Perspectives on high technologies for low-cost healthcare - The Chinese scenario

To conclude, this article discussed some of the unique demographic and epidemiological changes that China faces. As China is still a developing country, most of its people cannot afford expensive healthcare solutions. Especially in the poor rural areas, healthcare service is a luxury for some people. Therefore, this article summarized several key strategies to reduce medical expenditures at the national level and proposes to develop a new information system in the form of a PHCH four-layered architecture. Using the management of BP as an example, we have shown that innovative technologies in wearable medical devices and BANs can be developed to collect information for this new system to overcome geographic and financial constraints and to provide a low-cost and effective solution to manage chronic health problems. © 2006 IEEE.