Telemedicine in China

choi

Dong Lyu and Lulu Chen, Where the Doctor Is Always In. Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Sept 30, 2019
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... and-patients-online

Note:
(a)
(i) the summary underneath the title in print: Chinese companies roll out subscription apps to connect patients and physicians anytime
(ii) Print and the online versions are identical.
(b) "Liu Sainan, a 47-year-old neurologist. In March, after 16 years at a top Beijing hospital, [practicing telemedicine at downtown Beijing] she joined Shanghai-based Ping An Healthcare & Technology Co [Ltd 平安健康医疗科技有限公司], which runs the Ping An Good Doctor 平安好医生 app. * * * Good Doctor * * * started a yearly subscription service in August that offers online medical consultations with senior doctors. Users pay an annual fee of 499 yuan to 1,999 yuan ($70 to $281) to consult specialists about everything [in ALL disciplines, perhaps by the same subscription -- but I wonder whether that means a person, a family or a CLAN] * * * anytime and from anywhere. * * * Good Doctor’s chief executive officer, Wang Tao 王涛 * * * Across a busy street from Good Doctor’s Beijing office stands the more than 100-year-old Beijing Tong Ren Hospital, renowned for its ophthalmology and ear, nose, and throat departments. On a recent weekday, the ground floor of the outpatient building was teeming with people lining up to get an appointment with specialists. * * * Sharry Wu [安永大中华区 (Greater China) 风险咨询服务合伙人 吴晓颖 (a woman)], a Shanghai-based partner at Ernst & Young 安永"
(c) "Still, there are limitations on what a doctor can do in cyberspace without meeting a patient. Among other regulations on cybermedicine, China doesn't allow doctors to make an initial diagnosis via an online consultation, instead permitting only follow-up consultations and prescriptions, which can be with a different physician. * * * People cram into large public hospitals—which usually have the best doctors—for everything * * * Several technology companies are jumping in to fill that gap. WeDoctor [Holdings Limited ] , backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd, said its online platform can potentially connect more than 200 million users to doctors from hospitals across the country. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd-backed Alibaba Health [阿里健康, by 阿里健康信息技术有限公司]  has signed up some 15,000 senior doctors to offer health consultation services via the internet"

"China doesn't allow doctors to make an initial diagnosis via an online consultation, instead permitting only follow-up consultations and prescriptions, which can be with a different physician."
(i) in Chinese:
业务介绍. 平安好医生, undated
http://www.pahtg.com/cn/business/introduction/
("我们的解决方案主要包括以下业务分部：•家庭医生服务 : 我们的人工智能辅助自有医疗团队及外部医生透过我们的合作医院网络提供家庭医生服务，主要包括在线咨询、转诊及挂号、住院安排及二次诊疗意见")
(ii) in English:
Introduction. Ping An Good Doctor, undated
www.pahtg.com/en/business/introduction/
("ur solution primarily encompasses the following business segments: •Family Doctor Services : Our family doctor services consist primarily of online consultation, hospital referral and appointment, inpatient arrangement and second opinion services by our AI-assisted in-house medical team and external doctors, as well as via our collaborative hospital network")

To me, the service seems useless. Particularly if a doctor can not legally make a diagnosis, how is he or she help a patient? IF a patient has to see a local doctor in person, what is the app for?   In the latter, I use a big if, because I am unsure whether it is necessary.