Ping An Good Doctor Releases Health Big Data Report: Anti-haze Masks Top Sales, Second-time Moms Most Concerned About Vaginal Birth After C-section

With the booming development of China’s big data industry, big data research based on insights into users’ internet usage behavior has gradually become an important foundation and strategic resource driving economic growth and social progress. Ping An Good Doctor, the largest mobile internet healthcare service platform in China, recently announced the establishment of its Health Big Data Research Institute. By analyzing the behavioral logic underlying users’ health needs, the institute aims to provide decision-making support for innovative personalized health management and medical services in the internet healthcare industry.

Wang Qi, Chief Technology Officer of Ping An Good Doctor, stated that as one of the internet healthcare service platforms with the highest user coverage and engagement, Ping An Good Doctor possesses a solid data foundation and application advantages to develop health big data. Following the establishment of the research institute, comprehensive platform-wide tracking and monitoring of user behavior will be conducted to study how big data can enhance the platform’s refined operational service capabilities and improve user experience in health management and assisted medical care.

Upon the establishment of the Health Big Data Research Institute, Ping An Good Doctor released its first research finding: the “2016 National Health Big Data Report.” This report is based on big data derived from the online health and medical behaviors of 130 million real-name registered users on the Ping An Good Doctor platform, which handles an average of 400,000 online consultations per day. From the two dimensions of health management and online medical care, the report takes stock, summarizes, and analyzes the health concerns of typical users of internet-based health and medical services, their own health status, attitudes toward health, and health management practices.

Big data analysis from the Ping An Good Doctor platform reveals that, due to the persistent smog in recent years, anti-smog masks were the most popular healthcare product among internet users in 2016, topping sales on the Ping An Good Doctor platform with 3,842 units sold daily. They were followed by Shenbao, Ma Yinglong products, and blood glucose meters. Meanwhile, consultations for pediatric respiratory issues increased by 44% on smoggy days. The question “Can children rinse their nasal passages on smoggy days?” ranked second among the most frequently asked questions by mothers.

In step-counting statistics, users from Shandong Province are the most avid walkers, with 5.29 million participants in Ping An Good Doctor’s “Steps for Gold” campaign, accounting for 14.3% of the total. Meanwhile, middle-aged and elderly women aged 50 to 60 walk the farthest each day, averaging 10,340 steps per person, making them typical enthusiasts of brisk walking.

In 2016, the majority of new mothers were born in the 1990s. Among those consulting on pediatric health issues, 60% were young mothers born after 1990. Meanwhile, mothers born in the 1970s and 1980s are also responding to the national two-child policy, seeking to give their children a sibling. “After a cesarean section for the first birth, is vaginal delivery still possible for the second?” has become the top concern among mothers.

This report not only analyzes user behavior data but also compiles the data accumulated from the online services provided by Ping An Good Doctor’s medical expert team over the past year. Each Ping An Good Doctor medical expert handled an average of 91,000 online consultations annually, with an average duration of 15 minutes per consultation. Pediatrics, gynecology, and dermatology were the most frequently consulted specialties throughout the year.

If properly utilized, healthcare big data derived from user behavior logic on online consultation platforms can play a positive role in medical resource management, as well as personal medical and healthcare services. However, the ability to uncover valuable information hidden within big data and the effectiveness of its application in commercial practices remain to be tested. Meanwhile, data must flow freely to break down information silos and unlock its value. Wang Qi, Chief Technology Officer of Ping An Good Doctor, has called for online consultation platforms to join forces and achieve interconnectivity of user big data through open sharing, thereby ensuring that big data applications truly contribute to advancing the health and well-being of the nation.