Zhiyun Health Launches 'Chronic Disease Big Data Center' in Collaboration with National Partners to Address Data Fragmentation Challenges

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that today, Zhiyun Health held the “Zhiyun Chronic Disease Big Data Center Launch Ceremony and Media Press Conference” in Beijing, announcing the establishment of the “Zhiyun Chronic Disease Big Data Center” in collaboration with China Electronics Data, the Chinese Medical Association, the National Healthcare Security Administration, the Information Center of the National Health Commission, and other entities.

Kong Lingzhi, former Deputy Director of the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control under the former Ministry of Health; Zeng Lianghuai, Director of the Big Data Office at the Information Center of the National Health Commission; Wang Youxue, from the Medical Insurance Office of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission and former Director of the Beijing Medical Insurance Bureau; Zhu Dalong, Chairman of the Chinese Diabetes Society of the Chinese Medical Association; and Li Shifeng, Chairman of China Electronics Data Corporation, jointly attended the press conference.

Regarding the original intention behind the establishment of the big data center, Kuang Ming, founder of Zhiyun Health, stated,Most medical data within the industry remains siloed; even when interoperability is achieved, inconsistent data collection standards hinder the realization of its true value.As an industry leader, Zhiyun Health has accumulated extensive expertise in chronic disease management and aims to collaborate with authoritative institutions within the sector to jointly establish and refine big data standards for chronic diseases, while promoting their application.

As the initiator and primary organizer of this big data center, Zhiyun Health, established in 2014, is committed to building a comprehensive chronic disease ecosystem.

Starting with early-stage diabetes management, Zhiyun Health has progressively partnered with hospitals to integrate in-hospital and out-of-hospital diagnosis and treatment, pioneering a long-term model that has evolved from single-disease (diabetes) management to comprehensive chronic disease management. Earlier this year, Zhiyun Health completed its C1 and C2 funding rounds, raising a total of USD 100 million. VCBeat provided an in-depth analysis of this development. (For details, see:[Exclusive] Cumulative Series C Funding Reaches $100 Million, Covering Thousands of Hospitals to Build a Closed-Loop Chronic Disease Service: A Detailed Look at the Development Path of Zhiyun Health）

According to Kuang Ming, Zhiyun Health’s SaaS system has been deployed in approximately 1,500 hospitals, processing around one billion data records annually and serving over 20 million users. In 2018, Zhiyun Health’s revenue reached the billion-yuan mark, maintaining a 300% year-over-year growth rate for the past three years. The company has now achieved profitability for multiple consecutive quarters and overall profitability.

In fact, integrating big data across the chronic disease industry is not only advocated by the “Healthy China” policy but also driven by the urgent need to break down data silos and address the prevalence of non-standardized information within the industry.

The report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed the “Healthy China” development strategy, emphasizing a prevention-first approach, advocating healthy and civilized lifestyles, and preventing and controlling major diseases. In July this year, the State Council issued the “Opinions of the State Council on Implementing the Healthy China Action,” accelerating the shift from a disease-treatment-centered model to a people’s health-centered model, and mobilizing the entire society to implement the prevention-first principle.

Back to the present, China faces a severe situation in the prevention and control of chronic diseases. According to data from the National Health Commission, deaths caused by non-communicable diseases account for 88% of total deaths in China, and the disease burden they impose constitutes more than 70% of the total disease burden.

Regarding the necessity of establishing a Chronic Disease Big Data Center, Zeng Lianghuai, Director of the Big Data Office at the Information Center of the National Health Commission, stated, “There is substantial demand in the field of chronic diseases, but currently, there is a scarcity of standardized and normatively structured data. The establishment of the Chronic Disease Big Data Center provides a promising direction for exploration in this domain.”

