China Launches First Online Chronic Disease Management Platform with Integrated Insurance Payment, Enabling 'Zero-Visit' Healthcare

Patients with chronic diseases can access online consultations via their smartphones at home, pay for consultation and medication fees through online medical insurance, and have prescriptions issued remotely by doctors with medications delivered to their doorstep.

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on October 15, the aforementioned scenario became a reality in Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, promising to bring convenience to patients with chronic diseases who require long-term medication but are weary of enduring various queues at hospitals.

The number of patients with chronic diseases in China has surged in recent years. A survey last year showed that the number of people diagnosed with chronic diseases in China had reached approximately 300 million. However, significant challenges persist for these patients when seeking follow-up care and purchasing medications at large hospitals, including long queues for registration, prolonged waiting times for consultations, lengthy lines for medication pickup, and insufficient time for doctor-patient communication.

This year, the Zhejiang Provincial Government has included chronic disease management in its key livelihood initiatives. In response, the Quzhou Municipal Healthcare Security Administration and Alibaba Health have deepened their collaboration by jointly establishing a city-wide platform for the circulation of chronic disease prescriptions. They are piloting innovative measures such as online consultations, electronic prescription transfer, online healthcare insurance payments, and home delivery of medications. These efforts aim to provide chronic disease patients with a new healthcare insurance service experience characterized by “follow-up consultations at home, healthcare insurance settlement at home, and medication delivery to the doorstep.”

“Previously, patients with chronic diseases had to make one trip to the hospital for follow-up consultations and prescription issuance, and another trip to the pharmacy for payment and medication pickup. Now, through a unified prescription circulation platform and online medical insurance payment, prescriptions are digitally transmitted and medications are delivered to patients’ homes. This allows patients to complete follow-up visits and purchase medications without any physical trips, truly fulfilling our commitment to turning good intentions into tangible results and ensuring practical matters are handled effectively. This is also the original intention behind the new model launched by the Quzhou Municipal People’s Government and Alibaba Group,” introduced Wang Zhengli, Party Secretary and Director of the Quzhou Healthcare Security Administration.

Specifically, patients can open Alipay at home, search for the “Quzhou Internet Hospital Platform” or “Internet Hospital,” complete a follow-up consultation and prescription issuance, and select a local pharmacy for prescription fulfillment. They may choose either home delivery or in-store purchase by swiping their card.Enjoy Integrated Online and Offline Chronic Disease Management Services. By selecting “Home Delivery,” you can enjoy a fully online follow-up consultation and medication purchasing experience that integrates “internet-based follow-up consultations, electronic prescription circulation, online medical insurance payment, and home delivery of medications,” truly achieving a “zero-visit” process.

It is worth noting that through the “three-medical linkage” of medical insurance, healthcare services, and pharmaceuticals, along with online operations, government departments can effectively accumulate medical insurance data, laying the foundation for subsequent explorations such as cost containment in medical insurance and the development of a medical insurance credit system. Furthermore, by leveraging Alibaba Group’s advanced technological capabilities—including facial recognition, security systems against cyberattacks, and the segregation of medical insurance fund flows from information flows—the government has been able to maximize the security of medical insurance funds.

Reporters learned that,This is China's first open online payment platform for chronic disease management., based on the realization of a fully online payment process for chronic disease management, it is open to internet hospitals, delivery pharmacies, and cooperative platforms.

Currently, Quzhou People's Hospital and Zhejiang Quhua Hospital already provide full-process online services for chronic disease management, while CR Quzhou’s designated retail pharmacies under the national medical insurance scheme offer medication supply services for patients with chronic conditions. Moving forward, the scope of hospitals and pharmacies providing online services will be gradually expanded, enabling residents of Quzhou to enjoy more comprehensive, higher-quality, and more convenient medical services.

“Providing patients with chronic diseases with ‘easily accessible’ pharmaceutical and medical services, reducing the inconvenience they face in seeking medical care and purchasing medications, while improving the efficiency of healthcare resource utilization, has always been our goal. This also represents a new trend in ‘Internet + Healthcare,’” said Yang Feng, Vice President of AliHealth.