Taikang's Strategic Expansion in Neurology Illuminates the Future of Integrated Medical and Elderly Care in the Longevity Era
Taikang has demonstrated sufficient determination in the field of brain health.
As early as 2019, Taikang Insurance Group Inc. began to systematically lay out the development of its neurology sector, successively investing in Donglei Brain Hospital and Sanbo Brain Hospital. It completed strategic collaborations with these two leading non-public specialized neurological medical institutions in China. Leveraging resources from Wuhan University Taikang Medical School, the Taikang Center for Life Sciences, and the Taikang Great Health Ecosystem, the group has continuously advanced the construction of its neurology disciplines and strengthened the recruitment of neurological talent.
From March 3 to March 5, 2023, the “2023 Taikang–Donglei Brain Science Development Conference,” co-hosted by Taikang Insurance Group and the Shanghai Social Medical Institutions Association, was held in Shanghai. At the opening ceremony, Taikang officially established the “Taikang Neuroscience Alliance” and launched its first digital case management product specialized for cognitive disorders at the “Forum on Promoting High-Quality Development of Brain Science through Integration of Healthcare and Insurance.” This move marks a further innovation and leadership by Taikang Insurance Group in its “health and wealth solutions for the entire lifecycle in the era of longevity.”
Since 2009, Taikang has broken through the fiercely competitive insurance industry, dominated by major players, by leveraging its extensive life insurance expertise, outstanding asset management capabilities, and innovative insurance and health business models. It has established an integrated service chain encompassing “Vibrant Elderly Care, Premium Healthcare, Superior Wealth Management, and Life Care.” In addition to its longevity and wealth closed loops, Taikang is also firmly committed to building a healthcare closed loop.
Currently, Taikang has established five major medical centers across China, including Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital, Taikang Tongji (Wuhan) Hospital, Sichuan Taikang Hospital, Ningbo Taikang Brain Hospital (under preparation), and Shenzhen Qianhai Taikang International Hospital (under preparation). All are built in accordance with the standards for Grade A tertiary general hospitals, with a total of over 5,000 medical beds.
On March 4, the newly established“Taikang Neurology Alliance”This represents another significant model in Taikang Healthcare’s creation of a closed-loop health ecosystem. The neuroscience professional alliance was jointly established by Taikang, Donglei Brain Hospital, Sanbo Brain Hospital, leading experts in neurology, strategic partner hospitals, and ecological partners. Professor Song Baoliang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Vice President of Wuhan University, and Director of the Taikang Center for Life and Medical Sciences at Wuhan University, serves as the Chief Scientist of the alliance.
Taikang Neurology Alliance will establish six core centers: a Technology Innovation Center, a Talent Development Center, a Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Complex Cases, a Specialty Quality Control Center, an International Cooperation Center, and a Medical-Insurance Integration Center. The Alliance will focus on clinical practice, scientific research innovation and translation, young talent development, multidisciplinary consultations for complex cases, formulation of clinical pathway guidelines for specific diseases and specialty diagnosis and treatment standards, as well as the development of neurology-related medical insurance products and exploration of new models of health insurance services. These efforts aim to continuously enhance industry influence and support discipline construction. Meanwhile, the Alliance is committed to building a high-quality specialized neurological healthcare brand characterized by medical-insurance integration and combined medical and elderly care within the field of neuroscience, thereby advancing innovation in value-based healthcare.
Chen Dongsheng, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Taikang Insurance GroupHe stated that brain science is a vital core domain within the life sciences and medical fields, and the establishment of the Taikang Brain Science Alliance aligns with public health needs and the direction of scientific research. The practices of UnitedHealth Group in the United States, along with Taikang Insurance Group’s initiatives in pension insurance and senior living communities in China, have fully demonstrated that the integration of healthcare with insurance, and the convergence of medical care with elderly care, represent a promising path for the future. Taikang is committed to building closed-loop ecosystems for longevity, health, and wealth, thereby providing a service platform that enables people to lead healthy, long, and prosperous lives.
In China, brain disorders, with Alzheimer’s disease as a prominent example, pose a significant threat to the nation’s overall brain health and impose a heavy burden on families, the healthcare system, and society at large. In the face of the irreversible progression of Alzheimer’s disease, Taikang remains steadfastly committed to helping customers secure longer, higher-quality, and happier lives.
Taking the practical experience of the Memory Care Zone at Taikang Community, a high-quality senior living community, as an example, Taikang has developed its distinctive dementia care system, “Direction to Home.” This system features five core components—friendly environment, recreational and therapeutic activities, specialized dining, team support, and family support—along with a BPSD (Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia) management framework centered on multisensory stimulation therapy, music therapy, and reminiscence therapy. This approach has helped many seniors rediscover their “direction to home,” significantly enhancing the sense of fulfillment for their families.
