In China, management of big data is one of the main challenges for the industry players, while the health system is changing.
One of the government’s goals is to create by 2020 a health single national database. For now, collection of medical information is decentralized; each province has its own system.
Other solutions are proposed by private companies to improve the system, such as Baidu, that attempts to exploit cloud computing technology to improve the efficiency of healthcare researchers and medical staff.
This huge use of health information forced Chinese authorities to think about the security and confidentiality of data.
Let’s focus on this complex but growing market.
The construction of a single database is complex
Place multiple regional systems to a single national health foundation, is one of the current challenges of the Chinese government.
One of the current challenges of the Chinese government is to move from multiple regional IT systems to a single national health database,
In June 2016, the State Council issued a circular setting out its suggestions to manage the increasing development of big data in the health field.
Jin Xiaotao, vice-minister of the NHFPC, announced it has begun discussions about the establishment of an industrial scale of medical services by 2020 on a national platform “that fits national conditions”.
The draft guidelines were approved by the Cabinet in early June; they have not yet been presented publicly. Only transmitted information platform will focus on patients’ health status, control and disease prevention, but also on safety.
100 regional clinical medicine data demonstration centers will be built across the country, said the State Council.
The circular also states that efforts will be made to “promote sharing and opening-up of health and medical data resources, boost big data applications in health and medical industry management, clinical research and development, public health, new industries, and digital health and medical equipment”.
Data security is a priority
Jin Xiaotao had asked Zhang Feng, deputy director of the department of planning commission at the NHFPC, to provide some details on how these health big data will be gathered, suggesting it would be a good idea to solicit companies, research institutions and industry.
« Data safety is the top priority for related applications, especially in international cooperation, » said Zhang Feng, without revealing more information about proposed measures.
A complex and expensive project
“It would be very hard and require heavy investment, Cecilia Wu (YiXiu), Investment Strategy Manager at Sanpei Ventures (Shanghai), said to H&TI. There have been many government action plan, for instance, a USD 9.8 million (€ 9M) budget plan to standardizing the IT system in major hospitals, building a public EMR system and regional medical information system (“Strategic Report on Healthy China 2020”, MOH, August 2012). So even at the regional level, it is still money and time consuming.”
EHealth: the private sector invests on cloud computing
Among the Internet giants, Baidu is one of those who invests the most in the big data sector if we focus on the eHealth market.
For example, the group was responsible for creating the Beijing Big Data Lab, which is focused particularly on healthcare and disaster relief.
Baidu also focuses on the establishment of a big health data cloud. Among its products : Dulige, a service which provides cloud computing to analyse user’s physiological index.
With the Chinese Center for Prevention and Disease Control, the firm also wants to set up an epidemics prevention system in real time, such as its US rival Google. Thanks to algorithms which can detect keywords typed into its search engine, as « cold » or « fever », Baidu will then be able to identify areas where an outbreak of a particular disease is emerging.
Data security: the Chinese government is slow to legislate
“I perceive the regulations to ensure safety and protection of personal data in China are either lag behind or no clear guideline for now,” Cecilia Wu said.
The law on data protection has not yet been promulgated in China. This could see a conflict between the will to develop big data and the desire to best protect personal data. “The Opinion will be helpful to push forward the regulations in the near future to support the development of big data in healthcare,” said Nicolas Zhu, partner at CMS China, a pharmaceutical services company.
“The rule, in my humble opinion, should be more about the constant supervision of confidentiality and restricted usage of monetization of these personal data,” Cecilia Wu added.
The China’s State Council gives his opinion on big data management
In June 2016, China’s State Council promulgated an “Opinion on the Promotion and Standardisation of Application and Development of Big Data for the Healthcare Industry” to promote the development of big data in the healthcare system.
Some of the main proposals:
- In 2017, connect national and regional healthcare platforms with the online drugs sale platform;
- By 2020, create a classified open platform of nationwide health information;
- Establish an electronic health archive for citizens.
Big data: Can China become the eHealth market leader?
“I do not see change in medical care structure, but rather the radical change in Efficiency in medical service, Cecilia Wu said. We have a huge population and traditional way of medical care would not solve the problem. Big data can provide enough information to enhance the quality of medical service for each patient.”
Li Lanjuan, an academic with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said China by 2020 would have the world’s largest health data pool, covering more than 1.4 billion people (China Daily). This expertise should be important to make a difference in the market internationally.