China.org.cn | November 3, 2020
The Poster News APP:
During this fight against the epidemic, the Internet Plus Healthcare played an important supporting role and drew attention. What did the National Health Commission (NHC) do to support Internet Plus Healthcare? How did it work?
Yu Xuejun:
It is an important question. Information technology is changing rapidly, and cloud computing, the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence and mobile internet play an increasingly important role in healthcare work. In particular, great progress has been made in information technology and Internet Plus Healthcare during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.
Now, I would like to invite my colleague Mr. Mao to brief you on it.
Mao Qun'an:
As just introduced by Mr. Yu, Internet Plus Healthcare is becoming increasingly important in optimizing the allocation of health resources, innovating service models, improving service efficiency, reducing service costs and enhancing people's sense of gain in getting access to health services. It also adds new vitality to the development and reform of China's healthcare undertakings. The NHC and relevant government departments jointly implemented the opinions on promoting Internet Plus Healthcare issued by the General Office of the State Council in April 2018.
First, we formulated and released over 10 policies, covering the regulation and management of online healthcare, pricing and payment, personal information protection and so on. This was done in coordination with over 10 other government departments including the National Healthcare Security Administration.
Second, we mounted up support for information infrastructure. Playing a pivotal role, regional platforms break the situation of information isolated island, and released 227 standards of applying information technology in healthcare. Now, over 90% of the top-level public hospitals have already realized inter-hospital information exchange and sharing.
Third, we summarized experience in promotion and demonstration. The NHC signed agreements with 11 localities including Ningxia on jointly building Internet Plus Healthcare demonstration provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. They will be used to explore development policies, regulatory models, as well as standards and norms.
Fourth, we strictly observed the bottom line of supervising safety. So far, 30 provinces throughout the country have already set up online platforms of supervising healthcare services. The move aims to use new means to regulate new forms of business, protect important data and personal information with special actions, strengthen privacy protection, and ensure medical quality and data security.
Through the joint efforts of many parties, the development of Internet Plus Healthcare benefited increasingly. Now in China, there are 900 internet-based hospitals, a telemedicine collaboration network covering more than 24,000 medical establishments in all prefecture-level cities, and over 5,500 hospitals at or above the level of grade two that can provide online services. Zhejiang province incorporated an electronic health card and electronic social security card, reducing the number of procedures when seeing a doctor from eight to three, and cutting the times of queuing up for payment.
Various localities offered people a series of services during the epidemic prevention and control process, including epidemic prevention knowledge sharing, online question and answers, psychological counseling, remote consultation, further consultation for patients with chronic diseases, and drug delivery. The services based on Internet Plus Healthcare helped to reduce potential risks of cross infection in gathering, and met people's needs for medical care, opening up a second front of fighting against the epidemic on the internet.
As a next step, the NHC will further integrate information technology and healthcare, and improve the development basis, mechanism and application by making better use of Internet Plus, so as to benefit more people with Internet Plus Healthcare, and make people more satisfied with healthcare services. Thank you.