How Guiyang Leverages Big Data Analytics in Healthcare?

GUIYANG, China, May 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Wang Lei clicked on an app called Healthy Guiyang and checked her blood test result. As a resident in Guanshanhu District, Guiyang, he told a journalist at Huanqiu.com, "In the past, we need to collect the healthcare report in medical-based institutions and take these sheets every time. By comparison, the results can be currently viewed on the app, which means they can be stored permanently and checked at any time."

Healthy Guiyang is actually based on a healthcare big data platform. Thanks to the data-driven solution, the residents gain unprecedented convenience in medical care. Every patient can have his own digital record including medical history, laboratory test results and demographics.

"After analyzing relevant health data, the clinician can draw a general picture of this patient. More importantly, it becomes easier not only to create comprehensive healthcare reports but also to convert them into important insights, which can be used to provide better care," Zhang Weili, deputy secretary of a local health service center said.

As for urban residents, big data enables more efficient treatment delivery methods, whereas rural communities could access better medical resources. In a downtown hospital of Guiyang, a doctor was analyzing a patient's healthcare report on the computer screen. However, this clinician and his patient never saw each other before.

As a matter of fact, this patient lived in a village 76 kilometers away from the hospital. "In remote areas, local peasants lack sufficient medical resources to ensure timely treatment. It is also time-consuming and money-consuming for them to go to large-scale medical-based institutions," Li Li, a member of Qingzhen No. 1 Hospital told Huanqiu.com.

By comparison, the big data platform makes it easier for villagers to receive remote clinical services. To be specific, doctors utilize telemedicine to offer personalized treatment plans based on health data. It also allows health professionals to predict acute diseases in advance and prevent deterioration of health conditions.

According to the government, Guizhou was among the first batch of national telemedicine policy pilots in 2015. With the development of the data-based solution, Guizhou has constructed a telemedicine big data platform at four levels including province, city, county and village. The platform has covered more than 1,800 medical institutions and has completed over 180,000 remote consultations by far.

A stakeholder in local medical care told Huanqiu.com, such a big data platform has played an important role during Covid-19. It is widely used for primary consultations, initial diagnosis and remote monitoring. In addition, the solution also enables medical education for millions of clinicians, paving the way for epidemic prevention and control.

In order to promote the intersection of big data and healthcare, Guiyang also enacted China's first local regulation on the medical big data applications called The Regulation on the Development of Medical Big Data Applications in Guiyang on January 1, 2019. It has effectively speeded up the modernization of local healthcare.

The utilization of big data in Guiyang has been recognized. For instance, on November 21, 2020, a project of Guiyang Health Bureau called Guiyang Healthcare Big Data Governance System won the third prize of CHMIA2020 Hospital Emerging Technology Innovation Application Typical Case.

Big data analytics has become a catalyst for medical reform in Guiyang. In the future, the municipal government will continue to promote the integration of big data and healthcare, and construct the health service big data platform of higher quality. According to the government, the local medical service system will be more complete by 2025 and the average life expectancy of citizens will reach 78 years old.