Digital and Intelligent Health Forum | Zhao Jing: Promoting integration of digital technology and healthcare through high-quality data

The integration of digital technology with medical practice is becoming a major trend in the transformation of the healthcare sector, said Zhao Jing, deputy director of the National Institute of Hospital Administration under the National Health Commission.

Zhao made the remarks on July 22 at the Digital and Intelligent Health Forum, part of the 2026 World Internet Conference Digital Silk Road Development Forum in Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

Noting that the world is at a pivotal moment in the rapid development of big data and artificial intelligence, he said that in the healthcare sector, high-quality data is essential for transforming into intelligent tools applicable in clinical settings.

Zhao noted that although numerous public and private medical institutions in China have amassed vast amounts of medical data, they are far from constituting "big data" for the sector as a whole. "To empower artificial intelligence in healthcare, data governance, cleaning, standardization, security and transformation must be advanced to convert raw medical data into valuable data assets," he said.

Zhao underlined the need for a robust digital foundation to build a four-dimensional framework for intelligent healthcare quality and safety systems. This includes routine intelligent monitoring, digital medical supervision, intelligent risk prediction, and quality evaluation, all supported by high-quality datasets, he said.

The healthcare industry is moving towards the use of structured electronic medical records, enabling data to be comprehensible, statistical, and analyzable, he added.

For intelligent risk warning in healthcare quality and safety, Zhao suggested using comprehensive patient data and public opinion to drive risk identification, precise assessment, proactive intervention, and continuous improvement.