Jim Wang, chief executive officer of healthcare conglomerate Nova Vision Group, believes AI will help even the quality of healthcare between rural and urban parts of China, according to a report by CNBC.
While speaking at CNBC's East Tech West conference in Guangzhou, China, Wang said medical resources haven’t been equally deployed in various parts of the country within the last four decades. He believes AI will help solve that problem by supporting physicians in rural areas and pulling people away from hospitals in larger cities. However, there are still some headwinds.
“In China, we don't have family doctors and a referral system. Everyone will go to the big hospitals, which is why big hospitals are very cramped,” Wang said during his speech.
"AI will reduce the need to go to larger, urban hospitals. The Chinese government has a belief that technology can be a driver of innovation for rural areas. I tried to roll out the service in Taiwan, but I was told you have to get approval from the health bureau. It takes three to four years to get that approval."
Wang’s comments come at a time when AI is expected to have a big impact within the healthcare industry, particularly with regard to hospital visits. A recent report predicted that AI-enhanced virtual care would help reduce ER visits of chronically ill patients by 20 million by 2023.
To read the full report, click the link below.
Danielle covers Clinical Innovation & Technology as a senior news writer for TriMed Media. Previously, she worked as a news reporter in northeast Missouri and earned a journalism degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She's also a huge fan of the Chicago Cubs, Bears and Bulls.