YiYi Aims to Become China's Leading Post-Discharge Cardiac Rehabilitation Management Platform, Backed by Lei Jun, Xu Xiaoping, and By-Health

Post-Discharge Management for Surgical Patients: A Persistent Challenge for Healthcare Institutions and CliniciansOn one hand, scarce medical resources and saturated workloads leave physicians with insufficient time and energy to provide high-quality postoperative care for all patients. On the other hand, postoperative patients, particularly those with severe conditions, desire continuous rehabilitation guidance. This has resulted in a significant mismatch between healthcare demand and available medical resources.

Targeting this critical pain point in healthcare, Beijing Minimalist Era Software Technology Co., Ltd. has developed the “YiYi – Internet-Based Post-Discharge Management Platform,” establishing an integrated “software + hardware + services” ecosystem. Focused on post-discharge management for cardiac rehabilitation patients, the platform delivers comprehensive solutions grounded in the professionally standardized “Five Prescriptions.”

Recently, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) interviewed Yang Jinyu, CEO of Beijing Minimalist Era. He discussed how the Yiyi Cardiac Rehabilitation Post-Discharge Management Platform addresses challenges in post-discharge patient management and highlighted the potential of the cardiac rehabilitation market.

Yang Jinyu, Founder and CEO of Yiyi

Yang Jinyu previously worked at Kingsoft Software, serving as Lei Jun’s executive assistant. In 2002, he founded Tianfang Audiobook Network, which was acquired by Shanda; in 2008, he founded Tiao Wang, which was acquired by Huawei; and in 2012, he founded Minimalist Era.

“We founded this company in 2012. Lei Jun has always been our angel investor, Mr. Xu Xiaoping was our Series A investor, and By-Health was our Series B investor. In total, we have raised RMB 65 million in financing,” Yang Jinyu told VCBeat.

Since 2012, Jijian Shidai has focused on the elderly market and healthcare sector, developing products such as mobile applications with senior-friendly interfaces and smart pillboxes. By 2016, its software had accumulated over 16 million users, making it the first internet product in China to reach a user base of tens of millions among the elderly population.

“We integrated services such as appointment registration and consultation, medication knowledge, and disease rehabilitation into smartphones for the elderly, thereby addressing their healthcare needs. However, entering the ‘Internet + Healthcare’ sector through hardware is not an optimal strategy, as it poses significant challenges to establishing a viable business model.” Nevertheless, the success of products for the elderly enabled Yang Jinyu to recognize the immense potential of the broader health market, leading him to further focus his product strategy on the medical field.

Thus, starting in 2016, Minimalist Era began building an internet healthcare platform, positioning hardware as a supportive tool and adopting a model that integrates “software + hardware + services.”

Yang Jinyu has targeted post-discharge patient management, with a more specific focus on the post-discharge management of cardiac rehabilitation patients.

This strategic direction was chosen based on Yang Jinyu’s understanding of the “Internet + Healthcare” sector. While the sector already offers tools for appointment scheduling, online consultations, and doctor-patient communication, there is a lack of solutions focused on the post-hospitalization market. Yiyi can fill this gap.

“The key differentiator for YiYi is our exclusive focus on post-discharge patient management; we concentrate solely on this niche, adhering to the principle of specialized expertise. While similar products exist, none are as tightly focused on post-discharge patient management, and their development and investment levels are insufficient,” Yang Jinyu explained, drawing an analogy: “A truck can carry passengers, but it is clearly not designed specifically for that purpose. In terms of technical difficulty, development capability is not the primary constraint; rather, the crux lies in redefining and reconstructing core functionalities. As we specialize exclusively in post-discharge patient management, our entire design is tailored to serve this purpose, thereby delivering a seamless and refined experience for both physicians and patients.”

The model of the YiYi Patient Post-Discharge Management Platform is a “software + hardware + services” ecosystem, providing comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation solutions for physicians and patients.

In terms of software, the system includes an Internet Hospital platform, a physician-facing mobile app, and a WeChat Service Account. The physician-facing app provides tools for doctor-patient communication, facilitating patient management for physicians. Patients and their families use the WeChat Service Account to access rehabilitation plans, medication reminders, and other services.

In terms of hardware, Yiyi develops hardware products through in-house R&D and collaborations, including smartwatches, blood pressure monitors, and glucometers. These devices collect patient data on blood pressure, blood lipids, blood glucose, and physical activity, which serve as indicators for formulating rehabilitation plans.

