Sichuan Provincial Health Commission Partners with Alibaba Cloud to Enable Tiered Diagnosis Across Nearly 70,000 Medical Institutions

While delegates to the “Two Sessions” were still hotly debating how to implement tiered diagnosis and treatment, hospitals in 27 districts and counties across Sichuan Province had already quietly realized triage and referral.

On March 9, the Sichuan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission announced that it is jointly building the “Sichuan Provincial Telemedicine Cloud” with Hisida Technology Development Co., Ltd. and Alibaba Cloud Computing Co., Ltd. The plan aims to fully migrate the health information systems of nearly 70,000 townships, villages, and communities across all 183 districts and counties in Sichuan to the cloud. This means that Sichuan, a province with a population of 84 million, will enjoy equitable access to medical resources, enabling the flexible implementation of tiered diagnosis and treatment as well as telemedicine throughout the province.

Currently, the first phase of the project has entered the trial operation stage. The remote medical imaging systems (PACS), laboratory information systems (LIS), and rational drug use systems in 27 districts and counties across Sichuan Province have all been migrated to the cloud, achieving data interoperability among township health centers, village clinics, and community health service centers. As a result, township residents can receive diagnosis and treatment from provincial and municipal hospitals locally.

With the advancement of healthcare informatization, the experience of processes such as appointment registration and payment has improved in recent years. However, large hospitals remain overcrowded, smaller hospitals have failed to achieve effective patient triage, and the distribution of medical resources remains unbalanced. To realize a tiered diagnosis and treatment model characterized by initial consultations at the primary care level, hospital-based care for severe conditions, and community-based rehabilitation, it is essential to break down the current fragmentation of healthcare information systems and data silos, thereby enabling physicians to comprehensively track patients’ health information.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission’s approach was to directly address the fundamental issues of medical information interoperability. Led by provincial authorities and implemented across grassroots hospitals in districts, counties, and townships, the initiative involved Hisida responsible for system integration and application development, while Alibaba Cloud provided services including data storage, underlying computing, and security. Through the collaborative efforts of these three parties, a comprehensive province-wide network for medical data interoperability was established.

A representative from the Information Center of the Sichuan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission stated, “We aim to leverage data as the foundation for innovation in healthcare development across Sichuan, ensuring that data ‘originates from the people and benefits the people.’ Beyond establishing a cross-regional online diagnostic closed loop connecting hospitals with each other and with patients, we intend to drive innovation through data by creating a healthcare industry incubator, thereby engaging more developers and entrepreneurs in Sichuan’s healthcare advancement.”

Enhancing the medical capabilities of primary healthcare institutions has always been a key focus of China’s healthcare reform efforts. In the 2015 Government Work Report, Premier Li Keqiang pointed out that the tiered diagnosis and treatment system is an important measure for deepening healthcare reform, helping to promote the downward flow of high-quality medical resources, advance the equalization of basic medical and health services, and improve the health status of the population.

By leveraging cloud computing and big data technologies, the Sichuan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission helped hospitals re-integrate resources, using advancements in information technology to enhance the diagnostic and treatment capabilities of primary healthcare institutions.

The official stated, “The reform of healthcare informatization cannot proceed without the joint participation of internet industry partners. Alibaba Cloud has provided us with robust data processing capabilities and a scalable, stable storage environment. With multi-layered data backups and intra-city disaster recovery, security is significantly enhanced, allowing us to conserve resources and focus on our core business. In fact, technology is no longer the obstacle; the key lies in shifting mindsets, ensuring cooperation among hospitals at all levels and with partners, and securing policy support.”

In light of future medical developments, the Sichuan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission believes that hospitals of the future will inevitably become data-driven institutions. Sichuan Province aims to leverage big data for hospital management, promote rational drug use, streamline healthcare processes, and conduct disease prevention monitoring and medical research.