On 27 October, China's National Health Commission (NHC), the authority 
responsible for the medical industry, issued a new policy that calls for the 
regulation of China's fast-growing Internet healthcare industry. The policy is 
expected to push China's internet healthcare industry into the era of 
standardized development.

According to the NHC, as of June 2021, the number of Internet hospitals in 
China has exceeded 1,600, the Internet hospital is the provider of online 
medical services such as online consultations. The first Internet hospital in 
China was established in 2015 in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province by digital medical 
service platform WeDoctor.

This policy has generated widespread interest within the Chinese healthcare 
industry since its release. The regulatory policy on online medical 
consultation has been well received within the industry, with the release of 
the policy seen as beneficial to the development of the Internet healthcare 
industry, especially for some of large digital medical platforms that engage 
strictly online medical services.

The document, titled "Rules on the Regulation of Online Medical Consultation 
(Draft for Comments)", states that physicians are required to authenticate 
their real identity before providing consultations to ensure that such online 
consultations are provided by the say doctor. Other people, AI software, etc. 
are not allowed to impersonate or replace the physicians themselves. As a 
result, some companies that focusing on using AI technology to provide 
consultation services may be negatively impacted.

China does not allow Internet healthcare platforms to use consultations as a 
tool for the sale of prescription drugs. The policy proposes that the 
occurrence of unified prescriptions and prescription refills is prohibited, 
that the personal income of healthcare workers must not be linked to income 
from drugs and medical examinations, and that doctors must not designate 
locations to purchase drugs and consumables.

Liao Jieyuan, founder of China's largest digital medical service platform 
WeDoctor, believes that the policy has released a clear signal that online 
medical consultation should be of the same quality as that provided by physical 
institutions, reflecting China's determination to develop digital medical 
services, which is essential for the standardized development and market 
expansion of the Internet healthcare industry.

China's 1.4 billion people have a huge demand for healthcare services and 
physical hospitals are unable to meet this demand. Platforms such as WeDoctor 
have leverage technology to help alleviate the demand and supply imbalance in 
China's healthcare industry. 

According to a publicly released research report by CICC, with the regulatory 
policies for Internet healthcare becoming more transparent and standardized, 
companies providing actual medical services with a sound regulatory compliance 
system are expected to benefit the most.

Source: WeDoctor