WellDoc Paves the Way for China's Mobile Health Future with FDA-Approved Digital Therapeutics

Riding the wave of mobile internet, healthcare has entered an era of "lightness." Across the market, medical devices are evolving from "portable" to "wearable" or "pocket-sized," shifting from intermittent, occasional health monitoring to long-term, continuous tracking. Meanwhile, a variety of mobile health applications have emerged, enabling anytime, anywhere health management and supervision. All these developments, in their "light" forms, are gradually disrupting the cumbersome and inefficient traditional healthcare system, propelling the healthcare service industry forward with greater agility.

Currently, internet giants with keen market instincts, such as Tencent, Alibaba, and Xiaomi, have begun to invest heavily in mobile healthcare, igniting fierce competition among capital players. The concept of mobile healthcare has consequently gained significant traction. However, amidst the fervor driven by surging capital inflows, some sober reflections from within the industry serve as a cooling breeze, helping us maintain clarity: As a disruptor entering the traditional healthcare sector, mobile healthcare inevitably faces substantial barriers, including regulatory hurdles and practical application challenges. For instance, the U.S. FDA was the first to approve mobile healthcare apps; will China’s CFDA follow suit? If so, who will be the pioneer to take this bold step?

In May this year, the diabetes management platform developed by WellDoc, a U.S.-based mobile health company specializing in personal health management, successfully passed FDA review. The platform, which leverages a mobile app and cloud-based big data collection, is the first mobile application approved by the FDA to help physicians optimize prescription practices. Officials from the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) also revealed that the commission will soon invite experts in the field of mobile health to deliver lectures, underscoring the high priority placed by leadership on research and development in this area. The prospects for the mobile health industry are promising.

In fact, the state’s emphasis on and encouragement of the development of mobile healthcare are evidenced by recently issued relevant policies. In the newly released “Guiding Opinions,” the State Council stated that by 2020, a health service system covering the entire life cycle, with rich connotations and a rational structure, would be basically established to fundamentally meet the public’s demand for health services. At the recently held Forum on Mobile Health Services and Big Data from Physical Examinations, Zhang Feng, Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Information under the National Health and Family Planning Commission, provided an interpretation of national policies supporting the development of the mobile health industry. He emphasized the government’s strong commitment to promoting the mobilization and digitalization of healthcare, and expressed the hope that the industry would explore healthcare big data in terms of planning, security, applications, standards, and mechanisms, so as to drive the sector’s development under the premise of ensuring absolute data security.

It is inevitable that more policies aimed at facilitating the development of mobile health will be introduced in the future, and follow-up approvals by the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) are just around the corner. WellDoc’s pioneering FDA approval not only provides a reference for the CFDA in approving mobile medical devices, but its profit model also offers valuable insights for domestic mobile health companies.

It is understood that WellDoc generates revenue by charging health insurers. The WellDoc Diabetes Management System can help health insurance companies reduce long-term expenditures, with two health insurers already expressing willingness to cover the cost of the “Diabetes Management System” at over $100 per user per month.

WellDoc’s next step is to establish a nationwide sales network in China to introduce its diabetes management system directly to physicians, and to build a team of training specialists to assist patients in installing the system on their smartphones or laptops.

In contrast, China’s mobile health market remains in its nascent stage despite the current hype, with business models yet to mature. Currently, capital investment in China exhibits four major trends: “courting physicians,” “competing for entry points,” “intensifying offline operations,” and “deepening patient engagement.” Competition is unprecedentedly fierce. Key industry concerns include how to attract more high-caliber specialists, secure greater online traffic, and integrate online and offline resources into a true O2O (online-to-offline) closed-loop health service model. However, many companies lack clear positioning for their business models. WellDoc’s business model may offer valuable reference and potentially evolve into one of the mainstream models in the future.

The Chinese government is actively promoting the industrial implementation of grassroots mobile healthcare. Mobile healthcare companies are striving to secure traffic entry points, while substantial capital inflows have triggered a fierce competition for market positioning. This constitutes the current landscape of China’s mobile healthcare sector. If mobile healthcare enterprises can shed their impetuousness, focus on developing high-quality products, steadily accumulate user resources, remain steadfast against volatile capital trends and avoid rash decisions, and actively explore business models best suited to their operations, then—coupled with the implementation of the CFDA’s approval framework—it is entirely plausible that one of them could become the first pioneer in the domestic market.

As wearable devices and smart health hardware shift from the cloud to homes and individuals, becoming more accessible, a host of new issues have come into focus. How can light-touch consultations ensure safety and deliver effective diagnoses? Can physicians provide accurate diagnoses and rational recommendations without access to heavy hospital equipment? How can one distinguish whether a headache is merely caused by a cold or by a brain tumor? Will the light-touch consultation model evolve amid the new revolution driven by big data, intelligent pre-diagnosis, and portable terminals? Furthermore, is healthcare truly immovable? Mobile internet has disrupted many industries—does its impact stop at healthcare? If disruption is possible, what will drive mobile technology’s transformative power in this sector? These questions may all be addressed in2015 (2nd) Mobile Health Summitfind the answer on.

Hosted by Bioon2015 Mobile Health SummitThe summit will be held on March 19–20 next year. The event will focus in detail on the following core issues: innovation in business models for wearable devices and smart hardware; interpretation of big data in healthcare; debates surrounding mobile health (mHealth) and medical security; regulation and breakthroughs; the impact and opportunities brought by BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent) to mHealth; new business opportunities emerging as mHealth grows from a nascent stage to widespread adoption; and the challenges faced by traditional medical institutions in their digital transformation and by mHealth companies in integrating traditional practices. We aim to bring together investment firms, entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, and cross-industry experts on this conference platform to foster an exchange of ideas. Additionally, we will set up experience and exhibition zones for mHealth products and host project pitch sessions.

For details of the conference, please refer to:http://www.bioon.com/z/2015mHealth/Index.shtml

(This article is republished by VCBeat with authorization from Bioon.)