Hospitals Emerge as Key Drivers of Digital Transformation in Pandemic Response: Intelligent Management Systems Mark the Future Trend | VB Group Interview

VCBeat has specially launched the “2020 Tech-Enabled Prevention and Control Air Forum” live-streaming series in response to the pandemic, focusing on the proactive responses of companies across various sub-forum sectors within the healthcare industry. Among these, the sub-forum themed “The Path of Hospital Informatics in Epidemic Response” was recently held.

Moderated by Qi Fei, Investment Director at Legend Capital, the forum featured three seasoned industry experts: Kan Jiaping, Senior Vice President of Lifesmart Cloud Technology Co., Ltd.; Li Zeyu, Deputy General Manager of the Supply Chain Division at Winning Health Technology Group (Beijing) Co., Ltd.; and Li Qin, CEO of Baiyang Intelligent Technology. They engaged in an in-depth discussion on topics such as the prominent performance of cutting-edge technologies—including data middle platforms, the Internet of Things (IoT), and 5G—during the pandemic, as well as the opportunities for health IT companies amid the surge in digital transformation. VCBeat has compiled and edited the insightful perspectives shared by these three entrepreneurs.

From early case detection, epidemic prevention and control, data collection, scientific decision-making, and clinical diagnosis and treatment, to the transportation of relief supplies and the prediction and management of population mobility, “information is ubiquitous in every place and at every moment.” The epidemic has served as a catalyst for the development of the healthcare informatization industry.

During the pandemic,Lianzhong Wisdom and the Jiangxi Provincial Health Commission Jointly Built the Jiangxi Provincial Epidemic Monitoring Data Platform, at the provincial level, it achieved the collection, disaggregation, and application of daily epidemic reports from various regions, mobile phone signaling data from the Communications Administration Bureau, and epidemic risk assessment level data. It provided end-to-end support for monitoring epidemic trends and evaluating the implementation of prevention and control measures, thereby playing a positive role in Jiangxi Province’s epidemic prevention efforts.

Lianzhong Wisdom has also actively responded to the requirements of health commission management departments at all levels, taking the lead in proposing a “Level-1 Response Strategy” for healthcare informatization construction during the epidemic., by developing related products such as internet-based healthcare, regional health informatization, IoT and interoperability, and the tiered diagnosis and treatment system, to help administrative departments and medical institutions promptly detect and report cases of pneumonia caused by novel coronavirus infection, understand disease characteristics and potential sources of infection, thereby achieving refined epidemic prevention and control and proactive, timely response.

Li Zeyu, Deputy General Manager of the Supply Chain Division at Winning Health Technology Group Co., Ltd., stated that the SARS outbreak 17 years ago gave rise to e-commerce. At present, medical informatization, influenced by the pandemic, presents both challenges and opportunities.

Healthcare institution information systems are LAN-based informational frameworks that require a closed-loop infrastructure, including dedicated computer server rooms, servers, routers, and information processing terminals. Their implementation is highly complex. To address this, Wanghai Kangxin has dispatched engineers to the front lines of hospitals to assist with multi-dimensional data statistical analysis and ensure the system’s normal operation.

As the epidemic prevention front line extended, shortages of anti-epidemic supplies began to emerge, giving rise to substantial demand for online collaboration in the medical sector. In response, Wanghai Kangxin worked tirelessly for four days and three nights to urgently launch the “Hospital Emergency Supplies Management Platform.”, establishing a rapid communication channel between the supply and demand sides of emergency materials to assist hospitals in voicing their needs. It is reported that emergency material procurement announcements and social donation acceptance notices published online by hospitals at all levels across China have achieved precise matching with over 40,000 suppliers.

Furthermore, to ensure the scientific rigor, compliance, and safety of medical supply procurement,Wanghai Kangxin’s “Yipu Youcai” rapidly optimized its online procurement process, enabling end-to-end digital operations for a series of review stages—including purchase order initiation, announcement publication, bid opening, and bid evaluation—thereby ensuring full-process traceability, auditability, and visibility.。

Furthermore, to eliminate the need for numerous suppliers to verify the actual usage of consignment materials on-site at hospitals prior to settlement, and to improve reconciliation efficiency for such materials, Haikang Xin’s Supply Bao leverages its consignment reconciliation function to streamline the reconciliation process, enabling online verification of detailed consignment material usage records.

Baiyang Intelligent Technology, on one hand, provides services to governments and hospitals based on its existing platform and products; on the other hand, it helps medical institutions at all levels build internet hospital platforms through its “Smart Cloud Hospital” solution.Implement smart services and, in response to epidemic prevention and control needs, provide cloud-based services for fever consultations, collection of epidemic-related clues, and dissemination of epidemic prevention information to epidemic command centers, primary care clinics, communities, and other stakeholders. Meanwhile, advance research and strategic deployment of an intelligent monitoring and early-warning platform for major public health emergencies, and collaborate with the government to roll out pilot programs that will lead to comprehensive application.

