AskBob, China’s AI doctor that is increasingly here to help

AskBob was put to the test recently. The AI doctor, one of the smart healthcare solutions, which is a state-of-the-art consultation and treatment assistance tool currently operating in China, was tested against six highly experienced human doctors from across the world.

AskBob and the six doctors were all given the same patient scenarios. But While AskBob was able to make its diagnoses more quickly and more accurately than its flesh-and-blood counterparts. However, the AI doctor is not working to outshine human doctors - it has been designed to support them.

A comprehensive healthcare ecosystem

China’s population of 1.4bn people is served by 3.8mn doctors, resulting in a shortfall in care. To solve this crucial issue in a rapidly changing society, a dedicated team of medical professionals and technology engineers at Chinese insurance company Ping An have been developing AskBob over the past five years, leveraging the smart healthcare solutions to bring benefits for the industry. 

AskBob has learned a lot in that time, absorbing the data from some 38mn medical reports and journals. The AI doctor has also gained an understanding of more than 30,000 conditions and diseases, and developed some 20,000 patient diagnosis pathways. Smart healthcare was well integrated to the healthcare system, for example, AskBob is now supporting about 1.32mn doctors in China, particularly in the third and fourth-tier cities, where medical assistance can be most lacking. 

“Whatever country you’re in, you will argue we can get a better, cheaper, faster healthcare service. And that you don’t always have enough doctors,” Ping An Group co-chief executive Jessica Tan said at a recent Asia Tech X Summit in Singapore. “ I think technology can help with both.”

To this end, Ping An has developed a comprehensive healthcare ecosystem, and the Ping An Health platform now has 400mn registered users and can handle more than 800,000 online consultations a day. Through this and other platforms, 

Ping An is actively addressing China’s growing need for more healthcare and elderly care, and benefitting from the many opportunities that are opening up along the way such as smart healthcare.

In a recent study, management consultant Oliver Wyman reported: “The greatest financial needs for Chinese households lie in healthcare expenditure (about RMB 1,050tn) and pension support (about RMB 370tn).

Becoming a “health maintenance organisation”By integrating insurance, health checks, rehabilitation, and elderly care, insurance companies can establish a one-stop health ecosystem,Ping An aims to be China’s leading health maintenance organisation (HMO), connecting insurers, hospitals, doctors and other healthcare institutions to create a closed-loop business of “insurance + health services.” The insured are entitled to medical resources such as treatments within the network and enjoy the benefits that are brought by the smart healthcare system. 

Ping An has also introduced a “HMO + family doctor + O2O.” model offering managed care and online-to-offline possibilities. Essentially, the Ping An Health platform connects online doctors and offline medical institutions through its “family doctor membership” to provide daily health management and services before, during and after diagnosis.

There are many useful options available to users. The managed care service can help diabetes II sufferers to manage their condition over the long-term, for instance. And by promoting healthier lifestyles in such patients, they can stay active in society for longer and reducing the probability of more serious conditions developing and cutting medical bills and claims. A similar approach is being developed for patient with hypotension 

Bringing high-quality healthcare home

Ping An is also developing a new elderly care ecosystem along with smart healthcare solutions, providing home “butler” visit and personal GP care.The online elderly care concierge platform operates around-the-clock and is supported by a smart risk system that connects health monitoring devices. When the system detects anomalies in a patient, it issues an early warning so that the dedicated butler can respond quickly, notifying emergency services and family doctors as necessary. 

The system monitors seven major vital signs, including blood sugar, blood pressure, heart rate and blood oxygen level. It can also keep track of 13 behavioral risks, including accidental falls, sleep quality, and daily exercise, to ensure timely detection and rescue when needed. 

All of these services are supported by Ping An’s cutting-edge technology, with the group committed to serving doctors, medical institutions and public health bodies to the ultimate benefit of the public. With the support of Ping An’s integrated healthcare ecosystem with smart healthcare, consumers of the future will be able to meet all their medical, elderly care and health payment needs, as well as all their requirements for wealth management and insurance.