Internet Medical Consortium: Digital Empowerment Ushers in a New Era of Healthcare Reform

On October 18, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held its 34th group study session on promoting the healthy development of China’s digital economy. The meeting emphasized the need to approach the issue from the strategic height of coordinating the overall strategy for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the profound changes unseen in a century worldwide. It stressed the importance of balancing both domestic and international situations, as well as the dual priorities of development and security. By fully leveraging the advantages of massive data resources and diverse application scenarios, China aims to promote the deep integration of digital technologies with the real economy, empower the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, foster new industries, new business formats, and new models, and continuously strengthen, optimize, and expand its digital economy.

In recent years, technologies such as the internet, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain have accelerated innovation, becoming increasingly integrated into all aspects of economic and social development. The digital economy is growing at an unprecedented speed, with a broader reach and deeper impact than ever before. As a critical pillar of economic development and public welfare, the healthcare sector has also embraced the wave of digitalization. Supported by both technological advancements and policy initiatives, new business models such as internet-based healthcare, medical big data, and medical AI are continuously emerging. These innovations are integrating with and empowering traditional healthcare systems, fostering the formation of a people-centered healthcare service system.

In recent years, China has successively implemented the strategy of becoming a cyber power and the national big data strategy. By leveraging the integration of the internet, big data, and artificial intelligence with traditional industries, China has advanced the development of Digital China, Smart China, and Healthy China, while promoting the digitalization of industries and the industrialization of digital technologies. As a result, China’s digital economy has achieved rapid growth and remarkable accomplishments.

In particular, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have always attached great importance to the development of “Internet + Healthcare.” Key national policy documents—including the Outline of the Healthy China 2030 Plan, the Guiding Opinions of the State Council on Actively Promoting the “Internet Plus” Action, and the Opinions on Supporting the Healthy Development of New Business Formats and Models to Stimulate Consumer Markets and Drive Employment Expansion—have all made significant strategic arrangements for the advancement of “Internet + Healthcare.”

With the intensive release of industry policy documents such as the “Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Promoting the Development of ‘Internet + Medical Health’” and the “Guiding Opinions of the National Healthcare Security Administration on Actively Promoting Medical Insurance Payment for ‘Internet +’ Medical Services,” coupled with the catalytic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s internet healthcare sector has ushered in significant development opportunities. Data shows that during the pandemic, the volume of internet-based consultations at hospitals under the administration of the National Health Commission increased 17-fold year-on-year, while consultation volumes on third-party internet service platforms grew more than 20-fold compared to the same period, and the number of internet-prescribed medications rose nearly tenfold. As of June 2021, there were over 1,600 internet hospitals in China, with 500 newly established in the first half of 2021 alone. Among these, a cohort of technology-driven enterprises has emerged, continuously leading industry development.

Taking WeDoctor, which established China’s first internet hospital—the Wuzhen Internet Hospital—as an example, the company has grown into the country’s largest digital healthcare service platform over the past decade, with support from national policies and local governments. It has currently launched 31 internet hospitals, 18 of which are integrated with medical insurance payment systems. The platform connects more than 7,800 hospitals and over 280,000 physicians nationwide, providing professional and convenient healthcare services to more than 240 million registered users. During the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, WeDoctor leveraged its internet hospital infrastructure to launch the “Real-Time Assistance Platform for COVID-19” and the “Global Anti-Epidemic Platform,” accumulating over 190 million visits. By fully capitalizing on the advantages of internet-based solutions, it created an “airborne battlefield” to support epidemic control efforts across China and around the world.

“Developing the digital economy is a strategic choice to seize the new opportunities presented by the latest round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation.” The meeting pointed out that the digital economy helps promote the construction of a new development paradigm, facilitates the building of a modernized economic system, and contributes to establishing new national competitive advantages.

The world is currently undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, and the principal contradiction facing Chinese society has evolved into one between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. On the path to achieving common prosperity, ensuring healthy living is not only the foundation for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation but also the earnest aspiration of the 1.4 billion Chinese people. With the advent of an aging society, the scarcity and uneven distribution of high-quality medical resources have become increasingly prominent. In response, China has been deepening reforms in its healthcare and pharmaceutical systems, vigorously promoting hierarchical diagnosis and treatment, accelerating the development of medical consortia, and leveraging digital technologies to establish a new paradigm for healthcare development.

