Health Futures Hosts Industry Leader Event on Digital Health

The Health Futures program in China recently held a special Industry Leaders Networking Reception in collaboration with the Singtel Innov8 Ventures and WeWork in Shanghai. The event took place on March 27, 2019. The Event, held at WeWork (Shanghai Landmark Center), focused on the development of digital health industry in China and Asia Pacific. More than forty mentors and partners from various sectors of healthcare service, health technologies, investment, and health policy and research participated in the session.

Shawn Gu, Communications Manager of the Health Futures program in China, welcomed the guests and introduced recent progress and future plans for the Health Futures program in China. He emphasized the role Health Futures plays as a global health innovation partner to promote high quality and affordable healthcare.

WeWork Community Director at the Landmark Center, Leila Deng, also delivered a brief welcoming speech to the audience, describing the community environment and culture of WeWork and its efforts to provide comfortable and creative working spaces.

Three Insightful Keynote Speeches

Mr. Danny Su, China director of Singtel Innov8 delivered a keynote speech on the topic of The Market Opportunities of Digital Health in ASEAN. Mr. Su has over a decade of experience in mergers and acquisitions, strategy investment, and investment consultation with a deep understanding of the market in Asia. Mr. Su first introduced the global business network of Singtel Group, followed by an overview of the health market in different Asian countries. He believed that, based on the development stage of the health systems and the increasing needs of healthcare services, digital health would have a unique and promising spot in the health sector. He used the two examples of CXA Group and Halodoc, to showcase how intelligent technology and digital platform transformed a new generation of healthcare services. Both companies recently received a new series of investments in which Singtel Innov8 participated.

Mr. Han Yan, Strategy Director of PingAn Good Doctor delivered a keynote speech focusing on Internet Plus Healthcare in China. Mr. Yan has more than a decade of experience in healthcare, digital technologies, and strategy development. He analyzed the current situation of Internet Plus Healthcare in China and described three current trends in the sector: ecosystem platform versus vertical category, online and offline integration, and moving from B2C to B2B business. He illustrated the development strategy of PingAn Good Doctor in response to these trends.

Dr. Zhongyuan Li, president of BUMA Healthcare delivered a keynote speech to share his insights on digital health innovations. Dr. Li is an expert in big data analysis and digital health services and management. He explained how digital health is a driving force behind universal health coverage and medical resource management. He introduced examples of using big data analysis and artificial intelligence to increase the proportion of commercial insurance in health coverage to promote better healthcare to patients.

A Cross Border, Cross Industry Panel Discussion

A panel discussion followed, focused on the understanding of key factors in the development of digital health. Four panelists from multidisciplinary sectors of healthcare joined the discussion to explore the challenges and opportunities of digital health. Ms. Linguo Li, senior consultant of Health Futures moderated the panel discussion. The panelists included:

Pei Sheng Goh, Regional Vice President of Singapore Economic Development Board;

Allen Tao, Partner and General Director of Shanghai Office of CXA Group;

Ziyu Liu, Marketing Director of YITU Medical;

Yifei Fan, Business Development Manager of AXA Lab Asia

At the end of the event, the guests and our mentors joined together for a meaningful networking session. Guests took the opportunity to exchange the knowledge and to explore future collaboration opportunities. Thanks again to all the guests for the participation, especially the support from Singtel Innov8 and WeWork. It is our privilege to hold such event to promote the cross sector communications for the development of future health systems.