China sees tech cure for healthcare woes
14-Oct-14, Reuters
Liu Chunming almost died after a car crash in July in Taihe, a remote county in China's southeast Jiangxi province, but survived serious abdominal injuries thanks to specialist doctors who led his treatment from 1,000 kms (621 miles) away.
From a central "operations room" in the eastern city of Hangzhou, doctors diagnosed and directed treatment for the 48-year-old using live video feeds and software that shares patient scans and files to aid consultation.
Liu's case - one of a growing number of distance healthcare cases in China - reflects the rise in digital healthcare, or eHealth, to bridge the chasm between China's developed health services in large cities and its grassroots rural care.
And that's a multi-billion dollar opportunity for technology firms.
"I'm not sure what would have happened without the distance diagnosis technology," Liu said in a phone interview from his village of Xiakeng in Taihe. He has since recovered.
To be sure, technology - from electronic patient records to remote healthcare - is already widely used in developed markets such as the United States and Europe, but the sheer size and scale of China make this a huge opportunity for tech firms and a big challenge for doctors, who say China lags far behind.