Furthermore, in light of the practical needs of epidemic prevention and control and the actual conditions of medical institutions during the epidemic period,Baiyang Yifuzhen rapidly establishes prescription circulation service platforms for medical institutions and provides pharmaceutical solutions for internet hospitals., enabling patients to consult online for fever symptoms. Patients with certain common and chronic diseases can receive online consultations and follow-up visits with prescription renewals without leaving home. The system has been integrated with the medical insurance network to allow online settlement using medical insurance cards. Patients can pick up their medications at nearby social pharmacies or opt for home delivery, eliminating the need to visit hospitals. This reduces the risk of cross-infection among patients and alleviates the burden on healthcare institutions, truly achieving coordinated development among healthcare, medical insurance, and pharmaceutical services, thereby supporting epidemic prevention and control efforts.

Currently, Yi Fuzhen has provided "contactless" medication purchasing solutions to numerous hospitals across China, including Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Beijing Fuwai Hospital, and China-Japan Friendship Hospital. Through a third-party prescription circulation service platform, Baiyang Intelligence assists medical institutions in establishing diversified distribution systems. Patients can access online follow-up consultations and contact-free medication purchases via the medical institutions' official WeChat accounts, mini-programs, and other platforms. With advancements in policy and market development, medical insurance payment and reimbursement will also be implemented nationwide.

Regarding the pandemic-response services provided by the three aforementioned companies, Qi Fei, Investment Director at Legend Capital, summarized three shifts in hospital demands during the epidemic:

First, in response to the sudden outbreak, health IT companies reacted swiftly by providing products and technical support to meet hospitals’ emergency prevention and control needs;

Second, IT companies facilitate the digital transformation of hospitals’ conventional offline operations and management processes, such as procurement.

Third, in alignment with the demand for upgrading hospitals’ internet-based services, leverage new technologies and tools to enhance capabilities, such as the development of internet hospitals and the implementation of AI-assisted solutions.

This epidemic has helped hospitals achieve an upgrade in informatization, and is expected to directly catalyze the efforts of governments and hospitals in building information systems. We cannot help but ask: Can hospital informatization thus transition toward a more intelligent and digital management system?

Internet healthcare, 5G, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are poised for rapid development in the future. The transformation trends already emerging in hospital information systems will not dissipate with the end of the pandemic. Li Qin stated that high-tech enterprises should further strengthen the practical application and implementation of technologies such as AI and 5G in healthcare, while also fostering greater public acceptance and understanding of these new technologies.

Li Zeyu elaborated on this development trend from the perspective of “New Infrastructure.”

On February 3, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee Standing Committee held a meeting and made initial deployments, calling for accelerating the release of emerging consumption potential, actively enriching application scenarios for 5G technology, driving consumption of 5G smartphones and other terminal devices, and promoting increased consumption in areas such as e-commerce, e-government, online education, and online entertainment.

Within the following 30 days, the central government alone deployed tasks related to “New Infrastructure” at least five times, while policy documents issued by local governments were too numerous to count.

Telemedicine, remote diagnosis and treatment data sharing, and medical devices are also considered important components of the currently popular “new infrastructure” concept. All of these will usher in significant development for China’s healthcare informatization and hospital informatization construction.

The construction of hospital information systems delivers value on two levels: first, by helping hospitals generate profits, and second, by helping them save costs. The latter represents the core value of hospital information systems. Hospitals leverage informatization to improve efficiency and reduce costs, thereby achieving efficient operations. Li Zeyu believes thatOpportunities for IT enterprises in the new wave of technological informatization lie in technologies encompassed by “New Infrastructure,” such as 5G and AI. As healthcare remains a focal point, next-generation health information system architectures will exhibit characteristics of cost-effectiveness, data-driven operations, and mobility.

Hospitals in China are at a critical stage of improving quality and efficiency. In future hospital informatization construction, hospitals should be built with medical quality and operational efficiency as the core. In fact, all clinical medical activities need to be carried out around quality control and operational efficiency, which cannot be separated from refined management of human resources, financial resources, and materials, as well as the application of big data.

During this epidemic, technologies such as 5G, AI, and the Internet of Things (IoT) within the new infrastructure have been widely applied. In Kan Jiaping’s view,In the face of sudden public health emergencies, early warning is the key to resolution. To this end, healthcare IT enterprises should lay a solid technological foundation before such events occur.

In recent years, Lianzhong Wisdom has been continuously increasing its R&D investment in products, with a particular focus on big data, cloud computing, the internet, the Internet of Things (IoT), and 5G.In 2019, Lianzhong Wisdom established an internet subsidiary (Juyi Zhilian), an IoT subsidiary (Yiruilian), and a subsidiary focused on refined hospital operational management and smart administration (Xidao). By increasing investment to excel and strengthen these specialized businesses, the company formed a complete ecological chain for the healthcare industry, laying a solid foundation for future development. Consequently, in the post-pandemic era, Lianzhong Wisdom was able to respond swiftly to national policies within an extremely short timeframe, leveraging its over 20 years of industry experience and accumulation to contribute to pandemic control efforts.

