Lianzhong Wisdom Celebrates Two Decades in HIT with Remarkable Achievements in Hospital Information Interoperability Services
In mid-July, the Statistical Information Center of the National Health Commission announced the evaluation results for 48 regions and 101 hospitals that participated in the 2018 National Medical and Health Information Interconnectivity Standardization Maturity Assessment. Since the release of the first batch of assessed institutions in 2014, a total of 236 hospitals have completed the interconnectivity standardization maturity rating across six batches.
The application evaluation for the Hospital Information Interconnectivity Assessment Project is divided into seven levels, in ascending order: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4 Grade B, Level 4 Grade A, Level 5 Grade B, and Level 5 Grade A. Different hierarchical requirements for data sets, shared documents, service functions, and other aspects are established for each level.
Previously, in August 2018, the Medical Administration and Hospital Management Bureau of the National Health Commission issued the “Notice on Further Promoting the Construction of Information Systems in Medical Institutions with Electronic Medical Records at the Core” (hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”). The Notice stipulated that by 2020, tertiary hospitals were to achieve interconnectivity of information across all clinical diagnosis and treatment processes within the hospital, reaching Level 4 maturity in the standardized assessment of hospital information interconnectivity. According to statistics, as of the publication of the sixth batch of assessment results, a total of 214 tertiary hospitals nationwide had achieved Level 4 in the standardized assessment of information interconnectivity maturity.
2018 National Hospital Classification and Current Accreditation Status of Tertiary Hospitals in China
The “Notice” has triggered a chain reaction among hospitals and health IT service providers. Over the next two years, nearly 1,000 tertiary hospitals will need to undertake construction and application for the Standardized Maturity Assessment of Health Information Interconnectivity. Statistics show that between 2008 and 2018, health information interconnectivity and electronic medical records (EMR) were the only segments within the HIT services sector to maintain an annual market size growth rate of 35%. In Phase 3.0 of healthcare informatization construction, which aims ultimately at regional healthcare informatization, health information interconnectivity and EMR are widely recognized as the central focus.
Proactively positioning for hospital information interoperability has become a consensus among various HIT service providers. Headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD embarked on a new journey as early as 2014 to assist medical institutions in establishing comprehensive and robust HIT management systems, with the goal of achieving authoritative informatization accreditation.
The 2018 National Assessment of Standardization Maturity for Medical Health Information Interconnectivity yielded significant achievements for ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD. Among the 20 hospitals in Zhejiang Province that applied for the assessment, seven were provided with construction and application services by ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD, accounting for 35% and ranking first in proportion.
ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO’s Smart Hospital Clients That Passed the Interconnectivity Rating in 2018
In fact, ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD is one of the most experienced providers of interoperability assessment services in China. In 2014, during the first batch of hospital information interoperability assessments, its client, Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, achieved Level 4 Grade B maturity. In 2017, ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD helped the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University become the first hospital in Zhejiang Province to pass the Level 4 Grade A interoperability assessment.
Mr. Kan Jiaping, Senior Vice President of ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD, told VCBeat that the company is leveraging its mature integrated electronic medical record (EMR) model to deliver health information technology (HIT) services. This approach helps hospitals transition from traditional hospital information system (HIS)-centric informatization to clinical data-centric information integration platforms. “Moving forward, ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO will support hospitals in building data centers, integrate hospital big data, and unlock its value to provide intelligent and convenient clinical and operational decision support, thereby offering robust IT backing for hospitals’ sustainable development.”
In addition to its forward-looking product strategy, Mr. Kan Jiaping believes that the rapid growth of MediInfo’s hospital information interoperability business is also attributable to the company’s longstanding emphasis on localized services. It is reported that MediInfo has established fully equipped branch offices in all regions covered by its business matrix, including Beijing, Sichuan, Jilin, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Henan.
Typically, remote branch offices serve as leverage points for rapid business expansion. Mr. Kan Jiaping introduced that the number and structure of personnel stationed by ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD in each remote branch must align with the local business volume. Leveraging these fully functional remote branches, the company provides users with localized services—including product R&D, project implementation, system integration, operational support, and continuous application enhancement—ensuring that professional services are tailored to local conditions while enabling rapid response, thereby earning customer trust and acclaim.
