Health systems across China have been straining under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic. That is not only due to the surge in patients and shortages of medical supplies, but also because of limited IT capabilities — especially when it comes to data analysis.
Microsoft and partner Yuanying Medicine have been working with government authorities in China to provide an epidemic data analysis and decision-making platform based on Power BI. With this platform, authorities are able to intuitively understand the epidemic and move quicker while making better management decisions.
During a pandemic, two factors are absolutely crucial: the speed and trend of the spread of infectious diseases, and the safety of the reserves of health and medical materials used to resist diseases. By utilizing Microsoft’s Power BI technology, Yuanying was able to achieve proper data standardization and visualization of these two factors, predicting future trends to guide the decision-making processes of health institutions.
New opportunities to help
Guided by their mission to use information technology to empower the healthcare industry, Yuanying has been active in the fields of online medicine, telemedicine and patient management. Despite the devastating situation, the pandemic brought with it some new opportunities.
Going to a hospital during a pandemic increases the likelihood of infection, so many hospitals had hoped to provide medical services to their patients online instead, yet this requires much more than a simple video chat. A wide range of online service functions have been made possible by Yuanying Medicine’s patient management system.
“Through the data transmitted by each mobile terminal, which is automatically aggregated, the platform could intelligently calculate, display and predict the number of people who would resume working, helping customers prepare sufficient sanitary materials and isolation conditions in advance,” says Jin Li, CEO of Yuanying Medicine.
Apart from aiding in the collection and display of pandemic information, they’ve also developed personnel warning systems for schools and enterprises to monitor the inflow and outflow of local and visiting personnel and their related epidemiological information.
On the basis of mutual trust, Yuanying and Microsoft have established a successful working relationship, which has led to the success of the platform in managing the pandemic response.
“In the face of this sudden outbreak of the coronavirus, all of us want to contribute our strengths. Microsoft Intelligent Cloud gave us the platform Power BI, which equipped us with powerful technology to discover the hidden information in the data. I hope that our concerted efforts can help managers and medical workers better understand the development of the pandemic, and contribute to the fight against COVID-19,” says Jin Li.