Where Will the Funding Come From for Hospital Information System Upgrades? A Comprehensive Upgrade of In-Hospital Information Systems Inevitably Faces the Major Challenge of Data Interconnectivity.

Li Zeyu firmly believes that the trend toward upgrading information technology systems is irreversible. However, its development cycle is tied to China’s overall economic situation. “It is currently estimated to take 3–5 years. In the aftermath of this ‘epidemic,’ hospitals will place increasing emphasis on IT infrastructure development, particularly on foundational informatization.”

“Funding for development can be approached from two aspects. First, I believe the proportion of government fiscal allocations dedicated to building the healthcare system will increase, such as state support for the establishment of medical consortia. Second, hospitals should enhance their lean operational management to achieve ‘cost containment.’”

“Smart healthcare is still in its infancy and will have a long development cycle,” said Li Qin.The national fiscal system will undoubtedly increase its investment share in the healthcare sector. “However, this investment will be strategically focused. Greater emphasis will be placed on new infrastructure (such as AI-driven precision medicine and 5G-enabled Internet of Medical Things), medical consortia and medical communities, and public health defense systems.”

Li Qin categorized the issue of data interoperability into two aspects. She believes that achieving interoperability among primary healthcare institutions will be easier. Thanks to the vigorous promotion of medical community and medical alliance platforms by health commissions at all levels, data exchange among grassroots hospitals has already achieved certain results.

Interconnectivity in tertiary hospitals requires a secure and rational architecture, with data interconnectivity exhibiting phased development characteristics.In Li Qin’s view,Current data is not in a completely closed state but is shared only within specified access permissions and regional boundaries.

As an information system provider, Lianzhong Wisdom has been consistently advancing the informatization of hospitals. “Currently, the level of hospital informatization varies significantly, and the government is bound to take action in this regard.” The purpose of hospital accreditation reviews is also to promote data interoperability. Kan Jiaping speculates that the state may intensify efforts to build medical consortia, gradually achieving data integration from the grassroots level upward.

The interconnectivity of data inevitably involves issues of information security. In practice, many hospitals remain reluctant to extract data from their on-premises server rooms, preferring to keep it stored locally. This hesitation stems primarily from concerns over data breaches.

Kan Jiaping believes that hospitals already have a management data center, with servers equipped with firewalls, making it impossible for unauthorized parties to arbitrarily steal data. During the process of data transfer between endpoints on the hospital side, the data itself triggers information security mechanisms.

“To address confidentiality requirements for patient data and sensitive internal hospital information, the hospital has implemented a solution featuring network isolation and secure information exchange. Physical measures are used to isolate the hospital’s intranet from the external internet, while technical means enable secure information exchange,” added Li Zeyu.

Overall,Information security issues can be addressed from two aspects. First, while enhancing the inherent security performance of their products, healthcare IT vendors should improve their comprehensive solutions to ensure hospital data security. Second, hospitals should increase their investment in information security protection.

Kan Jiaping believes that,Tertiary hospitals universally face demands and aspirations for building data interoperability. Hospitals serve as the primary drivers of data interoperability, with health IT vendors providing full support. However, data governance must be preceded by standardization. The state should also promulgate corresponding data application standards to establish an interoperable ecosystem.

Li Zeyu was the first to address the changes and trends brought about by the epidemic in the construction of national public health information systems.

He believes that,This epidemic has provided a valuable lesson for society as a whole: governments, health commissions at all levels, and hospitals must establish systems for the strategic reserve of public health emergency supplies. Furthermore, relevant authorities should leverage technologies such as big data to develop visual dashboard systems that enable timely alerts, real-time monitoring, and on-demand information retrieval.

Baiyang Intelligence assists government agencies in building intelligent public health monitoring and early warning management platforms, supplementing medical system monitoring from a societal perspective. For instance, by monitoring daily medication usage at pharmacies, it establishes monitoring models for medications targeting specific systemic diseases to provide early warnings of sudden public health incidents.

Historically, healthcare informatization has been hospital-centric, with a primary focus on clinical diagnosis and treatment. Disease control and public health have long played supporting roles. The pandemic has thrust these previously peripheral actors into the spotlight.In Qi Fei’s view, IT companies can assist public health departments and hospitals in issuing early warnings through technological means. However, relying solely on IT companies is far from sufficient; this also requires the state to carry out top-level design for the healthcare system and the positioning of public health.

Qi Fei summarized that, through the hospital informationization services provided by various enterprises, a trend toward intelligent upgrading has emerged in hospital informationization. The recent epidemic has further accelerated this trend, reinforcing its long-term trajectory. However, numerous challenges remain in hospital informationization, such as difficulties in coordinating payment systems, applying data effectively, and implementing viable business models. Addressing these issues will not happen overnight; it requires concerted efforts from entrepreneurs and practitioners across the industry.