Taiwan has been developing smart healthcare for many years, making it a nationwide movement within the industry. We can see hospitals at all levels investing resources in smart technology upgrades, and both industry and startups recognizing medical technology as a key area of innovation. Important ministries such as the National Science Council, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs have successively introduced smart healthcare policies. The capital market has seen the emergence of listed companies specializing in smart healthcare, and the Biotechnology and Medical Industry Promotion Association holds large-scale medical technology exhibitions annually, showcasing the entire spectrum of smart healthcare applications in Taiwan to the market. The purpose of Taiwan's development of smart healthcare is not only to provide the public with higher-quality medical services but also to help Taiwanese industries find development opportunities.
The development of Taiwan's smart healthcare industry has not been without its challenges. Society often expects Taiwan to have first-class medical services and a first-class ICT industry. However, the reality is that the healthcare service market is small, and healthcare payment flexibility is limited, making it difficult to fund innovative products and thus hindering the formation of an industry.
From the supply side, hospitals, startups, and large ICT companies are all investing in R&D, but with limited demand, a large and chaotic supply, and a long payback period for smart healthcare products, it is very difficult to create a virtuous cycle in the economy. From the capital side, Taiwan has considerable experience in capital investment in the biomedical industry, but it has mostly focused on new drugs. Policy has only recently been extended to the smart healthcare industry, and more time and successful cases are needed.
The pandemic has led to a greater consensus in society on developing the smart healthcare industry, presenting a good opportunity to address the core issues mentioned above. For example, if Taiwan can increase the percentage of healthcare in its GDP, it could leverage government budgets to guide medical institutions to actively adopt more innovative smart healthcare products, thereby accelerating the improvement in the quality and cost-effectiveness of healthcare services through these products. On the supply side, combining capital-related policies could allow for more efficient integration of R&D capabilities among Taiwanese startups, corporations, large ICT companies, and hospitals, rather than the current situation where everyone is vying for resources for repetitive innovation.
The problems encountered by the smart healthcare industry are actually similar to those encountered by other industries in Taiwan in their digitalization. However, we should take advantage of the high consensus and abundant human resources in the field of smart healthcare to propose and implement solutions to the fundamental problems more quickly. This will not only allow the smart healthcare industry to develop, but also help Taiwan find the right industrial development path to become a digital nation and an AI nation.
Source: Financial News Issue 703