Smart hospital

Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital: Flagship Hospital for 5G Applications

On March 9, 2019, the Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, China Mobile Guangdong, and Huawei Technologies signed a partnership agreement in Guangzhou, aiming to build the hospital to a flagship for 5G healthcare applications in China.

Of the guests attending the signing ceremony were Guangdong Provincial Government Deputy Secretary-General Ren Xiaotie, Guangdong Medical Association Chair Yao Zhibin, Department of Industry and Telecommunications CPC Committee Secretary and Director-General Gao Kun, Guangdong Communications Administration Commissioner Su Shaolin, Dean of Faculty of Medicine of The Chinese University of Hong Kong Chan Ka Leung, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital CPC Committee Secretary Geng Qingshan and Director Yu Xueqing, China Mobile Guangdong General Manager Gao Zhixing, and Huawei Enterprise Business Vice President Yu Dong.

Guangdong Provincial Government Deputy Secretary-General Ren Xiaotie said that the internet is a boost for the healthcare industry, transforms healthcare's theories and methodologies, and is constantly reshaping the industry.

Guangdong Province has embraced a new round of opportunities of Internet+ healthcare, and is implementing the Healthy China Strategy to further speed up the integration between healthcare and the internet.

As a key member of in the provincial government's initiative to build world-class hospitals, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital has already made advances in the area of Internet+ healthcare.

Since 2015, the hospital has been proactively exploring the possible uses of the internet to optimize medical service procedures and improve patient experience.

2019 is a key period for China to pursue more fundamental reforms. The hospital will work with ICT companies to become a flagship hospital for 5G applications by further integrating 5G, big data, artificial intelligence, and other technologies. The aim is to make healthcare services better and more accessible by applying smart technologies and precision medicine as well as building better patient-doctor relationships. This hospital will also play a leading role in the reform and innovation of the healthcare industry.

This hospital was among the earliest participants in the provincial government's bid to build world-class hospitals. The hospital is now adopting new technologies to bring convenience to patients and improve their relations with doctors. "In this way, Internet+ can be actually applied to benefiting people and the healthcare industry, and the hospital will play a leading role in smart healthcare," hospital director Yu Xueqing said.

In 2018, a cardiac surgery team from Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital was the first in the world to successfully perform a complex surgery on congenital heart diseases assisted by mixed reality technology. With Internet+ MDT (multidisciplinary team) care, primary hospitals may select experts from the hospital on mobile devices for consultations. The hospital also was the first in Guangdong to launch mobile payment services using medical insurance cards. The hospital has also launched 16 "Internet+" services on WeChat, Alipay and other platforms to make things easier for patients.

Building a 5G smart hospital has been included in the hospital's 2019 Work Report and approved at its employee representative conference. The efforts to build a flagship smart hospital for 5G applications will help implement the hospital's overall development strategies, improve its image as a harmonious hospital that cares for its patients with advanced technologies, and provide telemedicine services for primary hospitals and their patients.

5G technologies will provide the healthcare industry with reliable and secure mobile networks with ultra-high bandwidth, ultra-low latency, and massive connectivity. As 5G is becoming more and more integrated with other advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and big data, it will transform healthcare's current model one step further. The renovation of the industry and its services will usher in a new era of smart healthcare.

In the building of 5G first aid capabilities, 5G network slicing will be adopted to optimize first aid procedures, transmit patients' physiological data in real-time without losses, and "pave the way" for ambulances to save lives.

In addition, 5G will promote upgrades to healthcare services. Healthcare regulations can still be followed when patients suffering from chronic diseases have high-definition video calls with their doctors and get their prescriptions made. They can also have their prescriptions automatically delivered to their home or go get the medicine themselves at a pharmacy. All of these can give patients the feeling of being in a smart hospital and have the healthcare services they need provided right from home.

China Mobile Guangdong has continuously pioneered in its innovation efforts, and it has increased its R&D investment in applying ICT in areas that are strongly related to people's lives, like healthcare and education.

China Mobile is now working with Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and Huawei to build a 5G-ready service system featuring Internet+ smart hospital. It will use its expertise in 5G networks and cloud resources to build a 5G network based on mobile edge computing for this hospital.

With the support of a 5G network of large bandwidth and low latency, China Mobile Guangdong will integrate big data and artificial intelligence, and will work with medical professionals to provide many new services. These services will include MDT conferencing, remote and mobile first-aid services, consistent online medical services within the medical treatment partnership system, AR-based intelligent clinic services, and AI-driven intelligent testing services. These services improve the convenience of diagnoses and treatments, the efficiency of communication, and the comfort of the experience.

Huawei Technology, as the strategic partner of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and China Mobile Guangdong, has been working with these partners extensively on the digital healthcare service experience, medical robots, and remote MDT care, and their goal is to make the hospital smarter based on 5G technology.

Huawei and the hospital have been moving forward with HD video conference systems, agile network solutions, a big data image storage platform, precision medicine, and 5G technology.

Huawei also gives its full support to China Mobile Guangdong's network construction to provide end-to-end solutions for 5G networks.

The collaboration between the three parties has dealt with many applications of 5G smart hospitals using Huawei chipsets, simplified network, and all-scenario AI portfolio, as well as new, relevant materials and techniques. They will work together to create a flagship hospital for 5G applications that puts new healthcare technologies to use in order to contribute towards the goal of building up China's well-being.

The three parties signed the Strategic Partnership Agreement on 5G Smart Healthcare Service witnessed by guests.

They will form a team to apply 5G technologies to healthcare services by utilizing their respective advantages as stipulated in the agreement. The priorities for the partnership are as follows: Remote medical imaging, telemedicine, better digital healthcare services, and big data.

In the future, they will continue to make use of 5G to dive deeper into the healthcare sector to make high-quality services faster and more convenient for patients.