undergoing a digital transformation, and this process offers numerous industrial opportunities, even representing a blue ocean for the industry.” In Zhu Tongyu’s view, digital transformation will give rise to a large number of AI-driven enterprises in the medical field. Integrating technology with human expertise is a key direction for the future development of smart healthcare. Of course, healthcare cannot do without physicians; patients are not yet fully receptive to purely intelligent systems, whose convenience still needs improvement. These systems require support from professional doctors through “expert systems.”
What Changes Will the Integration of “Internet+” into Chronic Disease Management Bring? Zhu Tongyu believes that empowering chronic disease management with “Internet+” will continuously unlock multi-layered benefits through innovative models. As official platforms are progressively refined, the general public, particularly patients with chronic diseases, will enjoy higher-quality, more efficient, and more convenient healthcare services in the future.
However, Zhu Tongyu also noted that some patients believe the convenience of online consultations still needs improvement, as the variety of medications is limited and laboratory testing services are relatively scarce. In the future, it will be necessary to expand the range of drugs and services to provide patients with more options. Additionally, as point-of-care testing (POCT) services become increasingly prevalent in home settings, our approaches to seeking medical care will become more convenient and efficient.
In the digital era, with the application of emerging technologies such as big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and 5G in the healthcare sector, digital healthcare is evolving into smart healthcare. Zhu Tongyu stated that AI and algorithms are beginning to be deployed in the field of internet-based healthcare, enabling the provision of 24/7 medical services to patients. In particular, AI will play a significant role in chronic disease management. “This is still at an initial stage. A more advanced level of ‘integration of digital technology and medicine’ involves continuously improving intelligent systems and algorithms to better meet patients’ healthcare needs.”