Chinese Revolution: Startups Pique Investment at World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress

GUILIN, China - Oct. 20, 2015 - PRLog -- The nexus of medicine and an aging population of some 1.3 billion Chinese consumers will provide corporations and private investors with the impetus to capitalize on China’s emerging digital markets at the World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress – Asia-Pacific -- Nov. 14-16, 2015, in Guilin, China, the Medical Tourism Association announced today.

Analytics firm IDC predicts the digital healthcare revolution in China could yield $5.6 billion in information technology investment by 2017. Startups including Guahao have begun to transform the way in which hospital visits in China are coordinated, while helping patients virtually jump the long lines that have plagued the public healthcare system.

“Despite government support for privatization, almost all healthcare in China is administered in public hospitals,” said Renée-Marie Stephano (http://www.medicaltourismcongress.com/renee-marie-stephano-jd/), President of the Medical Tourism Association®. “That means health startups need access to data -- and that means access to connections including doctors, companies that purchase medical services and the government officials who are being pressured by increasing demands for care.”

Stephano said telemedicine technologies, such as mobile apps, wearable devices, and mhealth, can provide a scenario for Chinese patients to easily access point-of-diagnosis, care and follow-up that does not need to occur within hospitals walls.

Guahao, the Hangzhou-based healthcare service provider which announced the recent completion of a US$394 million round of funding from the likes of Hillhouse Capital and Goldman Sachs, is now poised to establish an Internet-based national treatment platform and set up five surgery centers.

Stephano said the China Congress is attracting buyers of healthcare from China and private and public sector organizations seeking partners for investment, capacity-building and hospital affiliations. The multi-year event will also include a five-day, three-city B2B and B2G trade mission with top Chinese executives.

”China is positioned to be one of the largest outbound medical tourism markets in the world, with rising income and a growing demand for the best medical treatments possible, coupled with the launch of health insurance for Chinese citizens that include travel benefits, she said. “This event is where east meets west, with a focus on creating new business partnerships and affiliations with Chinese and Asian companies.”

World Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare Congress – Asia-Pacific 2015 – is a partnership between the Medical Tourism Association® and Beijing Great-Idea Business Resources Company Ltd. To register, go to www.asiamedicaltourismcongress.com/

About Beijing Great-Idea Business Resources Company Ltd.

The pioneering business resource service provider in China promotes outsourcing and healthcare. Great-Idea has been dedicated to providing professional industry consulting and investment promotion services for local governments and enterprises since 2002. http://www.outsourcinginchina.org/; salida-liu@great-idea.com.cn

About the Medical Tourism Association®
As the first membership-based international nonprofit trade organization and think-tank for the medical tourism and healthcare industries, the Medical Tourism Association® develops and implements creative and sustainable strategies for attracting direct foreign investments. The MTA provides advisory services to investors researching the industry and matches these financiers with medical tourism-related projects. www.MedicalTourismAssociation.com