In 2015, the General Office of the State Council issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Construction of a Tiered Diagnosis and Treatment System, pointing out that full play should be given to information technology means such as the Internet and big data in tiered diagnosis and treatment. In 2018, the Opinions on Promoting the Development of “Internet + Medical Health” released by the General Office of the State Council also emphasized that medical consortia should actively apply Internet technologies to promote the establishment of an orderly tiered diagnosis and treatment pattern. Recently, the Leading Group for Deepening Medical Reform under the State Council issued the Implementation Opinions on Further Promoting the Experience of Sanming City, Fujian Province, and Deepening the Reform of the Medical and Healthcare System, requiring greater efforts to promote the “Sanming Medical Reform” experience, advance the construction of medical consortia, and encourage all localities to actively explore and improve the management and regulatory mechanisms for close-knit medical consortia in light of local conditions.

Guided by national policies, regions across China have been actively exploring how the Internet can empower the traditional healthcare system, giving rise to new models and business formats. Internet hospitals are partnering with public medical institutions to form internet-based medical consortia, drawing on the experience of the “Sanming Healthcare Reform” to deepen the reform of tiered diagnosis and treatment. These efforts help alleviate the diagnostic and treatment burden on large hospitals, enhance the service capacity of primary care institutions, and improve the efficiency of health insurance payments. In 2017, the Pingdingshan Municipal Government in Henan Province reached an agreement with WeDoctor to use Jia County as a pilot site, leveraging the platform and resources of an internet hospital to build an intelligent tiered diagnosis and treatment system spanning county, township, and village levels. In 2019, WeDoctor collaborated with Tai’an in Shandong Province to establish a Chronic Disease Health Consortium, launching innovative chronic disease management services integrating “Internet + health insurance + healthcare + pharmaceuticals.” Subsequently, cities such as Jinan, Dezhou, and Weifang have developed digital health consortia tailored to their local conditions.

It is worth noting that in 2020, Tianjin Weiyi General Hospital (Tianjin Weiyi Internet Hospital) took the lead in collaborating with 267 primary healthcare institutions across Tianjin to jointly establish the Tianjin Primary Digital Health Community. By leveraging the “Four Clouds”—cloud management, cloud services, cloud pharmacy, and cloud diagnostics—the initiative revitalized primary healthcare resources, explored reforms in medical insurance payment mechanisms, implemented health accountability systems, and facilitated a transition from a “price-differential model” to an “efficacy-differential model.” Due to its outstanding practical achievements, Zhan Jifu, the key architect of the Sanming Healthcare Reform, praised the Tianjin Model for having “a strong demonstrative effect” and being “aligned with the objectives of Sanming Healthcare Reform 3.0.” At the 2021 National Conference on Promoting Experience in Deepening Healthcare Reform, the Tianjin Primary Digital Health Community was honored as one of the “Top Ten New Initiatives in Advancing Healthcare Reform and Serving Public Health” for 2020.

In 2019, the World Health Organization released the Global Strategy on Digital Health (2020–2024), establishing digital health as a strategic priority. In recent years, Western developed countries and regions, including the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, have timely introduced national-level plans to develop digital health, thereby promoting the growth of the digital healthcare industry. Undoubtedly, in the context of globalization, digital health has become a key arena for competition among enterprises, industries, and even nations worldwide.

As an emerging industry in China, digital health not only bears the historical responsibility of promoting the transformation and upgrading of China’s healthcare system and enhancing the health and well-being of its citizens, but also holds significant importance for China’s participation in global health governance and industrial competition. In fact, supported by national industrial policies and multi-party capital investment, Chinese digital health companies are actively striving to secure advantageous positions in this sector. According to the 2020 Global Digital Health 150 list published by the renowned global data intelligence firm CB Insights, seven Chinese digital health companies were included, second only to the United States in total number. As China’s largest digital medical service platform, WeDoctor once again topped the list as the unicorn company with the highest public valuation, having first claimed the top spot in 2019.

Looking toward the future of the digital economy, the conference also emphasized the need to strengthen breakthroughs in key core technologies by seizing the critical lever of independent innovation; to accelerate the development of new-type infrastructure, thereby unblocking the information “main arteries” of economic and social development; and to promote the integrated development of the digital and real economies. Meanwhile, it is essential to improve the governance system for the digital economy and strengthen laws, regulations, and policy frameworks; to actively participate in international cooperation in the digital economy, promptly offering Chinese solutions and voicing China’s perspectives. This has charted the course for the entire digital health industry.

The development of the digital health sector still faces significant challenges and requires sustained effort. With robust support from national policies and the industry’s relentless exploration, we are confident that broader opportunities will be unlocked for the sustainable growth of the digital healthcare industry, thereby contributing to the realization of the Healthy China vision.