Peach Internet Hospital Files IPO Prospectus: Pioneering Tiered Healthcare Access for Rural China Through an Open Medical Consortium Platform

Time froze in 2017, when internet hospitals in Yinchuan experienced a collective surge and reached the peak of public attention. At that time, Sichuan, 1,400 kilometers away, also began its exploration of internet healthcare. As one of the first pilot internet hospitals in Sichuan Province, PEACH HEALTH Internet Hospital officially “entered the arena” in April 2017. However, as policy support cooled, the nascent internet hospital sector fell into silence, plunging the entire industry into a winter of stagnation.

“The guys in this sector probably didn’t sleep well for those few days.” Wu Hao still remembers it vividly. The turning point came in March 2018, when the Premier’s remarks brought “Internet + Healthcare” back into the spotlight of public opinion. In December of the same year, Chengdu’s health and family planning authorities issued a Medical Institution Practice License to Taozi Internet Hospital, marking the first internet hospital license granted in Chengdu.

PEACH HEALTH Internet Hospital bypasses the traditional route focused on the “apex of the medical pyramid,” centers on tiered diagnosis and treatment, targets B-end clients, and builds an open medical consortium platform. By integrating diverse medical resources to serve residents in remote areas, it is committed to helping the entire population access precise tiered diagnosis and treatment based on the urgency and severity of conditions as well as the complexity of care.

According to VCBeat’s “2018 Internet Hospital Report: The Time to Act Is Now,” the number of internet hospitals launched nationwide in China reached 48 by March 2017. In this relatively crowded market landscape, why did PEACH HEALTH Internet Hospital choose to enter the field at this juncture? Is the path toward exploring tiered diagnosis and treatment smooth sailing? Why has this company chosen to bypass the apex of the pyramid and instead serve the “general public”? What does its open-service platform look like?

To address the aforementioned issues, VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) conducted an exclusive interview with Wu Hao, founder of Taozi Internet Hospital. Against a backdrop of significant turbulence, Wu Hao also shared his personal journey and reflections.

In fact, the idea of implementing a tiered diagnosis and treatment system stemmed from a hospital “visit.” On the other end of the phone, Wu Hao sighed, “A friend’s father stayed in a small guesthouse near West China Hospital for about half a month but was unable to secure an appointment with a specialist.” As a serial entrepreneur in the internet industry, Wu Hao pondered how to leverage internet technology to serve people living in remote areas, enabling them to identify the most suitable medical institutions and doctors without leaving their villages.

Wu Hao told VCBeat that most internet healthcare projects currently on the market tend to focus on three dimensions: internet users, first-tier cities, and core medical resources. It is widely believed that this represents the apex of the medical pyramid, centered around specialists and top-tier tertiary hospitals, providing relevant services based on the healthcare needs of internet users. In reality, China has more than 2,000 counties, 40,000 townships, and 600,000 villages, home to over one billion people. When these individuals fall ill, they often do not know which hospital to visit, which department to register with, or which doctor to consult. However, the business models and products launched by these companies have failed to benefit this population.

Therefore, PEACH HEALTH Internet Hospital is committed to addressing the difficulties faced by residents in remote areas in accessing medical care.

With the target selected, the next step is to plan the pathway. Wu Hao stated that to effectively implement tiered diagnosis and treatment, it is essential first to platformize medical resources, thereby maximizing connectivity between healthcare institutions and physicians; secondly, a large number of convenient primary care service points must be established. Initially, PEACH HEALTH Internet Hospital sought to leverage the national healthcare reform initiatives by providing district and county health authorities with comprehensive solutions for family doctor contract services, positioning family doctors as primary care service points. However, in reality, the national policy and implementation of family doctor contract services under healthcare reform are still in their infancy, facing numerous difficulties and challenges.

Following in-depth discussions, the team concluded that Peach Internet Hospital must pursue a market-oriented path. Consequently, it selected small and micro social medical institutions as accessible outlets for initial consultations. Peach has re-integrated practitioners from primary care and small/micro medical institutions—including clinics, pharmacies, and village doctors—to handle initial consultations within a tiered diagnosis and treatment system. By integrating medical institutions and resources at all levels into its platform and providing referral services to these initial consultation outlets, Peach aims to deliver comprehensive healthcare services, including convenient tiered diagnosis and treatment, to the grassroots population.

VCBeat has learned that Taozi Internet Hospital currently handles approximately 30,000 referrals per month.

PEACH HEALTH Internet Hospital has launched technical platforms for remote consultations, remote multidisciplinary consultations, cloud-based referrals, electronic medical records, payment and settlement, chronic disease management, and integrated medical and elderly care. By providing healthcare institutions with comprehensive internet-based solutions for patient services, it enhances patient stickiness, thereby achieving mutual benefits.

As a platform, in addition to the linking phase, the regulatory phase is also crucial. In terms of regulation, Taozi Internet Hospital dynamically retrieves real-time consultation data for patients under its tiered diagnosis and treatment system directly from the Hospital Information System (HIS), focusing primarily on monitoring the following two aspects:

First, whether there is over-testing, overtreatment, or overmedication;

Second, verify physicians’ professional qualifications to ensure the quality of medical services.

It is reported that Taozi Internet Hospital has currently been implemented in over 500 districts and counties, settling in more than 200,000 primary care institutions. In 2019, it will increase its coverage rate, expanding from the current 500 districts and counties to 2,000 districts and counties across China.