An Overview of Healthcare Information Technologies Used to Combat the COVID-19 Pandemic in China

Abstract

This article describes the rapid development and deployment of healthcare information technologies (HIT) in response to COVID-19 from late January through March 2020 in China. It outlines the broad scope and in-depth penetration of various products and services, as well as the impacts that these products/services had in reaching the mass population for effective information dissemination, contact tracing, early diagnosis, virtual care, teleconsultation, social distancing and community outreach and support. The article also describes the rapid development of new infrastructures and the exponential growth of usage in the various technologies. Combined with other measures, HIT have played a crucial role in China through galvanizing public response in solidarity and achieving a massive scale of contact-tracing and interventions in a personalized manner.