Ant Financial's Blockchain Enters New Healthcare Scenario, Issues Nearly 600,000 Medical Electronic Bills

“Five minutes with the doctor, two hours in line; running around between consultation rooms with a handful of tickets.” This familiar experience will soon become a thing of the past.

According to VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat), Ant Financial’s blockchain division, in partnership with Aisino Corporation, has quietly begun piloting blockchain-based electronic medical invoice services.

Starting August 2, patients at hospitals in Hangzhou, Taizhou, and Jinhua who pay registration, outpatient, and inpatient fees via Alipay will have their corresponding electronic invoices instantly delivered to the “Invoice Manager” feature within Alipay. Patients who pay with cash, through hospital apps, or using medical insurance cards can simply scan the QR code on their examination slips with a mobile phone to retrieve an electronic invoice. These electronic invoices are sufficient for reimbursement and obtaining sick leave certificates, eliminating the need to queue at service counters for paper invoices.

According to Ant Financial, nearly 600,000 electronic medical invoices have been proactively sent to patients or scanned by them over the past two weeks.

Hu Fuyu, Vice President of Taizhou Central Hospital, stated that with the implementation of electronic invoices—bridging the “last mile” in enhancing citizens’ healthcare service experience—the overall process for medical visits can save an average of 1.5 hours per patient.

Yang Xueqing, a blockchain business expert at Ant Financial, told reporters that eliminating duplicate reimbursements represents the greater value of blockchain-based medical e-invoices. The difference between blockchain e-invoices and conventional e-invoices lies in the fact that blockchain places a “stamp” on the invoice throughout its entire lifecycle—generation, transmission, storage, and usage. If an e-invoice has already been reimbursed, it cannot be submitted for reimbursement a second time, as it has already been marked with a “reimbursed” stamp on the blockchain. These stamps are traceable and tamper-proof, addressing a persistent issue that neither traditional paper invoices nor conventional e-invoices can fully resolve.

It is understood that this application scenario utilizes a consortium blockchain, with nodes including hospitals, local finance bureaus, local social security bureaus, Aisino Corporation, and Alipay. Industry insiders believe that the application of blockchain in the fields of electronic invoices and electronic bills is an inevitable trend. While there are already some implemented use cases, not all electronic invoices and bills necessarily require blockchain solutions; the greatest demand for blockchain lies in those invoices and bills with high reimbursement frequency. Clearly, Ant Financial’s blockchain has targeted a scenario with the most pressing need.

It is worth noting that Eric Jing, Chairman of Ant Financial, has repeatedly stated publicly that Ant Financial’s blockchain technology is used solely to address practical issues with social value. Previous real-world applications of Ant Financial’s blockchain have all focused on critical-need scenarios, including traceability of charitable donations, insurance claim settlements, product authenticity verification, housing rental records, and cross-border remittances.

According to Ant Financial, it has also begun piloting blockchain-based electronic invoice services, with plans to promote their adoption across multiple industry scenarios in the future.