NetRain: The Digital Health Enabler Bridging Medical, Pharmaceutical, and Insurance Ecosystems

Digital transformation has become an unavoidable hurdle.

In August this year, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) released the White Paper on Global Digital Economy Development, which showed that in 2020, the scale of digital economy growth in 47 countries reached $32.6 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 3.0%. China's digital economy scale was nearly $5.4 trillion, with a year-on-year growth of 9.6%, ranking first globally in terms of growth rate. From the data, we can still gain insights intoTo sustain growth amid the global economic slowdown, digitalization has become an inevitable path for the evolution of traditional industries.The healthcare sector is no exception.

As early as 2009, the state launched a new round of healthcare reform to explore models for reforming medical services, pharmaceuticals, and health insurance, emphasizing the importance of information integration during the process. Subsequently, a large number of policies were issued, with “Internet Plus” and “smart” becoming key terms. According to incomplete statistics, since 2015,A total of 88 policy documents on internet hospitals have been intensively issued at the national level. These policies have clearly charted the course for digital transformation in the healthcare sector.

Despite lagging behind other sectors in digital transformation due to factors such as uneven informatization foundations, a shortage of interdisciplinary talent, and underdeveloped digital infrastructure within the pharmaceutical ecosystem.However, factors such as the pandemic have accelerated the digital transformation of the healthcare industry, highlighting the value of digital technologies in addressing critical pain points within the sector.

Traditional healthcare and pharmaceutical industries require the support of technologically advanced tech companies to facilitate their digital transformation.

Driven by this demand, numerous enterprises have entered the market, exploring the application and commercialization of digital technologies in healthcare from various perspectives.Beijing NetRain Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “NetRain”) is one of them.

Established in 2019 with a strategic focus on “connectivity,” the company unveiled a comprehensive suite of solutions within just two years, successfully facilitating the digital transformation of industry-related entities such as physical medical institutions, biotechnology firms, chain pharmacies, health checkup centers, insurance companies, elderly care facilities, and pharmaceutical enterprises.These include numerous enterprises such as Huadong Medicine Group, Shineway Pharmaceutical, Kunming Pharmaceutical Group, Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical, Yifeng Pharmacy, Zhang Zhongjing Pharmacy, Xinglin Pharmacy, Meinian Onehealth Healthcare, Renrenkang Pharmaceutical, Rotam Pharma, Shiqiang Pharmaceutical, Yuxueyuan, Foshan Lingnan Hospital, Beijing Children’s Hospital Tongyuan Network, Jinqi Biotechnology, Laolai Network, Yuanzhi Technology, and Nanxin Medical.

Its internet healthcare achievements have been gradually implemented through the establishment of internet hospitals in provinces and cities including Hainan, Guangzhou, Foshan, Dongguan, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Tianjin, Henan, Hebei, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Yinchuan.

What Is the Source of Its Appeal? A Startup That Won Over Numerous Clients from Inception

Whether a company can accurately identify industry pain points almost determines how far it can go.

In the eyes of Qu Yi, founder of Naiterui,Traditional enterprises often have relatively weak technological capabilities and largely lack the technical strength required for digital transformation, a pain point currently faced by many businesses.Qu Yi believes that the difficulties in achieving interoperability between offline and online operations may cause companies to miss out on first-mover advantages in the market.The earlier a company achieves digital transformation, the more advantageous it is for seizing market opportunities.

Thus, Netray has positioned itself as a “connector,” integrating enterprises’ online and offline operations to address technical challenges during digital transformation and further achieve interconnectivity of medical resources.

Naiterui’s strategic layout goes beyond this; it also involves connecting upstream and downstream enterprises across the industrial chain to build a closed-loop ecosystem linking healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, insurers, and patients.

Specifically, Naiterui currently provides solutions to medical institutions, pharmaceutical companies, chain pharmacies, health checkup centers, biotechnology firms, and other related entities.

Naiterui established an internet hospital system for Donghai County People's Hospital within 30 working days, facilitating optimized allocation of medical resources, patient management, and pharmacy profitability.and provide online services such as appointment registration, in-clinic payment, and examination scheduling, thereby advancing hospital information technology construction centered on structured electronic medical records (EMRs) to achieve seamless integration of online and offline healthcare services.

This system integrates the entire diagnosis and treatment workflow. Prior to consultation, the platform provides users with information on future appointment availability by interfacing with hospital scheduling systems. During consultation, physicians can issue electronic prescriptions online while delivering medical services through both internet-based and in-person outpatient visits. After pharmacist review, these electronic prescriptions are routed either to the hospital pharmacy or to an online delivery service, based on the patient’s preference.

Meanwhile, to address the major pain point of interrupted consultations caused by patients having to visit the cashier’s office for payment, the platform offers an online payment function, enabling patients to settle their medical fees directly through this feature.

The system enables physicians to order laboratory and imaging tests for patients. Upon payment of the associated fees, patients can schedule their tests or proceed to offline facilities for test execution. Once the official report is issued, patients can view the detailed results via their mobile devices, thereby eliminating the cumbersome process of waiting for, collecting, and reviewing reports during follow-up visits.

Furthermore, in the realm of telemedicine, this system provides online follow-up consultations for certain common and chronic conditions. It enables the issuance of online prescriptions for patients undergoing follow-up care. This effectively addresses challenges such as complex workflows in medical institutions, low diagnostic and treatment efficiency, and the scarcity of high-quality physician resources in non-tier-3A hospitals.

