China struggling to sustain digital health initiatives

 20-Feb-17, iMedicalApps 

The health care IT sector appears to be booming in the US. But China’s hopes to cash in on online and digital health care platforms have yet to catch on. It appears that lack of data and too much regulation have forced the global economic titan to reconsider its strategy if companies hope to make money.

Image: China Daily

Three years ago, Alibaba launched an initiative called Ali Health to bolster the country’s health systems by streamlining processes with drug-tracking software. For example, patients could have a remote consultation with a doctor, and then prescriptions could be delivered directly to them. 

Around the same time, other major companies began to develop their mHealth solutions. Baidu followed suit and created a chatbot that performs basic medical triage to help make better diagnosis for patients and lessen in-office visits for overburdened physicians.

But all of these companies are losing money. Ali Health alone claimed a USD30 bn loss in 2016. 

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