China-Japan Friendship Hospital considering bid to digitalize to boost services

Beijing's China-Japan Friendship Hospital is in talks with Aliyun in a bid to introduce cloud computing into its construction of a digital hospital system, which already covers 17 other hospitals, said hospital President Xu Shuqiang at the recent 2014 Sino-US Digital Hospital Construction Forum.

Once established, the network would link all of the 18 hospitals, including China-Japan, by facilitating applications such as electronic medical record sharing, fee transaction and telemedicine. Some 1.5 million people are expected to be covered.

"Once put into practice, that would largely improve the medical service quality and efficiency, enhance public access into quality medical resources and lower costs," Xu said while addressing the forum.

"This will benefit both hospitals and the patients," he said.

Xu, who also is head of the electronic medical record specialty committee under the Chinese Health Information Association, said it costs approximately 200 million yuan ($32.54 million) to set up such a system.

"But huge business opportunities abound for the potential investors as well, given the huge number of people covered," he said.

Under the nation's long- term campaign to digitalize the health system, many large hospitals have been computerizing patients' electronic medical records and digitally linking departments, according to Meng Qun, director of the Center for Health Statistics and Information under the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

The commission has introduced electronic medical records standards to facilitate hospitals' sharing of information like medical examination results, he said.

The data analysis would help improve hospital management and the designing of overall public health strategies, experts said.

"Information technology and big data analysis improve the hospital and health," Xu, president of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, noted.

He cited as an example a recent widespread news story that a woman died after delivering a baby by cesarean section at a maternity hospital in Xiangtan, Hunan province. She suffered amniotic fluid embolism.

"Competent obstetricians and gynecologists are always in short supply in China, and telemedicine enabled by digital health system might help address the situation," he said.

Given the cost of digitalization, Xu suggested investment first go to life-concerning specialisms such as gynecology, and obstetrics and emergency response.

"Information technology is important for physicians to deliver the right care at the right time with the right resources," said Pamela Arora, chief information officer at Children's Medical Center in Dallas in the United States.

Xu conceded that China still lagged far behind the US in medial digitalization.

He urged hospitals to integrate digitalization under the overall health care reform in China.

For instance, large hospitals in cities could support others, particularly those in the rural areas, via telemedicine in a bid to enhance overall access quality medical care, he noted.

Also, under a digital network of hospital groups, minor diseases should be handled at small hospitals and only serious ones at large hospitals to improve overall efficiency of medical resources, he added.

"This is in line with the reform principles," he noted.