“Over 3,000 clients form a crucial foundation for our innovative business initiatives.” According to Mr. Kan Jiaping, the competitive landscape among HIT (Health Information Technology) service providers has stabilized, making the accumulation of a client base a key capability in competing for innovative business opportunities. Leveraging its strong user reputation built on localized services, Zhejiang MediInfo I.T. Co., Ltd. is well-positioned to support the company’s future growth.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD’s dedicated focus on providing healthcare IT services. Over the past two decades, Mediinfo has witnessed the evolution of healthcare informatization from Phase 2.0 to Phase 3.0. Its business scope encompasses informatization products such as HIS, LIS, EMR, and HRP, as well as integration platforms, alongside platform-based services including smart hospital solutions, regional health information platforms, customized software development, system integration, and managed operations and maintenance. Through these efforts, the company has continuously strengthened its capabilities in integrating informatization resources.
ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO Integration Platform Architecture System
To date, ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD has established stable cooperative relationships with domestic mainstream vendors of PACS, RIS, ECG systems, and other platforms. It has accumulated extensive business integration capabilities and technical resources for hospital information interoperability, enabling the business-process-level integrated application of numerous heterogeneous hospital systems through its interoperability platform.
“The capability to build interoperable information systems across heterogeneous platforms is currently a critical competitive barrier technology for Mediinfo,” pointed out Mr. Kan Jiaping. He noted that achieving hospital information interoperability based on heterogeneous platforms is generally very challenging. On one hand, service providers must be thoroughly familiar with the IT system architectures and pathways offered by different vendors and propose convincing interoperability solutions tailored to each. On the other hand, the heterogeneity of underlying platforms creates complex communication requirements, posing significant challenges to the service provider’s capabilities in system planning and project implementation management.
In the recently concluded 2018 Interconnectivity Standardization Maturity Assessment, Ningbo No. 1 Hospital (hereinafter referred to as “Ningbo No. 1”), served by Zhejiang Mediinfo I.T. Co., Ltd., stands out as a typical case of providing information interconnectivity services based on a heterogeneous platform. Founded in 1913, this hospital is a Grade A tertiary general hospital in Zhejiang Province and hosts the only postdoctoral research workstation within the Ningbo health system approved by Zhejiang Province. Statistics show that in 2017, Ningbo No. 1 handled a total of 2.02 million outpatient and emergency visits, with daily registrations reaching 7,000. The hospital has over 1,700 beds and discharged 75,300 patients.
ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD was tasked with adjusting the various information systems of Ningbo No. 1 Hospital in accordance with the Level 4 Class A standards for hospital information interconnectivity standardization maturity, a project involving an enormous workload.
However, the real challenge emerged after the preliminary investigation. The Ningbo technical team of ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD discovered that, apart from the integration platform which utilized Mediinfo’s products, all other systems at Ningbo No. 1 Hospital were provided by different vendors, creating a fully heterogeneous environment. This significantly increased the technical implementation difficulty. Fortunately, the company had gained experience in achieving interoperability on heterogeneous platforms over the previous year, enabling it to rapidly formulate an implementation pathway and plan.
Implementation Pathway for Information Interconnectivity Construction in Ningbo No. 1 Hospital (Using the LIS Pathway as an Example)
Following further investigation, the technical team gained a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the heterogeneous nature of Ningbo No. 1 Hospital’s foundational platform: A total of 43 vendors are integrated into the hospital’s systems, with core information systems—including HIS, EMR, LIS, PACS, anesthesia management, blood transfusion management, and mobile nursing—all connected via heterogeneous integration, generating approximately one million messages per day.
Subsequently, the technical team quickly defined the technical pathways for heterogeneous information systems, such as interface types for data queries and message push notifications. Leveraging Zhejiang Mediinfo’s accumulated prior knowledge of technical solutions selected by heterogeneous vendors, along with continuous and efficient communication, the construction of hospital information interoperability at Ningbo First Hospital was rapidly completed and successfully passed the Level 4 Class A assessment.
As the interview drew to a close, Mr. Kan Jiaping pointed out that summarizing extensive practical case experience, accurately identifying genuine market demands in advance, and making proactive strategic deployments have been Mediinfo’s key principles for expansion over the past 20 years. This was evident when the company first provided informatization services for business processes, and remained true as it later adjusted its strategy to promote development through evaluation. Today, amid the trend toward smart hospital construction, Mediinfo aims to integrate the informatization needs of its existing user base, continuously transform into a platform-based medical big data service provider, and uncover innovative business growth points.
According to Mr. Kan Jiaping, ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO I.T.CO.,LTD initiated the research and development of its next-generation smart Hospital Information System (HIS) in 2018, with the results scheduled for official public release this September. VCBeat will continue to closely monitor the HALO (integrated) system, which ZHEJIANG MEDIINFO has developed by integrating cutting-edge technologies and adhering to the principle of promoting construction through evaluation.