Dnurse and Yilian Announce Strategic Partnership to Strengthen Chronic Disease Management Core Business

Recently, Medlinker, a leading domestic specialized chronic disease management platform, announced a strategic partnership with Tang Hushi (Diabetes Nurse). This collaboration aims to provide more patients in the diabetes field with higher-quality, more comprehensive medical services covering the entire course of disease management.

The “Healthy China 2030” Planning Outline, issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, clearly proposes a strategy of “two key priorities and one shift.” The two key priorities are to continue addressing the difficulties and high costs associated with accessing medical care, while the one shift refers to transitioning from a disease-centered approach to a people’s health-centered approach. Efforts will be made to provide comprehensive, full-cycle health services for the population. In this context, effective specialty-based chronic disease management will become one of the important measures for achieving the goals of “Healthy China 2030” in the future.

Data shows that the number of people with diabetes in China has exceeded 114 million, with a prevalence rate as high as 10.9%. This accounts for 25% of the global total of diabetic patients, and the number of diabetic patients in China is expected to reach 120 million by 2045.

The continuous expansion of the patient population inevitably drives growing demand. In response to this substantial market need, Medlinker and Tang Hushi have entered into a strategic partnership, aligned by shared industry development goals and directions, with the aim of delivering more comprehensive and high-quality services to a broader population of patients with diabetes.

Since 2014, Medlinker has transformed from a “physician social networking platform” into a “leading specialized chronic disease management platform in China.” On the Medlinker platform, patients establish connections with their physicians following offline diagnoses. Outside of hospital settings, patients can use their mobile devices to access online consultations, follow-up visits, and prescription renewals, while also enjoying the convenience of online medication purchases with home delivery. Furthermore, physicians and their teams can leverage Medlinker’s patient management platform to significantly enhance the efficiency of patient care.

As of now, the Medlinker platform has aggregated over 700,000 real-name registered physicians and more than 35,000 contracted doctors. In 2018, Medlinker Internet Hospital entered the market through its hepatology specialty; today, its service scope covers multiple therapeutic areas, including hepatology, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, orthopedics, and oncology.

Since its establishment in Beijing in 2013, Tang Hushi has been a mobile internet company dedicated to diabetes management technologies. As China’s largest patient platform for diabetes self-management, Tang Hushi has leveraged the national “Internet + Healthcare” policy to pioneer the acquisition and restructuring of Beijing Sinocare Jianheng Diabetes Hospital, a specialized diabetes hospital. By exploring distinctive diagnostic and therapeutic services tailored to specific diabetic populations, it has launched a highly specialized, vertically integrated closed-loop service model known as “Internet + Specialized Hospital.” To date, Tang Hushi has amassed over 1.27 million registered users.

As is well known, diabetes management relies on the “Five Pillars”: diabetes education, blood glucose monitoring, dietary therapy, exercise therapy, and pharmacological therapy. In the course of medical service delivery, patients typically seek comprehensive care that spans the entire vertical continuum of the disease. Closed-loop services along this vertical disease continuum are of significant importance for enhancing both efficiency and user experience.

Regarding the strategic partnership between Medlinker and Tang Hushi, Wang Shirui, Founder and CEO of Medlinker, stated, “As one of China’s largest physician platforms and chronic disease management service providers, Medlinker has successfully built an integrated online-offline medical ecosystem that connects doctors, patients, pharmaceuticals, and insurance, leveraging its foundation of serving the largest number of physicians in the country. Tang Hushi’s expertise and unique philosophy in self-management for diabetic patients complement Medlinker’s strengths effectively. We hope this collaboration will create a win-win value where ‘1+1>2’.”

Li Chengzhi, Founder and CEO of Tang Hushi (Diabetes Nurse), stated, “We chose to partner with Medlinker because pure medical software cannot address patients’ true health needs. In contrast, closed-loop services across the chronic disease management chain, such as for diabetes, can significantly enhance user experience and strengthen patient retention. This model also enables us to provide services to pharmaceutical companies, commercial insurers, chain pharmacies, and health management organizations within the industry ecosystem. Moving forward, patients will be able to conveniently conduct follow-up consultations and renew prescriptions directly on the Tang Hushi platform. We are confident that the collaboration between Medlinker and Tang Hushi will generate unique industry synergies.”

Medlinker Future will make building a leading domestic specialized chronic disease management platform its core development strategy, continuously improving its diversified layout across multiple disease areas. In this process, Medlinker aims to integrate resources from various stakeholders along the industry chain—including healthcare institutions, pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies, and commercial insurance providers—to create greater social and commercial value together with its partners. Meanwhile, Sugar Nurse will continue to deepen and refine its “Internet + Diabetes” services, establishing a “one-stop digital diabetes management service” to achieve a closed-loop service model. In the future, both parties will leverage each other’s strengths, aiming to provide more comprehensive chronic disease management services to a broader patient base through their collaboration, while also offering physicians a more efficient “link” to connect with patients, thereby serving both doctors and patients and benefiting the medical community and the public alike.