Opportunities and challenges for the medical industry under COVID-19

A glimpse of medical model innovation

From the perspective of the innovation of the medical industry model, whether affected by the epidemic or not, the medical model is faced with innovations.

People are no longer passive participants in their health care, and consumers are increasingly demanding easier access to transparent and personalized products and services, similar to other aspects of their lives. So the health system should adjust its strategy accordingly.

Some health systems are adapting strategies to move specific inpatient facilities from within hospitals to less urgent outpatient facilities, such as outpatient medical centers, retail clinics, community health centers, and even people's homes. There are also parts of the healthcare system that use virtual medicine, which connects doctors and patients (as well as other doctors and benefit-related parties) via telecommunications and internet technology, and provides healthcare services and health support remotely.

The implementation of graded diagnosis and treatment is accelerated

During the outbreak of COVID-19, the fever patients, suspected patients have been carried out with thoroughly effective screening, classification, stratification and shunt. This policy has dramatically reduced patients number in the hospital and reduced cross infection. It also played an indispensable role in community hospitals, which shouldered the responsibility of corona virus early screening, referral and shunt in patients with mild symptoms. During this process, the disadvantages such as lack of experience and hardware facilities were exposed.

It is expected that China will increase the resource investment in primary medical care and accelerate the subsidence of high-quality resources, so that graded diagnosis and treatment system can fully improve the utilization efficiency and benefits of medical resources.

On February 16, deputy general director of the National Health Commission, proposed to improve the "general practitioner training, graded diagnosis and treatment system", and strengthen the medical association and medical community. Meanwhile, family doctors will finally provide continuous and responsible health management for residents at the residential basis.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics, National Health Commission

Medical assistance on the internet

During the COVID-19, the shortage of medical resources and worries about hospital cross infection promoted a large number of residents to special online platforms for medical consultation.

◼ During the COVID-19, the internet medical has educated many consumers, which improved the acceptance from offline to online medical service for common diseases and chronic diseases.

◼ Recently, Shanghai and Wuhan, after Fujian, Yinchuan and other cities have included internet medical service payment into the scope of health insurance.

This policy clearly states that the governments have gradually recognized internet medical industry in promoting medical resources efficiency of graded diagnosis and treatment.

◼The development of Internet medicine is driving huge changes in the treatment path of patients, and the emerging layout of intelligent medical ecology plays a crucial role in every link of the overall treatment path of patients.

Source of data and information: official website of national Healthcare Security Administration

The impact of the epidemic on China's overall economy and healthcare industry

The compound growth rate of the medical device market from 2016 to 2019 is 19%, and the impact rate of COVID-19 on the overall market is expected to be 10-20% in 2020.

The main influences include:

◼ "Cabin" hospitals all over the country have been established, and the demand for medical diagnostic equipment has increased significantly in a short period.

◼ The procurement demand for monitors, oximetry and all kinds of in vitro diagnostic equipments such as ventilators, DR, oxygen therapy related equipments, and ICU configuration equipments and consumables have increased dramatically.

◼COVID-19 nucleic acid testing equipment and reagents are rapidly increasing in demand for infection control and protective consumables for the public. Overcapacity may occur after the outbreak is over.

◼Masks, protective clothing and disinfectants have become household products for frequent use, and the national strategic reserve needs to be increased

◼ Future infection control equipment related clinical requirements gradually increase, such as safety/no needle, prevent infection, concepts such as product such as the long term, medical apparatus and instruments through technological innovation, accelerate industrial upgrading, gradually realize the low-end market to the high-end market will speed up the development trend of import substitution in vitro diagnostic reagents and equipment, such as molecular diagnostics and POCT high-end medical equipment, such as CT imaging equipment, orthopaedic implant materials, blood vessels/non vascular interventional devices, wound management and home used medical equipment, etc.

Enlightenment of COVID-19 for medical device industry enterprises

Source of data and information: Ipsos analysis

◼ Ensure the smooth flow of channels and clinical service support, and effectively support the gradual resumption of work of clinical, scientific research and industrial customers

Make reasonable arrangement of production, warehousing, logistics, marketing, online marketing, access and the safety of the medical service team to return to work, to help suppliers all return to work, to ensure the communication with the customers, online/telephone service support, order, logistics and settlement of smooth.

Timely understand customers regarding the epidemic influence degree, and dynamically adjust the customer work arrangements.

Help clinical and scientific research institutions and industrial customers to solve tough problems appeared in the process of complex work, and help the customer to return to work in an all-round way.

◼ Grasp the market opportunities of government health expenditure and the new round of national infrastructure investment in 2020 and the next 1-2 years.

Chinese government strengthens the public health emergency system, emergency supplies security system. The key categories include “Internet plus” hospital required software and hardware equipments, grading diagnosis and treatment, medical equipment and consumables.

Direct and indirect opportunities and influences brought by the new round of 34 trillion key project investment issued by the central government and the development and reform commission of various provinces and cities in 2020.

◼ Further optimize the enterprise internal management to set up allocation of resources, improve operational speed and efficiency, strengthen cooperation between government affairs handling department and sales department, raise purchasing reaction efficiency and refinement strategy.

Increase investment on clinical registration department; promote the informationization and large data capacity, innovation in collaboration with the government.

Increase the automatic production proportion, gradually reduce the rely on workers, enhance supply system efficiency and stability, and increase long-term anti-risk ability.

◼ Make enterprise overall planning, prepare for application of the acceleration of "digital" application.

With "Internet +" policy, corporate needs more supports on online mode.  Limited offline sales require more resources to develop efficient online mode.

Pay close attention to health care and online sales channels for the changes in doctors' prescriptions, changes in behavior such as patients visiting doctors, as well as the impact on the products.

Pay close attention to the future medical resources, especially the joint cooperation mode for the future trend of big data application.