(Yicai) Jan. 18 -- Shanghai has launched a Big Data lab to promote data-sharing that will help insurers to develop more innovative products for residents of the eastern city.

The lab was opened yesterday by the city’s medical insurance bureau, which runs the basic health insurance program for local citizens, the Shanghai Big Data Center, which is funded by the local government, and the Shanghai Insurance Exchange, Yicai learned.

The city government will support the Shanghai Municipal Health Insurance Big Data Innovation Laboratory for Commercial Insurance to build a multi-dimensional analysis map using medical diagnostics and treatment data cleansed of sensitive information to help commercial insurers meet the individual and diverse needs of locals through product innovation.

For example, insurance companies could use Big Data to develop health insurance tailored for specific drugs and liability insurance for clinical trials and to optimize the list of drugs and medical devices covered.

The new lab is also expected to simplify claims settlement as policyholders can submit fewer forms. Moreover, drugmakers can benefit from the Big Data provided by the lab to mass-produce more innovative biomedical products.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine