A pharmacist compounds traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) at The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Feb. 24, 2020. (Photo by Zhou Mu/Xinhua)
BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- China is witnessing rapid development of "Internet + traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)" as the authorities have rolled out a series of favorable policies for the Internet-based TCM medical care and the COVID-19 epidemic forced many patients to seek treatment online, according to the Xinhua-run Economic Information Daily on Wednesday.
In recent years, the TCM industry has quickened the pace to integrate itself with the Internet. In particular, the TCM has played an important role in the COVID-19 treatment, helping alleviate symptoms and increase the cure rate, which has significantly improved the confidence of the industry players to embrace the Internet.
According to statistics, from January to April this year, the number of new TCM Internet hospitals exceeded half of that in 2019, and it is expected that the number will continue to increase in the second half of the year.
Under such circumstances, many Internet giants actively grasp the opportunities and roll out their online TCM services.
For example, in June this year, JD Health, a healthcare subsidiary of China's e-commerce giant JD.com, unveiled its TCM consultation center which brings together experts from TCM hospitals.
The center can not only provide patients with online consultation, group consultation and other services, but can also provide tailored services. For instance, with the online prescription function, doctors can give patients TCM prescriptions in a variety of dosage forms, slices, granules, powders, water pills, honey pills and paste.
Coincidentally, Medlinker, a leading chronic disease management platform in China, has recently launched the TCM chronic disease management service that enables the patients to obtain high-level professional online medical guidance at home and reduce medical expenses. At the same time, it can prescribe TCM preparations and deliver them directly to home of the patients.
It is reported that there are nearly 2,000 famous TCM doctors on the Medlinker platform who can provide patients with professional and scientific chronic disease management services in the TCM field, such as online consultation, tongue diagnosis, prescription, etc.
In addition to the Internet companies, the TCM enterprises have also recognized the importance of Internet in boosting their development.
Gushengtang, a Guangzhou-based TCM clinic chain, on July 17 signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Tencent Smart Retail, with their cooperation covering various digital application scenarios in the TCM industry, as well as underlying technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI).
The rapid development of "Internet +" and big data technology has brought greater convenience to traditional pharmaceutical companies. Through the "Internet +" to release potential, the TCM industry is embracing a period of leapfrog development, said Xia Xianglong, deputy general manager of Guangzhou Baiyunshan Chenliji Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
He added that the company set up an e-commerce service platform in 2014 and its annual sales have reached 90 million yuan (about 12.97 million U.S. dollars) from the initial 20 million yuan.
Some TCM hospitals are also taking advantage of the Internet to promote smart medical service. In January this year, Shandong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine officially launched its cooperation project with AliHealth, a healthcare subsidiary of Alibaba.
According to Zhao Shengtian, head of the hospital, the two sides will jointly explore the new service model of "Internet + smart medical", expand the high-quality service capabilities of the TCM hospital, and establish a complete TCM big data and TCM service system. (Edited by Hu Pingchao with Xinhua Silk Road, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
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