WeDoctor's Expert Cloud Clinic Empowers Primary Care and Boosts County-Level Hospitals with Internet Healthcare Solutions

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that WeDoctor Group recently entered into a deep strategic partnership with the Chayou Houqi Hospital in Inner Mongolia. Leveraging WeDoctor’s high-quality medical resources and its expert cloud outpatient platform, both parties will promote the implementation of internet-based specialized medical products and services in Chayou Houqi. This collaboration aims to further enhance the hospital’s medical service capabilities, enabling local patients to access top-tier specialist care from China’s leading Grade 3A hospitals without leaving their county.

At the cooperation meeting, Zhang Kuan, General Manager of WeDoctor’s Specialized Disease Industry Platform, Wu Junsheng, Director of the Health Commission of Chayouhou Banner, and Hao Zhiming, President of Chayouhou Banner Hospital, jointly launched a newly upgraded intelligent product developed by WeDoctor—“Expert Cloud Clinic”—and announced its pilot implementation at Chayouhou Banner Hospital. It is understood that WeDoctor will integrate high-quality specialist resources from across China into a healthcare system centered on the Cloud Clinic, leveraging remote imaging diagnosis, remote consultations, cloud-based outpatient services, two-way patient referrals, and remote education to enhance the diagnostic and treatment capabilities of county-level hospitals.

“Healthy China 2030” Outline proposes that by 2020, a basic medical and health system with Chinese characteristics covering urban and rural residents should be established, with continuous improvement in health literacy and a well-developed, efficient health service system. In addition to leveraging health insurance mechanisms to encourage county-level patients to prioritize county hospitals, the key to truly giving people confidence in their choice lies in the diagnostic and treatment capabilities of these county hospitals.

It is reported that the Expert Cloud Outpatient System covers all common clinical departments, with specialists from various disciplines across China scheduled for outpatient services. When county-level hospital physicians encounter complex cases requiring specialist consultation, they can directly use the system to schedule appointments for patients and facilitate remote consultations. Township and village-level physicians may also schedule consultations with physicians at higher-tier hospitals.

In addition to remote outpatient consultations, the Expert Cloud Outpatient Platform also supports remote consultations and two-way referrals. To address the challenges faced by village doctors, township doctors, and county-level physicians in improving their clinical capabilities, the platform offers remote education services. Every doctor registered on the platform can access the system for in-depth learning and engage with experts to rapidly enhance their diagnostic and treatment skills.

Dr. Zhao Bingwen from Chayouhouqi Hospital Conducts Case Discussion with Director Qu Jianhui

On the day of the press conference, Chen Shanshan, Director of Product Operations for WeDoctor’s Specialized Disease Industry Platform, facilitated a remote consultation between Dr. Zhao Bingwen from the Department of Gastroenterology at Chayouhou Banner Hospital and Dr. Qu Jianhui, Associate Chief Physician at WeDoctor Jumei Gastroenterology (Hepatology) Cloud Clinic. Dr. Qu was formerly affiliated with the Liver Tumor Diagnosis and Treatment Research Center of the former PLA 302 Hospital. During the session, Dr. Qu systematically addressed and resolved the diagnostic challenges Dr. Zhao encountered in treating a patient surnamed Liu, providing guidance on liver disease diagnosis, surgical interventions, and medication management. Dr. Zhao stated that the expert cloud consultation effectively alleviated his concerns regarding the case and enabled him to make a more confident assessment of the patient’s condition.

It is understood that the collaboration with Chayouhou Banner Hospital is based on WeDoctor Wuzhen Internet Hospital’s strategic layout in specialized medical fields. At the end of 2015, WeDoctor partnered with the government to establish the Wuzhen Internet Hospital platform, which integrates online and offline services. This platform serves as an integrated hub for advanced diagnostic and therapeutic technologies in specialized disciplines and diseases, and acts as a demonstration, technology, and teaching base provided by WeDoctor to hospitals and medical institutions.

Currently, Wuzhen Internet Hospital has connected with 280,000 doctors across China, established over 7,500 expert groups, and set up specialty consultation centers led by 12 academicians. It has also independently built seven specialist physician groups focused on county-level healthcare, covering plastic surgery, hepatology and gastroenterology, ophthalmology, rehabilitation, minimally invasive general surgery, minimally invasive urology, and minimally invasive gynecology.

In December last year, WeDoctor Group established a departmental partnership with Chayouhouqi Hospital, initially focusing on the ophthalmology department to help build its disciplinary system. Led by Dr. Gao Zhiqiang, Chief Physician of Ophthalmology at WeDoctor, an expert team participated in the diagnosis and treatment of complex ophthalmic cases at the hospital, including preoperative discussions, surgical guidance, and postoperative medication and rehabilitation instructions. Through various methods such as on-site mentoring, remote lectures, and online guidance, the initiative aimed to enhance the capabilities of grassroots physicians, enabling patients to access tertiary-level medical services locally. To date, WeDoctor’s expert team has helped nearly 150 impoverished patients in Chayouhouqi regain their sight.

Fully leveraging and activating the latent power of internet information technology is one of the keys to improving medical care at the county level and addressing the critical challenge of patient retention in county-level hospitals. In the future, WeDoctor will continuously upgrade its Expert Cloud Outpatient Platform, making “minor illnesses treated within the village, major illnesses treated within the county” the new normal for patients in Chayou. This initiative aims to establish Chayou Houqi Hospital as a model of modern, robust county-level hospitals, with plans to replicate this model across China to support the comprehensive development of county-level healthcare nationwide.