Baidu Healthcare to Build an Open Ecosystem Platform Inspired by Google, Files Prospectus

Aug 25, 2016 15:22 CST Updated 15:22

Recently, at the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Taikang Insurance and the 2016 Health & Medical + Internet Insurance Innovation Forum, Mr. Li Zheng, General Manager of Baidu’s Healthcare Division, shared in-depth insights on the integration of internet insurance and the healthcare industry from the perspectives of information aggregation, artificial intelligence, and scenario-based medical services. The following is a summary of the key points compiled by VCBeat.

Looking back at the evolution of healthcare, approximately five to ten years ago, there was only one pathway for seeking medical care: offline visits. Patients would go to hospitals for registration, consultation, surgery, rehabilitation, and other services. During the first phase of internet healthcare, the primary focus was on providing health and medical information to the general public and internet users. We have now entered the second stage. The future of second-generation internet healthcare will undoubtedly center on connecting people with services, integrating information and service offerings to better serve patients. Those who can build such platforms and deliver superior experiences will emerge as the leaders in second-generation internet healthcare. The third generation will be defined by artificial intelligence based on the Internet of Everything.

Aggregation of Information

Today, over 100 million internet users are already searching for health-related information and services on Baidu. Baidu has built technological advantages in these areas, including speech recognition, image recognition, and big data-based artificial intelligence. Leveraging these technological strengths, we are strategically positioning ourselves in the healthcare industry, aiming to construct user profiles from the daily 100 million searches to better serve our users.

Furthermore, the methods for delivering health information are also evolving. First, there is a shift toward mobile platforms, such as smartphones and wearable devices, where data upload is highly convenient, allowing users to leverage fragmented time to search for and access the health services they need. Second, information delivery is becoming more aggregated and personalized. In the future, health information will increasingly trend toward personalization and aggregation. Users will only need to focus on information relevant to them. For instance, Baidu Doctor can leverage mobile platforms to analyze your previous search history and clearly indicate what requires your attention, eliminating the need for aimless searching. Additionally, the future will undoubtedly be defined by UGC (User-Generated Content) and PGC (Professional-Generated Content), with a strong emphasis on social interaction, self-media, and service-oriented features.

In terms of professional information aggregation, Baidu launched an authoritative medical science popularization platform in May this year in collaboration with the National Health and Family Planning Commission. The platform features information provided by top-tier experts and aggregates data on disease symptoms and examinations, as well as related educational articles and Q&A sessions. Currently, the Baidu Doctor platform receives tens of thousands of consultations and video interactions daily. Last year, Baidu introduced free hospital registration services, facilitating quick and convenient online appointment bookings for four million users.

From Connectivity Information to Connectivity Services

Medical services must ultimately be built upon user needs. Initially, to address the question of “What disease do I have?”, Baidu provides authoritative, aggregated content for easy access. The second aspect is “Which doctor should I consult?” Starting this year, through strategic partnerships with Haodf Online and Chunyu Doctor, we now have 600,000 physicians from public hospitals available online to answer patient inquiries at any time.

How are diseases treated? Baidu hopes to build a service ecosystem with an open mindset. We have already collaborated with Ciming in the area of health checkups. The Baidu Doctor app currently offers 12 services, including home-based health examinations, remote consultations, online consultations, and insurance. In the future, it will also provide preventive care and post-diagnosis management.

Google has begun rolling out what it calls mobile-based comprehensive medical records, enabling users to edit and upload their own health information. This represents a highly open approach and strategy. Baidu also aims to achieve data integration in the future. The industry’s direction is shifting from connecting information to connecting people with services, evolving from merely providing information to facilitating doctor-led medical consultations for patients.

Scenario-Based Medical Care Integration with Insurance

Regarding insurance, it is necessary to introduce the concept of healthcare scenarios. In the future, many customized insurance products will emerge to address new scenarios and demands arising from a new pathway that integrates online and offline services. For instance, in the area of online consultations, there will be insurance products covering consultation delays or intelligent diagnosis services. On August 20, Baidu Doctor will launch an AI-powered consultation feature. For patients, this service is similar to Palos in the United States, leveraging big data statistics to show diagnostic and treatment outcomes for individuals with similar conditions. Additionally, it offers physicians diagnostic support services akin to IBM Watson in the U.S., based on clinical guidelines, literature, or case studies, truly assisting primary care providers in diagnosis and treatment while reducing misdiagnosis rates. A human-versus-machine competition is scheduled for late September, inviting doctors from Grade III Class A hospitals to compete against the AI system in terms of diagnostic accuracy.

Artificial intelligence will play a crucial role in this process. For subsequent services, such as appointment scheduling and registration, if cancellation insurance is available, could we provide insurance coverage and compensation to patients who are unable to secure an appointment? On the Baidu Doctor platform, we have already integrated 12 types of vertical service providers.We look forward to the emergence of more insurance products,such as maternal and infant care, women's diseases, and high-end medical insurance.

We aim to build user profiles and leverage AI for precise matching, while gaining a deep understanding of the service attributes and distinct characteristics within the industry, thereby delivering the most suitable services to patients. This model naturally integrates service providers with insurance, wherein insurance serves as the fundamental foundation and safeguard throughout the entire industry chain.