Future Trends
1. Increased Penetration of Digital Pharmacies
Digitalization trends have reshaped the traditional pharmaceutical retail market in favor of the provision of digital big health products and services, enabling different types of digital pharmacies to thrive and meet consumer demand for access to fast delivery, well-prepared, 24/7 service, personalized and customized and user-friendly privacy-protected healthcare healthcare products and services. Digital pharmacies operate under two main business models, including e-commerce and instant-to-home digital pharmacy services.
2. Medical professionals and offline healthcare organizations empowered by digitalization
More medical professionals and offline healthcare organizations will provide healthcare products and services through online channels and platforms, which will further drive consumers to online products and services.
3. Promoting online chronic disease and health management
With in-depth cooperation between hospitals and medical institutions, the online platform for chronic disease and health management is expected to improve treatment efficiency. The online platform empowers doctors to reach a wider patient base, enabling them to effectively follow up and manage patients and facilitate communication with them.
Future Development Prospects
1. Policy Support for Industry Development
In recent years, China has introduced favorable policies for the digital health industry, affecting and reshaping China's digital health market. Under the continued impact of the New Crown Epidemic, consumers have become increasingly receptive to online diagnosis and treatment and digital retail pharmacy, while the construction of new infrastructure, such as 5G networks, has been conducive to further promoting the cultivation of replicable new 5G smart healthcare products. The Chinese government has been promoting healthcare digitization. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the National Health and Welfare Commission (NHWC) announced in August 2021 a list of pilot projects for 5G+ healthcare applications, covering a wide range of directions such as online diagnosis and treatment, online therapy and online medical management.
2. Increased Demand for Digital Healthcare Services
In recent years, the number of active mobile internet users in China has continued to grow, while Chinese consumers are becoming more and more health- and time-conscious, resulting in their willingness to pay for convenient and specialized digital healthcare services. At the same time, China's relatively scarce and unevenly distributed healthcare resources require convenient and accessible healthcare solutions, such as the remote delivery of healthcare services.
3. Technological advances
Technological advances have dramatically changed the way the healthcare industry delivers traditional services. Artificial intelligence technologies and big data support hierarchical diagnostic systems, while the Internet of Things and 5G are innovating health management methods in monitoring, prevention, diagnosis and post-operative care. Technological advances are improving the efficiency of China's healthcare industry and the accuracy of medical diagnosis, resulting in new business models.