Tai'an Municipal Government Partners with WeDoctor to Build a Digital Health Community

On September 5, the Tai’an Municipal People’s Government of Shandong Province signed a strategic cooperation agreement with WeDoctor Group to jointly establish the Tai’an “Health Service Consortium” and China’s first internet hospital for chronic diseases. The initiative aims to build a digital service network centered on residents’ health, covering the city’s entire population of 5.64 million by 2021.

Han Demin, President of the China International Exchange and Promotive Association for Medical and Health Care and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; Cui Honggang, Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee; Liao Jieyuan, Chairman of WeDoctor Group; Zhang Tao, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor; Song Hongyin, Member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and Secretary-General; Yuan Jiudang, Vice Mayor; and a total of 150 leaders and guests attended the signing ceremony.

(The image shows: The People's Government of Tai'an City and WeDoctor Group signing a strategic cooperation agreement)

During his introduction, Liao Jieyuan stated that the Tai’an Digital Health Community is resident-health-centric, led by Tai’an Central Hospital, and covers medical institutions at all levels. It vertically integrates city, county, township, and village tiers, while horizontally promoting the coordinated integration of healthcare services, pharmaceuticals, health insurance, and elderly care. This approach achieves interconnectivity of data, services, resources, and funding information, effectively ensuring a slowdown in the growth rate of health insurance expenditures within the region, alongside improvements in both medical service quality and residents’ health outcomes.

At the village level, standardized diagnosis and treatment for 50 common diseases are achieved through the “21st Century Barefoot Doctor” program. At the township level, cloud-based mobile clinic vehicles facilitate family doctor contract services, standardized diagnosis and treatment for 100 common diseases, and roaming services of the “Mobile Hospital.” At the county level, a digital medical consortium delivers standardized diagnosis and treatment protocols and systems for 300 common diseases, integrates with provincial and municipal specialist alliances, and achieves a local healthcare utilization rate of over 90%. At the municipal level, digital platforms for medical collaboration, prescription circulation, centralized procurement of pharmaceuticals and consumables, smart administrative handling, and integrated medical-elderly care are established to realize information interoperability among healthcare delivery, pharmaceuticals, and health insurance.

WeDoctor has successively helped multiple prefecture-level cities, including Pingdingshan, Yinchuan, Xiamen, and Longyan, to build digital Health Communities, earning high recognition from government departments at all levels nationwide. Liao Jieyuan stated that WeDoctor will support the Taian Health Community through digital health technologies, aiming to establish a national-level demonstration zone for digital Health Communities by 2020.

Launched concurrently, the Chronic Disease Internet Hospital is the first in China to be approved for internet-based diagnosis and treatment qualifications. It has connected 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—to over 200,000 chronic disease patients across the city. Through this platform, physicians can deliver online health guidance and interventions to patients, thereby reducing the incidence of complications and enabling comprehensive, end-to-end chronic disease management.

(The image shows: The launch of China’s first internet hospital for chronic diseases)

In his address, Zhang Tao stated that Tai’an City has continuously deepened process reengineering and optimized its business environment. The approval for the Taishan Chronic Disease Internet Hospital project was completed in just five days, setting a new “Tai’an Speed” for project approvals.

In the future, Tai’an will also build a digital health community to create a commercial complex and industrial cluster that integrates health, wellness, rehabilitation, and consumer-oriented health products and services.

In July 2019, the State Council issued the "Healthy China Action" plan, proposing to fully leverage internet technologies to strive for a population that remains disease-free or experiences minimal illness. Reportedly, the Tai’an Health Community is the first digital health community in China established through collaboration between the government and a third-party platform in response to national policies since the release of the "Healthy China Action."

Academician Han Demin stated that the Tai’an Health Community has set an example in implementing the Healthy China Strategy. The Chinese Medical Promotion Association is willing to leverage its expert resources through the Health Community to serve the people of Tai’an, thereby contributing to the realization of a Healthy China.