Released this timeDigital Case Management Product for Cognitive Disorders, is jointly developed by multiple professional teams, including the expert team from the Geriatrics Center and Department of Neurology at Taikang’s affiliated general hospital, the rehabilitation physician team at Taikang Community Rehabilitation Hospital, and the specialized care team from the Memory Care Unit of Taikang Community.
This product provides patients with specialized, integrated online-to-offline, and personalized disease management services for cognitive disorders, covering the entire lifecycle of cognitive impairment management. Services include establishing specialized patient records, regular physician follow-ups, customized treatment and rehabilitation plans, online consultations, and professional health education. Additionally, it offers “Memory Afternoon Tea” professional training courses for patients’ families, encompassing psychological and emotional support, behavioral management training, and caregiving skills development. These resources help alleviate caregivers’ psychological stress and enable them to provide better care for patients through enhanced competency.
As of now, the memory care units across Taikang Home’s 10 operational communities in China offer a total of 350 beds and have served over 400 clients to date, with the longest-serving resident having stayed for nearly eight years.
In addition to the aforementioned advantages of integrated medical and elderly care services, Taikang’s digital case management product for cognitive disorders features three distinct advantages that set it apart from the single-dimension wellness systems and digital therapeutic solutions currently available on the market:
· Effective and Comprehensive Clinical Treatment System: Leveraging the expert resources from the Department of Neurology and the Geriatrics Center at Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital, as well as the National Core Advanced Cognitive Disorder Diagnosis and Treatment Center at Nanjing Gulou Hospital, we provide professional clinical diagnosis and treatment services to patients based on a comprehensive differential diagnosis system and clinical treatment framework.
· Bridging Gaps in Medical Care and Providing Convenient Services to Address Patients’ Pain Points: Leveraging the internet hospital platform, a combination of online and offline services can be provided to offer convenient care for patients and caregivers.
· Adopt the “Three-Provider Co-Management” Service Model: Centered on Taikang’s own family physicians, specialists from Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital, and rehabilitation physicians from Taikang Community Rehabilitation Hospital, we customize personalized treatment and rehabilitation plans for patients, providing multidisciplinary co-management services spanning general practice, specialty care, and rehabilitation.
Furthermore, leveraging the internet hospital platform, Taikang’s digital case management product for cognitive disorders effectively integrates patient-facing and physician-facing interfaces. By establishing clinical decision support capabilities for cognitive disorders on a big data platform and accumulating disease intervention algorithms, it ultimately achieves closed-loop management spanning pre-consultation risk stratification, in-consultation expert diagnosis, and post-consultation health monitoring and follow-up.
There is a natural and powerful synergy between the insurance industry and the elderly care and healthcare sectors. To implement its grand health strategy, Taikang recognizes that it must first pioneer innovations on the insurance payment side. Only by expanding health-related payment solutions can it achieve synergy with physical medical services, optimize the industrial chain, and enhance overall efficiency.
AsDr. Liu Tingjun, President and Chief Operating Officer of Taikang Insurance GroupAs stated, with the advent of an aging society, the third pillar of individual financing is becoming an inevitable trend, and commercial health insurance will undoubtedly become the mainstream model for future health financing and payment.
Therefore, Taikang’s newly launched digital case management product for cognitive disorders will actively engage with payers, driven by the dual forces of health services and insurance payments. It aims to explore innovations in commercial insurance, leverage its supplementary payment role, and drive value through innovation and cost containment, thereby providing comprehensive, one-stop solutions for patients with cognitive disorders.
In terms of medical entity layout, Taikang has always prioritized self-construction as its core strategy, building an integrated ecosystem of medical and elderly care services through investment and partnerships, while exploring innovative models that synergize insurance payment with medical and elderly care services.
In the field of brain health, Taikang invested in WinterRay Brain Hospital in 2020 and Sanbo Brain Hospital in 2021, completing strategic collaborations with two leading non-public specialized brain care institutions in China. Furthermore, it has established five major medical centers and completed the layout of elderly care communities and rehabilitation hospitals in 27 core cities. Leveraging the important platform of Taikang Medical School at Wuhan University and the Taikang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, Taikang is fully advancing the integration of “medical care, elderly care, and rehabilitation” as well as the integrated development of “medical practice, education, and research” in the field of brain health.
Among them, Ningbo Taikang Brain Hospital (in preparation), one of Taikang’s five major medical centers, is an international, high-standard tertiary specialized neurology hospital integrating medical care, education, and research. Based in Ningbo and serving the Yangtze River Delta region, it is scheduled to open this year.
Renderings of the Ningbo Taikang Brain Hospital (in preparation), scheduled to open this year
In addition to neurology, Taikang has invested in a series of leading cardiovascular specialty enterprises and completed the layout of two major specialty systems: dentistry and rehabilitation. By means of ecosystem investment, it participates in more specialty fields to build a win-win big health ecosystem. “The prospects of the health industry are unprecedented; the medical and health services sector will become an important industry in the future. We believe that the ‘payment + service’ model created by Taikang will unleash greater potential in this wave of social change.” (Excerpted from The Age of Longevity)