The First Expert Review Meeting of the Medical Ethics Committee of HealthyWay Internet Hospital was Successfully Convened
On August 28, the first expert review meeting of the Medical Ethics Committee of Fuzhou HealthyWay Internet Hospital (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee") was successfully held in Fuzhou. This meeting marks that the Medical Ethics Committee of HealthyWay Internet Hospital has officially entered the stage of substantive operation. It is an important milestone for HealthyWay to improve the ethical governance system of digital medical care and implement the national scientific research supervision requirements, setting a practical example for the high-quality development of internet medical scientific research.
Official Operation
Establish the Full-Process Mechanism of Ethical Review
This meeting was organized and implemented in strict accordance with the national *Measures for the Ethical Review of Life Sciences and Medical Research Involving Human Subjects*, and actively aligned with the latest requirements of the *Regulations on the Administration of Clinical Research and Clinical Transformation Application of Biomedical New Technologies*. It is an important practice for HealthyWay to actively integrate into the new stage of standardized governance featuring "ethics first, controllable risks, whole-process supervision, and accountability for violations" and improve the internal ethical governance system.
The Committee is led by Professor Tingbo Liu from the Department of Hematology of Fujian Medical University Union Hospital (hereinafter referred to as "Fujian Union Hospital") (Chairperson) and Professor Xiaobing Huang from the Department of Medical Oncology of Fuzhou First Hospital (Vice-Chairperson). It is jointly composed of clinical experts from the Third People's Hospital of Fujian Province and Fujian Union Hospital, as well as professionals from various fields such as legal and social representatives, with a complete professional structure and compliant personnel allocation.
The meeting systematically established the full-process operation mechanism of ethical review, covering core links such as project acceptance, preliminary review, conference review, follow-up review, adverse event reporting, and archive retention. It also clarified the key review points of committee members, voting rules, and conflict of interest recusal system, so that the role of the ethics committee has evolved from a "gatekeeper at the starting point" for approving research to a "process manager" throughout the entire research period, laying a solid institutional foundation for the standardized and regular development of ethical review work.
The First Batch of Three IIT Projects Completed Deliberation
The core agenda of the meeting focused on the ethical review of 3 IIT (Investigator-Initiated Trial) projects. The project investigators presented reports on dimensions including research protocol design, completeness of informed consent, risk-benefit ratio, and safety protection of research subjects; the committee members conducted one-by-one inquiries and full discussions, and finally formed review opinions through independent voting.
This review strictly followed the pre-"dual review" requirements of academic and ethical aspects established by the *Regulations*, enabling the ethics committee to truly exercise the "one-vote veto power" at the access stage.
The meeting specially emphasized that IIT projects must focus on key risk points such as investigator responsibility, fund management, sample disposal, subject compensation, and adverse event follow-up, to ensure that every research can stand the dual test of ethics and science.
Support the Steady and Long-Term Development of RWS and IIT
The official operation of this Committee is of great significance for the compliant development and high-quality promotion of HealthyWay's core businesses — Real-World Study (RWS) and IIT. The Committee will focus on conducting pre-review of projects involving patient data and human research, to prevent risks such as privacy leakage and data abuse from the source. At the same time, in response to the industry pain points of cumbersome and inefficient review of cross-institutional scientific research projects, HealthyWay will promote the online transformation of ethical review to shorten the review cycle and improve operational efficiency.
In terms of medical AI applications, the Committee will focus on the full-life-cycle security of patient data, strictly review the transparency and interpretability of algorithms, control risks in advance for the application of technologies such as AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment and personalized health management, and provide ethical guidelines for the compliant application of AI technology in RWS and IIT research, so as to realize the coordinated progress of technological innovation and ethical constraints.
From a prescription to a scientific research project, from an online consultation to a piece of data retention, behind every medical behavior lies the life trust and reliance of patients. Relying on the Medical Ethics Committee as an important support, HealthyWay will continue to strengthen its ethical governance capacity, adhere to the essence of medical care, promote the steady and long-term development of relevant businesses on a compliant track, protect every doctor-patient connection with compliant practices, and contribute the solid strength of a digital medical platform to the construction of "Healthy China".