Kong Lingzhi, former Deputy Director of the Bureau of Disease Prevention and Control under the former Ministry of Health, further explained that the key to strengthening chronic disease management lies in big data. However, many data sources within the industry currently differ in origin and standards. Only by obtaining authentic and valid data on the basis of standardization, conducting refined analysis, and implementing targeted measures can effective guidance be provided for chronic disease management.

Think Big, Start Small. Regarding how Internet Plus, internet healthcare, and big data can facilitate various aspects of medical care, Zhu Dalong, Chairman of the Chinese Diabetes Society under the Chinese Medical Association, analyzed that following the establishment of the Big Data Center, the national-level decision-making system can leverage the data system, and secondly, the data provides a robust foundation for clinical research.

In the healthcare sector, developments ranging from the establishment of the National Healthcare Security Administration last year to the nationwide expansion of the “4+7” volume-based procurement pilot this year have kept the entire industry on edge. Wang Youxue, Director of the Medical Insurance Office at the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission and former Director of the Beijing Medical Insurance Bureau, also pointed out that big data centers could help operationalize past requirements for chronic disease management by providing concrete tools and metrics. If big data can be leveraged to identify patient populations more precisely—for example, determining how many individuals with chronic diseases are employed by a given organization, how many have received treatment, and what outcomes have been achieved—such data would prove highly valuable.

It is well known that the most critical aspect of chronic disease care lies in management. In an on-site interview, Huo Yong, Director of the Heart Center at Peking University First Hospital, also stated, “All chronic diseases can be effectively controlled through proper management; however, effective means are currently lacking. Prevention and treatment of chronic diseases should constitute a continuous process. At present, in-hospital treatment has not been integrated with follow-up management and primary-level prevention and control to achieve whole-process management. The primary reason for this disconnect is the lack of information interoperability and sharing. The Chronic Disease Big Data Center represents a highly promising initiative.”

Regarding the specific operations of the big data center, Kuang Ming stated: “The Chronic Disease Big Data Center will develop and formulate specifications for the use of clinical research and diagnostic/treatment data related to chronic diseases, as well as industry standards based on epidemiology and population distribution within China. It will establish and continuously improve a comprehensive chronic disease database. In collaboration with multiple parties, it will develop medical informatization platforms tailored to regional needs, integrate with regional health insurance systems and the information systems of all hospitals within the region, and obtain corresponding source data from medical informatization systems. Additionally, it will establish data standards for clinical research on specific chronic diseases.”

In the future, Zhiyun Health will serve as both the input and output provider for chronic disease big data, responsible for collecting, recording, and processing such data. As a state-backed entity, China Electronics Data will act as the rule-maker and compliance officer throughout the data processing workflow. The Chinese Medical Association will provide direct clinical guidance, while the National Healthcare Security Administration will offer policy-oriented direction. By leveraging their complementary strengths, these parties will contribute to data integration, clinical decision support, and the development of a health and medical application ecosystem.

Data security is the greatest underlying concern in data applications.In response, Li Shifeng, Chairman of China Electronics Data, stated that how big data can serve chronic disease management—specifically its reliability, security, and effectiveness—is precisely what Document No. 47 requires to be explored through pilot projects.

CEC Data has been based in Fuzhou for the past three years, aggregating data from 40 hospitals and implementing governance measures ranging from technical normalization to business-level standardization. The clinical data currently obtained from these hospitals now demonstrates both security compliance and practical application value.

Currently,The application of big data has been validated across four dimensions: pharmaceutical companies, insurance, smart applications, and scientific research.So, how can data be leveraged to its fullest potential? Li Shifeng stated, “First, through holographic digital humans, which involve digitizing individuals across three dimensions—genetic data, clinical data, and behavioral data—to build an intelligent health record based on a health model. Second, by advancing pilot projects for big data in healthcare and medicine, led by the government with participation from state-owned and central enterprises, to jointly promote the application of health big data. For instance, collaborating with industry leaders such as Zhiyun Health enables data to achieve its maximum efficacy in chronic disease management.”