JD Health Launches General Practice Center to Empower Family Doctor Services through 'Internet+' Innovation

During the pandemic, community and primary healthcare systems played a critical “gatekeeper” role in epidemic prevention and control. However, this period also exposed challenges such as a shortage of general practitioners and inadequate informatization at the primary care level. As epidemic prevention and control become normalized, leveraging “Internet+” to promote the development of general practice and enhance the service capabilities of family doctors has become a key issue in strengthening primary public health services.

JD Health General Practice Center Launch Ceremony

Against this backdrop, the JD Health General Practice Center was officially launched on September 23. Professor Yu Xiaosong, a renowned expert in general practice in China and Chair of the General Practice Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, was appointed as the Chief Expert of the Center. Twenty experts, including Professor Chi Chunhua, Director of the Department of General Practice at Peking University First Hospital and President-Elect of the General Practice Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, were respectively appointed as Executive Experts and Core Experts of the Center. Aligned with the “Healthy China” initiative, the JD Health General Practice Center will actively carry out work related to general practice, including strengthening the training and workforce development of general practitioners, and exploring new models for primary care general practice services and family doctor services.

Jin Dapeng, Vice President of the Chinese Medical Association, stated that under the normalized epidemic prevention and control situation, general practice and family doctor services are playing an increasingly important role in primary healthcare, while “Internet + Healthcare” will strongly promote the development of general practice and family doctors.

General practice, also known as family medicine, originated in Europe and the United States. It integrates prevention, diagnosis, and health management, with a focus on providing basic medical services to individuals and families within the community on a household basis. Its primary concern is the management of patients' general conditions and health maintenance, rather than the treatment of complex or rare diseases, making it the predominant form of healthcare delivery at the primary level. General practitioners, also referred to as family doctors, serve as the gatekeepers of community residents' health.

Compared with Europe and the United States, China faces a significant “shortage” of general practitioners (GPs). Professor Chi Chunhua introduced that, according to the requirements proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), at least one GP should be available for every 2,000 residents to meet the demand for primary healthcare services. The “Healthy China 2030” Planning Outline sets a target of achieving five GPs per 10,000 population by 2030. However, by the end of 2019, China had only 350,000 GPs, leaving a shortfall of more than 300,000.

In recent years, the rapid development of “Internet + Healthcare” has further improved the service efficiency of general practitioners and enhanced the accessibility of medical services. Last month, JD Health launched its family doctor service product, “JD Family Doctor,” representing a new exploration of service capabilities in the field of general practice. The newly launched JD Health General Practice Center focuses on primary-care general practitioners, helping them enhance their service capabilities through five key pillars: service, training, collaboration, research, and consultation.

The newly launched JD Health General Practice Center will seamlessly integrate with “JD Family Doctor” to deliver disease prevention and control services that combine online and offline approaches. Meanwhile, by assembling a team of top-tier general practice experts, including Professor Yu Xiaosong, the center will conduct regular, diverse, and content-rich training programs to enhance the disease prevention and control capabilities as well as health management skills of primary care general practitioners. Additionally, the JD Health General Practice Center will actively engage in research related to the development of general practice medicine.

JD Group Vice President and JD Health CEO Xin Lijun (left) presents the appointment letter to Professor Yu Xiaosong (right)

Furthermore, JD Health has established strategic partnerships with brands such as AstraZeneca, Yuwell Medical, and Omron. By collaborating with industry chain partners, it supports the development of general practice by ensuring the supply of essential medicines at the primary care level and advancing the research and development of smart medical devices.

Professor Yu Xiaosong stated that JD Health’s General Practice Center plans to spend the next decade building itself into China’s largest “Home for General Practitioners,” “General Practice Medical Research Center,” and “Support Platform for General Practitioner Training and Public Science Education,” thereby making positive contributions to the grand blueprint of universal health outlined in “Healthy China 2030.”

“General practitioner services are a crucial component of the ‘Internet + Healthcare’ ecosystem and a key pillar for implementing and advancing the ‘Healthy China’ strategy at the grassroots level,” stated Xin Lijun, Vice President of JD.com and CEO of JD Health. “The launch of the JD Health General Practice Center will better leverage JD Health’s ecosystem advantages in the internet healthcare sector, drive innovation in general practice and physician services in the ‘Internet+’ era, and further enhance JD Health’s service capabilities in the family doctor field.”