On 29 March (Israel time), the 2nd Meeting of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation was held in Jerusalem. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu together witnessed the signing of 13 cooperation agreements between China and Israel.

At this meeting, the Agreement on the ECG Telemedicine Pilot Project between Changzhou Municipal People's Government and Israel's largest private healthcare and senior care service enterprise Natali was the only agreement signed between the government and an enterprise and the first B2C telemedicine project to be implemented in China. This agreement marked the formally entry of the B2C telemedicine service into the Chinese market.

China signed 13 cooperation agreements with Israel

During Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit in China in May 2013, leaders of China and Israel reached a consensus on establishing an economic and technological cooperation mechanism between the Chinese and Israeli governments. A year later, during Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong's visit in Israel, leaders of the two countries signed a memorandum on the establishment of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation, thus ushering in a new stage of innovation cooperation between China and Israel. On 20 May, 2014, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and Jiangsu Provincial People's Government signed an agreement on the joint construction of Changzhou Innovation Park with the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Israel. As the first park co-constructed by the Chinese and Israeli governments, Changzhou Innovation Park will be built in the West Taihu Lake Science and Technology Zone, Wujin District, Changzhou.

At the 2nd Meeting of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation, 13 cooperation agreements were signed between the two countries. As noted by Liu Yandong, China sees Israel as an important partner in innovation cooperation. Both sides should take the opportunity of this meeting to enhance their innovation cooperation level. China will work together with Israel to promote the development of the China-Israel relations towards a deeper level and a broader area.

A cooperation agreement on China's first B2C telemedicine pilot project was signed between Changzhou Municipal People's Government and the Israeli enterprise Natali at this meeting. The project will be implemented in Changzhou Innovation Park. Liu Yandong and Netanyahu witnessed the signing ceremony. It is reported that this is the only agreement signed between the government and an enterprise at this meeting.

 

The Israeli service provider Natali takes part in China's B2C telemedicine pilot project

The reporter notices that the ECG telemedicine service is chosen as the first pilot item in this B2C telemedicine project. One of the main reasons should be that chronic cardiovascular diseases have become the biggest health risk of the Chinese people. As they are usually latent and paroxysmal, the doctor's diagnosis and treatment may be delayed. After the signing of this ECG Telemedicine Project between Changzhou Municipal People's Government and the Israeli enterprise Natali, patients with cardiovascular diseases will be provided with a set of telemedicine system which can monitor and prevent paroxysmal cardiovascular diseases at any time.

Telemedicine is not strange to Chinese people. But now it is implemented mainly in the form of B2B. In other words, a group consultation of doctors from hospitals with the rank of "Grade 3 and Class A" in major cities and healthcare agencies at the grassroots level or in remote areas is held on the dedicated network built in advance. With the popularisation of mobile healthcare terminals, the development of the Medical Internet of Things and the higher degree of participation of healthcare agencies, the individual-oriented telemedicine business model, that is, the B2C telemedicine model, has been gradually explored.

Considering its lack in B2C telemedicine experience, China selected a market-operated Israeli telemedicine service provider as its partner after multiple investigations, so as to launch its B2C pilot project by means of "bringing in". Israel's biomedical industry and medical device industry are highly developed. There are a lot of high-tech companies and innovative companies in its healthcare industry. Moreover, Israel has mature experience and operation modes in the field of B2C telemedicine. The China-Israel action plan on innovation cooperation also covers their cooperation in the healthcare field.

The ECG Telemedicine Project to be implemented in Changzhou is a combination between the Israeli enterprise Natali's technologies and solutions and China's existing healthcare system. Supported by Changzhou Wujin People's Hospital, the project will provide ECG telemedicine services integrating real-time ECG monitoring, real-time online diagnosis and efficient offline treatment for patients at home. This project was launched by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China. Recommended by relevant departments of Israel, Natali was selected from a lot of telemedicine enterprises in Israel as the service provider for this B2C telemedicine pilot project in China.

Founded in 1991, Natali is the largest private home care and senior care enterprise in Israel. It provides Israeli families with emergency rescue and medical aid services, telemedicine services, the smart homecare system and customised integrated solutions to home care and senior care.

Natali enjoys great prestige in Israel. What's more important, it has been acquired by the Chinese private enterprise Sanpower Group. This should be a major reason why it was selected by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China. After the acquisition, Sanpower Group's subsidiary Nanjing Cenbest (600682.SH) declared in February 2015 that it would establish Natali (China) Senior Care Service Co., Ltd. together with the Israeli enterprise Natali. At the beginning of 2016, Nanjing Cenbest announced it would purchase all the shares of Natali to improve its senior care industry layout in an all-round way. Nanjing Cenbest noted that after its acquisition of Natali, it would be a priority for Natali's future development to explore the Chinese senior care service market.

After the establishment of Natali (China), Natali will explore the Chinese market more smoothly. It is reported that, for this cooperation project, Natali will provide technologies and solutions, make operation provisions and train staff, while Natali (China) will take charge of its specific implementation and operation.

"Personal doctors" guards patients’ health 24 hours a day; B2C telemedicine has a broad market in China

Patients with cardiovascular diseases will no longer need to go to hospital when they feel something wrong with their hearts. All what they need is a wearable 12-lead diagnostic device which is shaped like a "big glove". It can map a professional ECG within one minute and directly transfer the data and monitoring result to a cloud database. The call centre of Natali (China) will take charge of data monitoring and disease management around the clock and timely send the patient's ECG data to a cardiovascular specialist who will then diagnose whether the patient has a heart attack and needs to see the doctor immediately based on his clinical experience. If the patient needs to see the doctor, backstage staff will provide him with emergency rescue services, such as calling 120 and notifying the patient's emergency contact.

The service is provided around the clock. Even when the doctor is off duty, the patient's ECG will be still sent to the doctor's mobile device through the cloud platform, so that the doctor can timely learn the patient's condition and make the diagnosis. In other words, the patient will have a personal doctor who can serve him 24 hours a day.

During the days when the patient's heart works normally, he will be reminded to have an ECG examination each month. Then the result will be uploaded to the local medical database and saved as cumulative data for the doctor's future reference. The distant ECG monitoring system can timely monitor the heart of the patient with cardiovascular diseases, so that the patient can receive medical assistance within the prime time for rescue. Moreover, it can check the patient's condition in advance. If the doctor diagnoses that it's not a heart attack, the patient can be just observed at home instead of going to hospital, so as not to cause unnecessary hospital care expenses and waste of public healthcare resources.

As introduced by Jacob, Chief Medical Officer of Natali, cumulative data can show that their effective telemedicine services helped 84% of the patients get advice from doctors at home; only 16% of them needed to go to hospital to receive further treatment. Natali is confident that it can copy its rich experience into China.

It is learned that the Changzhou ECG Telemedicine Project is the first B2C telemedicine pilot project promoted by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China. After being successfully implemented, this project will be expanded to other chronic diseases and the successful experience will be copied to other regions. By then, B2C telemedicine will enjoy a broader market in China.