Telemedicine has become an area of interest in China. There are a number of applications of use and investors are looking carefully at the possibilities. One of the main issues in the Chinese healthcare system is that rural patients commute to major cities like Beijing and Shanghai for treatment instead of going to local clinics.
Of course this means that urban hospitals have become completely overcrowded and hard to manage. With these ideas in mind, the Chinese medical profession is looking to telemedicine. The idea is that urban doctors would support their rural colleagues in treatment and diagnosis with email, phone and video conferencing. This could allow rural patients to enter the health care system earlier and to receive preventative care rather than only reactionary care.
They are also hoping to use telemedicine to education the population. 33% of the world’s smokers live in China and 300 million Chinese people have high blood pressure.
Read more about the potential benefits of telemedicine in China.