Amazon Wants to Disrupt Health Care in America. In China, Tech Giants Already Have.
- 6 years ago
Amazon Wants to Disrupt Health Care in America. In China, Tech Giants Already Have.
In all, more than 130 companies are applying A. I.
in ways that could increase the efficiency of China’s health care system, according to Yiou Intelligence, an industry consultancy based in Beijing.
“It’s fair to say that across the board, the Chinese tech companies have all embraced being involved in
and being active in the health care space, unlike the U. S., where some of them have and some have not,” said Laura Nelson Carney, an Asia-Pacific health care analyst at Bernstein Research.
Last year, Alibaba’s health unit introduced A. I.
software that can help interpret CT scans and an A. I.
medical lab to help doctors make diagnoses.
The sheer size of China’s population — nearly 1.4 billion people who could provide a vast number of images to
feed into their systems — provides a potential advantage for the development of artificial intelligence.
Lin Chenxi, who left Alibaba to establish the company in 2012, said he hoped to
use the technology to ensure equal access to medical treatment across China
Technology companies like Alibaba and Tencent have made health care a priority for years, and are using China as their laboratory.
It specializes in automated medical image analysis, helping eye doctors like Dr. Yu screen patients
for diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness among China’s working-age population.
In all, more than 130 companies are applying A. I.
in ways that could increase the efficiency of China’s health care system, according to Yiou Intelligence, an industry consultancy based in Beijing.
“It’s fair to say that across the board, the Chinese tech companies have all embraced being involved in
and being active in the health care space, unlike the U. S., where some of them have and some have not,” said Laura Nelson Carney, an Asia-Pacific health care analyst at Bernstein Research.
Last year, Alibaba’s health unit introduced A. I.
software that can help interpret CT scans and an A. I.
medical lab to help doctors make diagnoses.
The sheer size of China’s population — nearly 1.4 billion people who could provide a vast number of images to
feed into their systems — provides a potential advantage for the development of artificial intelligence.
Lin Chenxi, who left Alibaba to establish the company in 2012, said he hoped to
use the technology to ensure equal access to medical treatment across China
Technology companies like Alibaba and Tencent have made health care a priority for years, and are using China as their laboratory.
It specializes in automated medical image analysis, helping eye doctors like Dr. Yu screen patients
for diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness among China’s working-age population.