In terms of services, Yiyi introduces the “Five Major Prescriptions” of cardiac rehabilitation based on international standards, including medication prescriptions, exercise prescriptions, nutritional prescriptions, psychological prescriptions, and smoking cessation prescriptions, providing authoritative regimen matching for cardiac rehabilitation.

The specific workflow is as follows: patients scan a QR code, or physicians add patients using their mobile phone numbers. After the physician enters the patient’s information into the system, the system generates an assessment result and provides a tailored management plan based on the patient’s actual condition. Patients can view medication, exercise, and dietary reminders via the WeChat interface, and can also conduct follow-up consultations and schedule appointments through the WeChat platform.

The YiYi Cardiac Rehabilitation Post-Discharge Platform went live in August and has now been rolled out to more than 20 hospitals, including the Department of Cardiology at Fuwai Hospital (National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases), the Department of Cardiology at Peking University People’s Hospital, and the Department of Cardiology at Beijing Xuanwu Hospital. Over 2,000 physicians and 5,000 patients have used the YiYi platform. In terms of user experience, 95.8% of physicians indicated they would continue using the YiYi platform, and patient acceptance of the platform is also very high.

“The need for post-discharge patient management has long existed. Traditional models relied on phone calls and text messages, which not only lacked scientifically robust evaluation metrics but also suffered from low efficiency. Yiyi provides an effective tool for post-discharge patient management, integrating with hardware devices to collect patients’ physiological data and aligning with established rehabilitation standards from Europe and the United States, thereby enhancing the efficiency of post-discharge care. Its ability to address key ‘pain points’ is the primary reason for Yiyi’s popularity.”

For this very reason, Yang Jinyu put forward the slogan: “Use HIS within the hospital; use Yiyi after discharge.” This initiative aims to effectively address the mismatch between patients’ post-discharge management needs and medical resources, while exploring effective pathways for internet-enabled post-discharge care.

From the perspective of market potential, post-discharge management for cardiac rehabilitation, and indeed the broader post-discharge care market, holds substantial room for development. Currently, there are nearly 300 million patients with cardiovascular diseases in China, including 11 million with coronary heart disease and 2.5 million with acute coronary syndrome. With 600,000 percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures performed annually, the potential for post-discharge cardiac rehabilitation management is immense.

Yang Jinyu also stated that cardiac rehabilitation is not a novel therapeutic concept, as it has a long history of development internationally. Extensive clinical data have confirmed that appropriate postoperative rehabilitation can effectively reduce the risk of recurrence, improve cardiac function, and enhance quality of life.

“Currently, health authorities and hospital systems at all levels attach great importance to cardiac rehabilitation. It is for this reason that we have introduced the ‘Five Prescriptions’ standard, which not only effectively addresses medical needs but also allows us to demonstrate our value in the process.” From the perspective of application prospects, once the post-discharge management model for cardiac rehabilitation is validated, it can be expanded to a wider range of diseases and clinical departments, thereby achieving nationwide coverage across China.

The post-discharge rehabilitation market holds even greater development potential. Post-discharge rehabilitation management can be integrated with chronic disease management, patient adherence, and healthcare cost containment, thereby generating more application scenarios and commercial value.

"The current business model designed for the Yiyi Platform features free software, charged hardware, and a commission taken from the service fees paid by patients to doctors. 'Hardware entails physical costs; our hardware is moderately priced among similar smart products and is not the primary profit driver. Patients and doctors voluntarily opt into the services; we provide the platform and charge an appropriate service fee to sustain its development,' stated Yang Jinyu."

It is also worth noting that Yiyi holds an internet hospital license, which serves as a strong market asset given the current scarcity of such licenses. Yang Jinyu stated that gaining recognition from local governments indicates that the Yiyi model has been endorsed by the competent authorities. Yiyi will leverage this opportunity to genuinely address healthcare challenges and benefit both patients and physicians.

Currently, the Yiyi Platform employs over 60 staff members and maintains branch offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Shaanxi. The Beijing office is primarily responsible for software development and hospital partnership expansion, the hardware team is based in Shenzhen, and the internet hospital operations are implemented in Shaanxi.

“Beijing is where China’s medical resources are most concentrated and where the demands for medical services are highest. The hospitals we initially partnered with are all located in Beijing. Our strategy is to first establish a strong presence in one region; once the model is proven successful, our next major step will be to roll it out nationwide,” said Yang Jinyu.