The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party proposed to advance the construction of a healthy China; promote the expansion of high-quality medical resources and the regional balanced layout, adhere to prevention as the priority, strengthen health management of major chronic diseases, and improve the disease prevention, treatment, and health management capabilities at the grassroots level. The emerging Internet healthcare, based on the advantages of digital technology, can optimize the supply side of healthcare, enhance the overall work efficiency of the medical industry, connect truly needy medical patients and healthcare providers, improve the accessibility of medical resources, reduce medical costs, and make medical services more convenient and beneficial for the public. Among them, online diagnosis and treatment platforms are one of the most important business models in the field of Internet healthcare and are also the focus of the project team's research.
Under the joint guidance of Professor Wu Chunjie from the School of Statistics and Management and Associate Researcher Huang Feng from the School of Economics at our university, the project team "Digital Empowerment of the Healthy China Strategy - Current Status and Prospective Outlook of Internet Diagnosis and Treatment" visited multiple hospitals in Shanghai. Through in-depth interviews with doctors from various departments, we sought to understand doctors' perceptions and willingness to engage in internet diagnosis and treatment, as well as their experiences and feelings in practical work. The project identified existing issues in the internet diagnosis and treatment process and aimed to provide positive and feasible suggestions for the government and all parties involved in internet diagnosis and treatment. Currently, the project has won the second prize in the internal selection of the 18th "Challenge Cup" National College Students' Extracurricular Academic and Scientific Works Competition at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and has qualified for the Shanghai finals.
Through in-depth interviews, the project team found that doctors share a consensus on the advantages of online consultations and internet hospitals, which provide convenience for patients, saving time and money, and benefiting patients. However, the main bottleneck issues include low income from online consultations for doctors, a lower degree of mutual trust between doctors and patients compared to offline, and low enthusiasm among doctors. Furthermore, the reasons for insufficient willingness and enthusiasm among doctors can be specifically attributed to: inadequate time and energy, the risk of misdiagnosis, and a lack of supporting personnel. Additionally, for higher-level hospitals, the project team proposed strengthening the formulation of technical standards, promoting data sharing and communication between different platforms, and actively training doctors in internet medical skills to improve the quality of medical services. For grassroots hospitals, the project team suggested that the government and society should increase support, providing more funding, equipment, and network support for internet medical services in grassroots hospitals.
The internet has broken the temporal and spatial limits in the medical field, providing new solutions to alleviate the contradiction between the growing medical needs of the people and the imbalanced development. From telemedicine to internet hospitals and online diagnosis and treatment, it has traversed two phases of development. With the COVID-19 pandemic creating huge waves, China's internet medical services are currently in a crucial transition period from 2.0 to 3.0. Based on the achievements made so far, the future is undoubtedly a "blue ocean." Nonetheless, there remains significant room for growth, and it is essential to face the challenges, adjust the pace of development, to realize the grand blueprint of building a "Healthy China."
The "Challenge Cup" National College Student Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition is a competitive activity in college students' extracurricular academic and scientific activities, hosted by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the China Association for Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the National Student Federation, and provincial people's governments. To deeply study, promote, and implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party, the Youth League Committee of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, in conjunction with relevant departments on campus, actively organized the 18th "Challenge Cup" internal organization work, receiving a positive response and enthusiastic participation from a broad group of students. This event has strengthened students' abilities to identify and solve problems through social observation and personal practice, guiding them to achieve research results of practical significance using their professional expertise, and embodying the mission and responsibility of young people at Suicai.
Contributors: Chen Siting, Xiong Jufen
Source: Chen Siting