For pharmaceutical groups, leveraging internet technology can help drug marketing break free from the traditional single growth curve, connect patients, doctors, and primary care cities, address multi-directional demands, and avoid mismatches between physician management needs and capabilities.The digitalization of pharmaceutical distribution and sales will also reduce the layer of agency channels, lowering the overall market expense ratio by at least 10%-30%.

In alignment with the Group’s strategic development requirements and the implementation of national policies encouraging internet hospitals to provide online prescription renewals for chronic diseases and online follow-up consultations, Naiterui has partnered with Kunming Pharmaceutical Group to support the establishment of a telemedicine center and an internet hospital project in Hainan.

Digital marketing and retail in the pharmaceutical industry will create a win-win situation for all parties involved.For pharmaceutical companies, it enables broader reach at lower costs. For patients, digital pharmacies can extend medication adherence periods, further reducing the risk of disease recurrence. For the government, compliant digital platforms mean a reduction in gray areas.

Netri integrates its pharmaceutical retail system to provide online consultation and pharmaceutical care services for patients with common and chronic diseases.By providing chain pharmacy solutions, we enhance brand image, expand the service radius, achieve precise order matching, and deliver services to patients in various regions. Meanwhile, by integrating with prescription circulation systems and optimizing supply chain management, we improve the medication purchasing experience for patients.

In the solution provided by Knightree for Yifeng Pharmacy, the enterprise helped build a closed-loop capability system encompassing “physicians, patients, and pharmaceuticals” by establishing an internet hospital platform. By integrating its own drug retail system with the internet hospital platform, it provides online consultation and pharmaceutical care services for patients with common diseases and chronic conditions.

Moreover, Knightry also provides corresponding solutions for technology companies.In collaboration with Nanxin Medical, we have developed a customized platform that facilitates clinical research for physicians. The platform enables the creation of research projects, configuration of follow-up protocols, design of complex Case Report Forms (CRFs), collection and export of diverse research data, and real-time monitoring of project progress. It is compatible with various clinical specialties and study types, meeting diverse research management needs and providing one-stop scientific research services.

Collaborate with real estate-related enterprises to develop smart healthcare platforms anchored by offline health management centers and shared consultation rooms; partner with physical examination institutions to build internet hospitals that serve the checkup population; work with traditional Chinese medicine clinics to integrate offline clinics with online hospitals...

Multiple solutions, diverse enterprises: Netray’s product resilience and its ability to connect upstream and downstream players across the industrial chain are demonstrated therein.

Facing the entire market, Netray has remained relatively low-key.

Qu Yi told VCBeat:“I hope KnightRay will focus on translating achievements into practical applications to address challenges within its own field. We still have a long road ahead; this is merely the first step in a long march. We must remain grounded while keeping our eyes on the stars.”

Although Naiterui was founded only two years ago, most of its core team members come from internet companies and have more than ten years of industry experience.

Founder Qu Yi previously served as CTO of 7LeKang, Head of Wireless Technology at Vipshop and Lefeng.com, and Architect at KongZhong. He developed the mobile engine Crow5 and has over 15 years of experience in the internet industry. As a Gold Lecturer at 51CTO, a renowned IT service platform in China, he was honored with the 2018 Internet Technology Rising Star Award at the Global Internet Technology Conference (GITC) and the 2018 Technical Leadership Rising Star Award by the CDTC Chief Technology Officer Leadership Alliance.

CTO Zhou Yanxin previously served as Technical Director at Qilekang, where he was responsible for building business systems for the medical sector and established a complete online diagnosis and treatment service system from the ground up. COO Liu Yu formerly held the position of Senior Product Manager at Qilekang, overseeing product and project management for the internet hospital and SDK external cooperation platform during his tenure. He also served as a Senior Business Executive at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), where he led the formulation of multiple industry and group standards in the healthcare sector and supported various ministries in the application and implementation of numerous national science and technology special projects.

Its founding team of over 20 members possesses unparalleled passion for the industry.

When it came to his team, Qu Yi became more talkative:“Naiterui has weathered many perilous moments, even standing on the brink of collapse. In the second half of 2019, just six months after its founding and before its business had fully expanded, the company was hit by the pandemic. One could say that our enterprise faced life-and-death challenges right from the start. Although we were unable to resume normal operations, we still organized free clinics for hospitals and helped patients purchase medications through online platforms. The letters of appreciation we received from hospitals ignited the entire team’s spirit; we felt that society needed us and that our work was meaningful. Therefore, despite the difficulties we faced at the time, we were not dispersed. We pressed on and were fortunate enough to secure financing, gradually establishing connections with leading industry players. ‘Those who share the same aspirations are not kept apart by mountains or seas’—this is something I have always believed in.”

In Qu Yi’s view, the team’s passion for their career and their perseverance are the internal drivers that enable the rapid establishment of business operations.

Currently, the company has established solutions for TCM internet hospitals, chain pharmacy internet hospitals, medical institution internet hospitals, platform-based internet hospitals, and clinical research platforms, while offering open APIs and SDKs. Centered on these capabilities, it has built business components such as physician certification, patient education, post-diagnosis follow-up, health cards, and in-hospital navigation, along with application components including instant messaging and task scheduling.