China's First Digital Health Development Special Fund Launched to Support Healthy China Initiative
On September 19, the Digital Health Special Development Fund, initiated by WeDoctor and jointly established with the China Health Promotion Foundation, was officially launched in Beijing. Bai Shuzhong, Lifetime Honorary Chairman of the China Health Promotion Foundation, was appointed as the Director of the Fund’s Management Committee, while Liao Jieyuan, Founder and CEO of WeDoctor Group, and Yan Jinhong, Dean of Wuzhen Internet Hospital, among others, were appointed as Deputy Directors. Reportedly, this is the first public fundraising fund in China dedicated to “digital health.” It aims to build a digital health platform, integrate medical care, pharmaceuticals, and medical insurance services, and support the Healthy China Initiative.
(Pictured: Members of the Management Committee of the First Digital Health Special Development Fund)
It is understood that, by establishing a digital health service platform, the Fund deeply integrates the expert resources, discipline construction in health management, resources of the Technology Innovation Center, and standardized health insurance system accumulated over many years by the China Health Promotion Foundation with WeDoctor’s technology, operations, and products. This initiative provides advanced digital health services to patients with chronic diseases, entrepreneurs, corporate employees, families, and other groups, promoting the establishment of a digital health service system focused on “preventing major diseases, managing chronic conditions, and promoting health,” ultimately achieving a shift from a disease-centered approach to a health-centered one.
In response to the “Outline of the Healthy China 2030 Plan,” the Healthy China Action Promotion Committee issued the “Healthy China Action (2019–2030)” this July, requiring adherence to a people-centered approach, targeting major diseases and prominent health issues, focusing on key populations, establishing and improving the health education system, guiding the public to develop correct health perspectives, and launching fifteen major initiatives.
Bai Shuzhong stated in his speech that the shift toward a health-centric approach requires lifecycle management of health. Digital health platforms represent an emerging business model within the health services industry, reflecting a transformation in development strategies and innovation in service delivery within the health sector. Only through digital health management can we truly achieve the goals of “preventing major diseases, managing chronic conditions, and promoting health.”
This is also the health maintenance goal that WeDoctor is committed to achieving. Over the past decade since its establishment, WeDoctor has deeply connected with leading medical resources across China and internationally,Established a digital healthcare service system integrating “online and offline” as well as “general practice and specialty care,” providing users with health-oriented prevention, healthcare, and medical services, along with end-to-end, full-lifecycle coverage encompassing medical treatment, pharmaceuticals, and medical insurance.
Digital health will bring patients a completely new medical and health experience. Taking chronic disease management as an example, the Taishan Chronic Disease Internet Hospital, established through a collaboration between WeDoctor and the Tai’an Municipal Government, is the first chronic disease internet hospital in China approved for online diagnosis and treatment qualifications. It has currently connected with 23 chronic disease outpatient pharmacies in Tai’an City, providing one-stop services—including online follow-up consultations, e-prescriptions, online medication purchases, online medical insurance payments, and home delivery of medications—to over 200,000 chronic disease patients across the city. Physicians can provide online medical and health guidance and interventions to patients through the Chronic Disease Internet Hospital, thereby reducing the incidence of complications and implementing comprehensive, end-to-end chronic disease management.
In accordance with the roadmap for the Healthy China Initiative, WeDoctor will soon release a “trilogy” of digital health-based initiatives under the Healthy China Action plan, providing tailored health protection systems for entrepreneurs, corporate employees, families, and other target groups.In the future, the China Health Promotion Foundation will select health management experts and clinical experts to provide them with health insurance services.
Liao Jieyuan stated that WeDoctor hopes to closely collaborate with the China Health Promotion Foundation, leveraging its mature products, technologies, and service experience to jointlyHealthcare institutions, physicians, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance providers—partners taking joint action, to scale up digital health services for broader user benefit, enhance regional healthcare capabilities and population health outcomes, and curb the growth rate of medical insurance expenditures.