Net-based healthcare services set to flourish

Tech firms revolutionize sector by partnering with public hospitals and acquiring private ones

Like many people in China, Chen Hua (not her real name), a 60-year-old resident of Guangdong province, used to hate visiting hospitals because she had to wait in serpentine queues every time she required to see a doctor, pay medical bills and buy the prescribed drugs from the hospital pharmacy.

But now, she has a better alternative. Chen visits a nearby drugstore where she gets to interact with doctors at big hospitals via video calls. Using online tools, the drugstore people transmit readings of her blood pressure and temperature to the doctors concerned.