JD Health Launches Internet Hospital in Suqian with Integrated Online Medical Insurance Payment
For a long time, seeking medical care has inevitably involved rushing between different hospital departments and enduring various queues. For patients with chronic diseases, the burden is even greater, requiring frequent, long-term follow-up visits. Furthermore, using medical insurance to purchase medications mandates visits to hospitals or designated pharmacies, meaning that even for a single box of common medication, an in-person trip is required… “Difficulty in accessing medical care” has become a pressing livelihood issue awaiting resolution.
Confronted with this formidable challenge, JD.com, having long established its presence in the healthcare sector, has adopted the “Healthy Cities” strategy as a solution. By collaborating with governments, hospitals, and other stakeholders, it aims to digitize offline healthcare systems, support healthcare reform, and seek a breakthrough in the industry.
At the beginning of 2019, JD.com’s “Healthy City” strategy achieved a major breakthrough in Suqian. On January 16, the Suqian Branch of JD Internet Hospital was officially launched.
Going forward, residents can not only quickly find suitable doctors for online consultations through the JD Internet Hospital Suqian Branch portal, but also conduct follow-up visits and chronic disease management online after their initial offline hospital diagnosis. This means that people can access professional medical consultations via the internet hospital, with follow-up visits available from the comfort of home, eliminating the hassle of travel.
Not only that, but Suqian First People's Hospital (Suqian Branch of Jiangsu Province Hospital) has also fully “moved” onto JD Internet Hospital, marking the first online-offline integrated collaboration between a public hospital and a platform-based internet hospital in China. By directly connecting an internet hospital with a public hospital as a whole, this collaboration truly achieves the integration of online and offline medical resources and services, providing greater assurance for medical resources and operations.
Zhu Wei, President of Suqian First People’s Hospital, stated that as a tertiary general public hospital, the institution handles a substantial volume of outpatient services. However, the majority of these visits involve consultations for common ailments, routine follow-ups, and management of chronic diseases, which consume significant medical resources. Since partnering with JD Internet Hospital, patients can complete initial consultations, follow-up visits, and chronic disease management online from home, thereby reserving offline outpatient capacity primarily for patients with acute and critical conditions. “This has greatly facilitated patient access, reducing the need for travel and enabling better chronic disease management, while also effectively promoting tiered diagnosis and treatment and the digitalization of medical services, significantly improving the efficiency of medical resource utilization,” he noted. In his view, the collaboration with JD has accelerated the hospital’s digital transformation, and adopting a hospital-led partnership model is more conducive to the effective allocation of medical resources, thus providing patients with an online healthcare experience characterized by more reliable response times and consultation quality.
Unlike other internet healthcare platforms, the Suqian medical insurance system is integrated with JD.com, allowing residents to purchase prescription drugs using their medical insurance directly on the JD platform after online consultations, without the need to visit hospitals or designated pharmacies in person with a physical medical insurance card.
On January 16, Ms. Zhang, a resident of Suqian, became the first person in China to complete an online payment via medical insurance on a pharmaceutical e-commerce platform after placing an order for medications on JD Pharmacy and successfully linking her medical insurance card.
Ms. Zhang stated, “This makes using medical insurance incredibly convenient. I no longer need to make a special trip to a hospital or a designated pharmacy just to use my insurance for a box of common medication. Moreover, JD Pharmacy offers a far more extensive selection of drugs than traditional pharmacies!” Going forward, residents with a Suqian medical insurance account, like Ms. Zhang, can link their medical insurance cards when purchasing over-the-counter (OTC) medications on JD Pharmacy and pay directly using their insurance benefits, enjoying the convenience of home delivery.
“Internet + Medical Insurance” has multiple effects on alleviating the pain points of various parties under the traditional medical insurance system, such as providing the government with a basis for controlling medical insurance costs, helping hospitals shorten their payment cycles, and significantly improving the convenience for patients to use medical insurance. As JD.com’s main platform became the first to integrate with local medical insurance systems, China’s medical insurance reform has taken an important step forward.
Furthermore, residents of Suqian will reap additional “benefits” under this new model of purchasing medications with medical insurance: JD Health Pharmacy has become one of the largest third-party pharmaceutical retail platforms, establishing direct partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies to ensure drug quality and safety at the source, thereby achieving comprehensive coverage of health consumption needs ranging from sub-health management to disease treatment. Residents of Suqian will be able to more conveniently access a wider range of high-quality medications through JD Health Pharmacy using their medical insurance.
The integration of the medical insurance system and the launch of JD Internet Hospital’s Suqian Branch have completed the final piece of the puzzle for JD to establish an internet-based closed loop of “medical care, pharmaceuticals, and medical insurance” in Suqian, fully realizing the “tri-medical linkage.”
This also marks the first online-offline integrated collaboration between a public hospital and a platform-based internet hospital; meanwhile, with the systematic integration of the Suqian medical insurance system with JD.com, the first individual to complete an online medical insurance payment on a pharmaceutical e-commerce platform emerged on that day, representing a landmark milestone.
With this, JD.com has achieved a closed-loop internet ecosystem for “medical care, pharmaceuticals, and medical insurance” in Suqian, creating a patient-centric “Smile Healthcare Curve” that connects “care–drugs–insurance,” delivering to consumers a truly integrated online-to-offline experience for medical consultations and medication purchases.
JD.com Internet Hospital’s Suqian Branch serves as a bridge connecting online and offline medical resources, integrating remote consultations with in-person visits to achieve unified healthcare services and seamless linkage with online pharmaceutical sales. Furthermore, the integration of medical insurance with JD.com has marked a milestone in the digitalization of health insurance, enabling coordinated operations between pharmaceuticals and insurance coverage in the online realm.
“The launch of the JD Internet Hospital Suqian Branch and its integration with the medical insurance system represent a robust implementation of national policies aimed at decentralizing medical resources and delivering inclusive public health benefits. This initiative serves as an exemplary model for local governments collaborating with healthcare institutions and internet enterprises to co-build an ‘Internet + Healthcare’ service system,” stated Xue Qishu, Vice Mayor of Suqian City. He added that both parties would continue to deepen medical insurance reforms, advance the development of medical consortia, and promote the downward flow of medical resources, striving to establish Suqian as a benchmark “Healthy City.”
Xin Lijun, Vice President of JD.com and President of the Life Services Business Group of JD Mall, stated that JD has been committed to providing domestic consumers with a more convenient and reliable health consumption experience. The company has made strategic investments in three key areas: pharmaceutical distribution, medical services, and internet solutions for hospitals, effectively integrating the wholesale and retail segments of the pharmaceutical supply chain. Meanwhile, through collaborations with government entities and hospitals, JD is helping offline healthcare systems achieve digital transformation, thereby realizing an integrated online-to-offline closed loop encompassing “medical care, pharmaceuticals, and health insurance.” This initiative aims to create a “Smiling Healthcare Curve” that connects medical services, pharmaceuticals, and insurance, offering patients a comprehensive healthcare experience spanning pre-diagnosis, during-diagnosis, and post-diagnosis stages.