Biweekly Must-Read: Top 10 Health Tech Highlights

Review of Major Industry Events Over the Past Two Weeks,IBM Watson enters China to help doctors develop personalized, evidence-based cancer diagnosis and treatment plans; WeChat aggregates resources to launch a unified appointment registration open platform; for the first time in history, CRISPR-Cas9 is used to transform human cells into memory storage systems...Biweekly Top 10 News from [VCBeat's Blue Book].

1. National Health and Family Planning Commission Deploys Pilot Program for Tiered Diagnosis and Treatment: 2016 Key Focus + List of 270 Cities

On the evening of August 19, 2016, the official website of the National Health and Family Planning Commission released the “Notice on Advancing the Pilot Work for Tiered Diagnosis and Treatment.” Compared with previous documents issued to promote tiered diagnosis and treatment, the most notable highlight this time was the designation of a list of 270 pilot cities (including four municipalities directly under the Central Government, such as Beijing, and 266 prefecture-level cities, such as Shijiazhuang) as well as the key tasks for 2016.

2. Apple’s New Patent: Wearable Devices Measure ECG Data

The United States Patent and Trademark Office today published a new patent application filed by Apple. The patent reveals that Apple has invented a wearable device capable of measuring electrocardiogram (ECG) signals through a series of built-in electrodes. Typically, ECG measurements rely on multiple electrodes to capture data, and variations in electrode placement can lead to differing results. To address this issue, Apple’s new patent details how the device reads data from different parts of the body and compares these readings to ultimately derive an accurate result.

3. IBM Watson Comes to China, Helping Doctors Develop Personalized Evidence-Based Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Plans

On August 12, 2016, IBM and Hangzhou Cognitive Network Technology Co., Ltd. jointly announced that 21 hospitals in China had planned to adopt the IBM Watson for Oncology solution, which was trained by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This collaboration aims to leverage cognitive computing platforms to assist Chinese physicians in delivering personalized, evidence-based cancer treatment plans.

4. WeChat Aggregates Resources to Launch a Unified Appointment Registration Open Platform

Tencent’s Internet Plus Cooperation Business Unit will join forces with partners, including WeDoctor, to launch a unified open appointment registration platform. This platform will aggregate previously fragmented appointment slots, enabling patients to complete registration and receive medical care more quickly, accurately, and efficiently. Currently, this appointment registration platform has been initially deployed in over 60 cities, including Shanghai, Xi’an, and Zhengzhou, while appointment services in other cities will be rolled out successively in the near future.

5. Taikang Approved to Establish Insurance Group, Becoming the Tenth in China

After 20 years of operation, Taikang Life Insurance has received official approval to establish an insurance group. This means that Taikang Life Insurance has become the tenth insurance group company in China. Documents from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission show that Taikang Life Insurance will be renamedTaikang InsuranceGroup Co., Ltd., and exclusively initiated the establishment of Taikang Life Insurance Co., Ltd., with its insurance business and related assets and liabilities transferred to the newly established Taikang Life Insurance Co., Ltd.

6. Alibaba Health Completes Acquisition of Guangzhou 5000-Year Pharmaceutical Chain

On August 17, Alibaba Health issued an announcement regarding the acquisition of Guangzhou Wunian Pharmaceutical.Chain100% equity interest in the limited liability company. The acquisition was completed on August 16, 2016. Guangzhou Wunian Pharmaceutical Chain Co., Ltd. was registered and established in November 2008; it obtained qualifications for pharmaceutical chain operations in March 2011; and on January 30, 2015, it received the “Certificate for Internet Drug Transaction Services” (Category C) issued by the Guangzhou Food and Drug Administration, thereby qualifying it to engage in online pharmacy business, i.e., pharmaceutical e-commerce targeting individual consumers.

7. First Time in History: Using CRISPR-Cas9 to Turn Human Cells into Memory Storage Systems

In a new study, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States have devised a method to record complex historical events in the DNA of human cells, thereby enabling them to retrieve “memories” of past events by sequencing this DNA. The relevant findings were published online on August 18, 2016, in the journal Science, under the title “Continuous genetic recording with self-targeting CRISPR-Cas in human cells”.

8. VR + Exoskeleton + Brain Interface: Helping Paralyzed Individuals Regain Sensory Perception

On August 11, Scientific Reports, a journal published by Nature Portfolio, featured a surprising study in which eight patients with long-standing paralysis due to spinal cord injuries achieved partial recovery of lower-limb motor and sensory functions through brain-controlled machine training. This training was conducted using brain-machine interfaces (also known as brain ports) in combination with virtual reality (VR) and robotic exoskeletons.

9. CSC Financial: The Healthcare IT Industry Is Seizing an Excellent Investment Opportunity

According to IDC’s statistical data, the healthcare informatization industry is expected to surpass RMB 30 billion in 2016, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 15% in the next three years. Among its sub-sectors, private hospitals, primary healthcare institutions, and regional healthcare informatization platform construction will exhibit greater elasticity, from which related companies’ strategic layouts will significantly benefit.

10. BCG Report: Commercial Health Insurance Market Grew Nearly Fourfold in 2020, with Two Demographics Showing Strong Purchasing Power

On August 24, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Munich Re jointly released a report. The report predicts that by 2020, the size of China’s commercial medical insurance market will nearly quadruple, rising from RMB 241 billion in 2015 to RMB 1.1 trillion, with reimbursement-based medical insurance surpassing critical illness insurance to become the fastest-growing segment in China’s commercial medical insurance market.