Sichuan's Major Push in 'Internet + Healthcare': Advancing Population Health Informatics and Digital Medical Innovation

On October 27, the 2016 National “Internet + Healthcare” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference, hosted by the Chinese Health Information Association and the Sichuan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission, opened in Chengdu. Leading figures from the domestic and international healthcare industry, top professors from research institutes, senior experts from the internet sector, and specialists from investment and financing institutions gathered in Chengdu. Under the theme “Integrated Innovation, Shared Inclusiveness,” they discussed frontier topics in the field of internet healthcare and jointly promoted the integrated development of the internet and healthcare.

The conference features one main forum, three high-level forums, and six sub-forums.

The theme of the main forum is “Informatization of Population Health and Development of Internet Healthcare during the 13th Five-Year Plan Period.” The three summits will focus respectively on the development of the “Internet+” healthcare industry, hospital management in the internet era, and public health development in the internet era, hosting a series of discussions. Relevant officials from the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Yang Shengli, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Liu Yuanli, Dean of the School of Public Health at Peking Union Medical College, delivered keynote speeches on topics such as population health informatization, intelligent medicine, and proactive health.

The event featured three major summits and six sub-forums, covering topics such as case studies on healthcare informatization in Taiwan, internet hospitals, big data and precision medicine, construction and application of healthcare clouds, and “Internet +” tiered diagnosis and treatment. Entrepreneurs, experts, and scholars from the healthcare and internet sectors delivered speeches integrating internet technologies with healthcare services. Their presentations addressed numerous cutting-edge technologies, including cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile internet, precision medicine, virtual reality (VR), and machine learning, while also tackling contemporary issues such as internet hospitals, tiered diagnosis and treatment, and the intersection of internet finance and healthcare.

The Sichuan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission released policies to “Accelerate the Development of Internet + Healthcare Services,” held the launch ceremony for the Integrated Supervision Platform for “Medical Institutions, Medical Personnel, and Medical Practices” (hereinafter referred to as the “Three-Medical Platform”) and the “Bashu Kuaiyi” platform, awarded plaques to the Sichuan Provincial Health and Medical Big Data Center and the first batch of “Internet Hospitals,” hosted the inaugural Sichuan Population Health Informatics Project Promotion and Investment Negotiation Conference, signed strategic cooperation agreements with relevant parties, and worked to build an industrial chain encompassing demonstration zones for “Internet + Healthcare” services, innovative enterprises, and incubation bases.

Sichuan “Three-Medical” Platform is a dynamic and precise regulatory platform constructed by the Sichuan Provincial Health Information Center, commissioned by the Sichuan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission, using statistical and big data analytics technologies. It provides comprehensive regulation of medical institutions, medical personnel, and medical practices, covering six levels: province, city, county, institution, department, and individual. It is the first provincial-level administrative management and industry supervision platform for health and family planning in China.

As the Sichuan Provincial Medical and Health Service Cloud Platform, “Ba Shu Kuai Yi” is a key information-for-public-benefit project led by the Sichuan Provincial People’s Government, as well as an integrated service platform for “Internet + Medical and Health” established under the leadership of the Sichuan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission.

“BaShu KuaiYi” integrates the resource pools of hospitals, enterprises, experts, and physician teams to establish a “one-click access” online platform for doctor-patient interaction and clinical care. Patients can access “BaShu KuaiYi” via WeChat Service Accounts, mobile apps, or digital TV, enabling a new “Internet + Healthcare” service model characterized by multi-level coordination across “home–community–tertiary hospital” tiers and seamless online-offline integration.

In addition, the West China Women’s and Children’s Internet Hospital of Sichuan University and Sichuan WeDoctor Internet Hospital, as the first batch of internet hospitals in Sichuan Province, will be awarded official plaques. These two internet hospitals will leverage “Internet+” technologies to maximize the depth and breadth of healthcare services.

During the conference, outstanding domestic startups in the internet healthcare sector will conduct project roadshows to showcase their innovative achievements in medical services, products, and business models. Among them, 13 innovation and entrepreneurship teams selected from the four regional divisions of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Chengdu will participate in the national finals of the “Internet + Medical Health” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition on the 28th.

Teams participating in the “Internet + Healthcare” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition will have the opportunity to engage in exchanges and matchmaking with representatives from 80 medical institutions and 600 Tier-II and Tier-III hospitals across China during this conference. The project roadshows in the finals will receive real-time promotion through national media live-streaming platforms, and certificates and awards will be presented by the National Health and Family Planning Commission and other relevant leaders.

Moreover, this conference will also introduce advanced technological achievements from international fields such as artificial intelligence and holographic imaging. IBM’s “Watson” supercomputer system and Microsoft’s “HoloLens” holographic headset system, along with Wanfang Urban Investment Development Co., Ltd., will all make an appearance and are expected to establish a presence in Sichuan, thereby promoting the development of smart healthcare.