Medlinker and China Electronics Data Announce Strategic Partnership to Pilot Regional HMO Model
On December 28, VCBeat was invited to attend the strategic cooperation launch event themed “Connect · Empower · Ecosystem,” jointly initiated by Medlinker, China’s leading real-name physician platform, and CEC Data Services Co., Ltd. (“CEC Data”).
Both parties announced that they will engage in deep cooperation in areas such as insurance underwriting, cost control and new insurance product development, data analytics for pharmaceutical R&D, and single-disease application services for medical data, with a key focus on piloting Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plans on a regional basis. Previously, Medlinker secured C-round series financing totaling RMB 400 million, led by strategic investment from the CEHealth Fund, with participation from Huaxing New Economy Fund and existing shareholders Tencent and Sequoia China.
At the press conference, Wang Shirui, Founder and CEO of Medlinker and Penguin Doctor, elaborated in detail on Medlinker’s new business model of “One Platform, Three Connections,” scheduled to launch in 2018.
“One Platform”: Continuously building the Medlinker real-name physician platform, leveraging medical big data and artificial intelligence, Medlinker is committed to becoming a “super connector” that provides physician services and healthcare solutions.
“Three Connections”: Refers to the business ecosystem that establishes “connections” with medical consortiums, including healthcare institutions, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, and insurance companies.
Wang Shirui emphasized that China’s healthcare reform focuses on the supply side. The liberalization of policies regarding tiered diagnosis and treatment and multi-site practice serves as a significant catalyst for the innovation and upgrading of the medical and health industry. The rational allocation of physician resources is the key factor in implementing these policies. Medlinker, with its 430,000 real-name authenticated physicians, will empower the entire medical and health industry by leveraging big data and artificial intelligence.
In connecting healthcare institutions, Medlinker will provide comprehensive solutions—including physician services, pharmaceuticals and medical device supplies, medical consortium development, and AI-assisted diagnostic and treatment systems—to healthcare facilities at all levels across China, including primary care hospitals and clinics. In terms of collaboration with pharmaceutical companies, Medlinker has already partnered with dozens of domestic and international pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers. Looking ahead, leveraging the data resource advantages of CEC Data, Medlinker will offer diversified solutions to more manufacturers, such as academic content promotion, contract research organization (CRO) services for clinical drug development, and market data analysis. In connecting with commercial insurance, Medlinker will collaborate with numerous commercial insurance partners in areas including new insurance product development, underwriting and cost control, and healthcare service procurement.
HMO, or Health Maintenance Organization, is a form of managed care. To utilize services within the HMO system, individuals must first enroll as members. The HMO system provides members with health management and medical care services, offering comprehensive, affordable, and quality-controlled health and medical coverage. The goal of the HMO system is to improve members’ overall health status, reduce the direct utilization of medical resources, and lower healthcare costs through proactive health management and coordinated delivery of medical services.
At the press conference, Medlinker and CEC Data jointly announced a landmark collaborative project. By leveraging systems, algorithms, and models as connectivity pathways, data flow as the driving force, the family doctor responsibility system as the healthcare entry point, the three-tier referral system as the care delivery model, and a medical performance evaluation framework as the assessment method, the project aims to integrate five key stakeholders—users, family doctors, healthcare institutions, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, and payers (basic medical insurance plus commercial insurance)—to create a comprehensive HMO closed-loop ecosystem.
If high-quality chronic disease data can be obtained and utilized effectively, it will unlock significant commercial value in areas such as precision medicine, academic research, and product development. Wang Shirui introduced that Medlinker’s regional HMO initiative, in collaboration with CEC Data, will deepen its expansion into single-disease chronic condition management, including liver disease, cancer, and diabetes.
Currently, commercial exploration in the field of medical big data in China is still in its nascent stage. However, strong support from national policies and vast market prospects have attracted numerous “participants.” Nevertheless, the lack of a solid foundation and viable business logic appears to be hindering progress for players in this sector. In the future, the collaboration between Yilian and CEIC Data, a member of the “national team,” may reshape the market landscape.
At the press conference, Li Shifeng, Chairman of CEC Data and Chairman of CEC Digital Finance, as well as Managing Partner of CEC Health Fund, provided a strategic interpretation of the CEC Data ecosystem. CEC Data is a platform company under China Electronics Corporation (CEC) that provides data integration, management, and application services for key national industries and departments. As a national team player in the development of the health and medical big data industry, it is recognized as both a National High-Tech Enterprise and a Zhongguancun High-Tech Enterprise. The company adheres to the development principle of “security first, data services, platform operations, and ecosystem aggregation.”
CEC Data focuses on building two core capabilities: “security” and “intelligence.” In terms of security, leveraging the support of China Electronics Corporation (CEC), CEC Data has established a data full-lifecycle security system that encompasses intrinsic security, process security, industrial control security, and data security. It integrates a tripartite security platform comprising a security fusion system, a security management and control system, and a security emergency response system. Furthermore, CEC Data possesses multiple core technologies in data aggregation, data governance, data security, and data mining and analysis. To date, it has obtained 62 independent intellectual property rights, secured a Value-Added Telecommunications Business Operating License, and achieved certifications for ISO 9001 Quality Management System, ISO 20000 IT Service Management System, and ISO 27001 Information Security Management System.
