Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic poses an enormous challenge to the global health system, and governments have taken active preventive and control measures. The health informatics community in China has actively taken action to leverage health information technologies for epidemic monitoring, detection, early warning, prevention and control, and other tasks. Objective The aim of this study was to develop a technical framework to respond to the COVID-19 epidemic from a health informatics perspective. Methods In this study, we collected health information technology–related information to understand the actions taken by the health informatics community in China during the COVID-19 outbreak and developed a health information technology framework for epidemic response based on health information technology–related measures and methods. Results Based on the framework, we review specific health information technology practices for managing the outbreak in China, describe the highlights of their application in detail, and discuss critical issues to consider when using health information technology. Technologies employed include mobile and web-based services such as Internet hospitals and Wechat, big data analyses (including digital contact tracing through QR codes or epidemic prediction), cloud computing, Internet of things, Artificial Intelligence (including the use of drones, robots, and intelligent diagnoses), 5G telemedicine, and clinical information systems to facilitate clinical management for COVID-19. Conclusions Practical experience in China shows that health information technologies play a pivotal role in responding to the COVID-19 epidemic.

BackgroundSocial media has penetrated all walks of life. Chinese health care institutions are increasingly utilizing social media to connect with their patients for better health service delivery. Current research has focused heavily on the use of social media in developed countries, with few studies exploring its usage in the context of developing countries, such as China. Tertiary hospitals in China are usually located in city centers, and they serve as medical hubs for multiple regions, with comprehensive and specialized medical care being provided. These hospitals are assumed to be the pioneers in creating official social media accounts to connect with their patients due to the fact that they appear to have more resources to support this innovative approach to communication and health care education. ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to examine China’s best tertiary hospitals, as recognized by The National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China (NHCPRC), and to map out the landscape of current social media usage by hospitals when engaging with patients.MethodsWe examined the best 705 tertiary hospitals in China by collecting and analyzing data regarding their usage of popular Chinese social media apps Sina Weibo and WeChat. The specific data included (1) hospital characteristics (ie, time since established, number of beds, hospital type, and regions or localities) and (2) status of social media usage regarding two of the most popular local social media platforms in China (ie, time of initiation, number of followers, and number of tweets or posts). We further used a logistic regression model to test the association between hospital characteristics and social media adoption.ResultsOf all, 76.2% (537/705) tertiary referral hospitals have created official accounts on either Sina Weibo or WeChat, with the latter being more popular among the two. In addition, our study suggests that larger and newer hospitals with greater resources are more likely to adopt social media, while hospital type and affiliation with universities are not significant predictors of social media adoption among hospitals.ConclusionsOur study demonstrated that hospitals are more inclined to use WeChat. The move by hospitals from Sina Weibo to WeChat indicates that patients are not satisfied by mere communication and that they now place more value on health service delivery. Meanwhile, utilizing social media requires comprehensive thinking from the hospital side. Once adopted, hospitals are encouraged to implement specific rules regarding social media usage. In the future, a long journey still lies ahead for hospitals in terms of operating their official social media accounts.

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Background The last decade has witnessed many achievements in China’s health care industry, but the industry still faces major challenges among which the uneven distribution of medical resources and the imbalance between supply and demand are the most pressing problems. Although mobile health (mHealth) services play a significant role in mitigating problems associated with health care delivery, their adoption rates have been low. Objective The objective of this study was to explore the impact of resource scarcity and resource accessibility on the adoption of mHealth from the perspective of resource competition, to examine the concerning factors, and to provide a theoretical basis for promoting mHealth in China. Methods We used 229,516 original registration records of outpatients to conduct an empirical analysis to examine the adoption of mHealth services from the perspective of resource competition. Results The adoption rate of mobile services for outpatients was low, accounting for only 31.5% (N=71,707). The empirical results indicated that resource scarcity (beta=.435, P=.01) and accessibility (beta=−.134, P=.02) have a significant impact on the adoption of mHealth. In addition, gender (beta=.073, P=.01) and age (beta=−.009, P<.001) are significantly related to adoption of mHealth. Experience with mHealth has a moderating role in the relationship between resource scarcity (beta=−.129, P=.02), accessibility (beta=.138, P=.04), and adoption of mHealth. Conclusions In this study we demonstrate that the external environment (resource scarcity and resource accessibility) has a significant impact on the adoption of mHealth. This study also demonstrates that experience with mHealth has a moderating role in the relationship between the elements of the external environment. Finally, we confirm that mHealth is a key factor in the delivery and allocation of medical resources and provide a theoretical basis for government agencies to develop policies on mHealth.

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