In terms of intelligence, leveraging the ecosystem model and platform capabilities of CEC Data, we can capitalize on the advantages of the national-level platform for healthcare big data to foster new technologies and facilitate the implementation of cutting-edge innovations. For instance, CEC Data has entered into a comprehensive cooperation agreement with IBM to introduce Watson Health-related solutions to China. Meanwhile, it has also partnered with Tianjin University to collaborate in the fields of brain cognition and intelligent diagnosis for healthcare.
Adhering to the philosophy of ecosystem development and collaborative innovation, China Electronics Data (CEData) leverages open co-construction and platform-based operations to continuously build and refine a ten-part ecosystem system centered on healthcare big data. This system encompasses security, intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), mass entrepreneurship and innovation, finance, culture and education, national projects, trading, new technologies, and local characteristic ecosystems, thereby achieving synergistic development.
In this strategic partnership with Medlinker, China Electronics Data leverages technology, data, and capital to collaborate in areas such as supplemental health insurance, data analytics for pharmaceutical R&D (CRO), single-disease application services for medical data, and regional Internet-based Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) projects. Adhering to the ecological cooperation principles of “co-building the ecosystem, sharing risks, sharing benefits, and creating mutual success,” the partnership aims to break down barriers in primary healthcare, promote the rational allocation of medical resources, and foster the healthy development of the national healthcare sector, thereby ensuring that big health and medical data truly benefit the public, the government, and enterprises.
In the process of building its industrial ecosystem, China Electronics Data required a capital arm to enrich the ecosystem’s substance and enable the flexible aggregation and mobilization of resources. Thus, the CE Health Fund was established. In June 2017, China Electronics Data initiated the establishment of the CE Health Medical Big Data (Hangzhou) Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) (hereinafter referred to as “CE Health Fund”) and its management company, CE Shurong Investment Management (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. The fund has an asset under management scale of RMB 3 billion.
As a key capital link in CEC Data’s ecosystem strategy, the fund focuses on investing in highly relevant sectors radiating from the health and medical data industry, including fintech, biotech, artificial intelligence, and next-generation internet technologies. Within six months of its establishment, the fund has completed investments as a fund-of-funds in Tonghe Yucheng Fund and Sequoia Capital China RMB Fund V, while also making direct investments in unicorn companies such as Senyi Intelligence and Medlinker.
“We are a standard industry fund, yet distinct from other private equity (PE) industry funds. Beyond merely providing capital to portfolio companies, our fund leverages the platform support of CEC Data and fully utilizes the advantages of CEC Data as the national team in health and medical big data. With data as our core resource, we provide business incubation and robust value-added services to partners within our ecosystem and our portfolio companies, helping them achieve sustained and rapid growth. Our goal is to realize business sharing, benefit sharing, and collaborative ecosystem development, thereby propelling more startups to become industry unicorns,” said Song Yu, General Manager of CEC Digital Finance and Partner of CEC Health Fund.
Based on this, CEC Health Fund has formulated a “1+1+X” investment strategy. First, the target enterprise should be a leader in a single niche within the healthcare sector, with its business model demonstrating an initial closed-loop structure; this constitutes the first “1.” Second, CEC Health Fund will assist the enterprise in accessing industrial and policy resources to facilitate horizontal expansion across related sectors; this represents the second “1.” Finally, the fund will introduce data resources to collaborate with the enterprise on industrial upgrading, achieving business sharing, benefit sharing, and ecosystem synergy; this is denoted by “X.”
Taking Yilian, a portfolio company of the fund, as an example, it is highly advanced in physician platforms and the commercial application of medical data. Following the investment by CEC Health Fund, in addition to capital infusion, the fund will also assist Yilian in resource integration and implementation in terms of resources and market access.
The event concluded with a highly engaging roundtable discussion on “The New Ecosystem of Future Healthcare,” moderated by Li Datao, Founder of VCBeat. Participants included Li Shifeng, Chairman of CEC Data Service Co., Ltd. and CEC Digital Finance, as well as Managing Partner of CEC Health Fund; Song Yu, General Manager of CEC Digital Finance and Partner at CEC Health Fund; Wang Shirui, Founder and CEO of Medlinker and Penguin Doctor; Zhang Hong, Partner at Sequoia Capital China Broadband Fund; Zhou Liang, Managing Director and Head of Private Equity Financing at China Renaissance; Li Na, Managing Director at Yunfeng Capital; Yuan Ye, Managing Partner at Ceyuan Ventures; Zhai Jia, Vice President at Sequoia Capital China; and He Li, Tencent Healthcare Expert. The attendees reached a consensus to jointly explore and gradually establish capital, data, and business ecosystems within the medical and health industry, thereby promoting coordinated industrial development.