MamiKnows Pediatrics Clinic Achieves 34.9% Monthly Membership Growth with 6 Million Online Users Driving Offline Traffic
Under the policy framework of the new healthcare reform, an increasing number of internet healthcare companies are keen to expand from online platforms to offline operations, aiming to channel online users to brick-and-mortar institutions (clinics) and create a closed-loop ecosystem in the medical industry.
Most of these clinics are located in residential communities, specializing in either specialty care or general practice. Among specialties, pediatrics is the most common. In February 2017, the “Mommy Knows Best Pediatric Clinic” opened at Tianli Central Plaza in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, serving as one of many examples of online-offline integration.
Since its inception, “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” has adhered to the philosophy of “compassionate healthcare.” By leveraging an innovative management model to unite top-tier pediatricians across China, and by independently developing specialized health information systems while adopting JCI international healthcare service standards to adapt to market dynamics and meet patient needs, the clinic has earned high acclaim from users in Shenzhen.
“Mommy Knows” has long been a favorite among investors. Amid the capital winter earlier this year, it secured tens of millions of yuan in strategic Series B+ financing from an investment arm affiliated with the Chow Tai Fook Group. Previously, it had raised hundreds of millions of yuan from healthcare-focused investment firms such as SoftBank, Morningside Venture Capital, Fosun, and Hawthorn Capital.
To establish a complete closed-loop system for pediatric diagnosis and treatment, the first self-operated flagship store of “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” officially opened in February 2017 at Tianli Central Plaza in Nanshan District, Shenzhen. Together with the online “Mommy Knows App,” it formed an innovative internet-based healthcare system integrating online and offline services. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of pediatricians and medical staff at the clinic, its monthly compound membership growth rate reached 34.9% after six months of operation and exploration.
“Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” has attracted numerous medical professionals to join, ensuring a high standard of clinical services. Although China faces a shortage of 200,000 pediatricians, and their current situation remains grim—characterized by low compensation, heavy workloads, and strained doctor-patient relationships—the number of pediatricians continues to decline year by year. Nevertheless, “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” is committed to providing pediatricians with an excellent practice environment and clear career development pathways, enabling them to focus on diagnosis, treatment, and patient care, while gaining professional dignity and transparent, competitive income.
Here, “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” adopts a physician-partner model, a novel management approach that has attracted a large number of top-tier pediatricians in China to join as full-time staff. Currently, “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” employs more than 20 full-time pediatricians, who come from renowned Grade A tertiary hospitals such as the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen Children’s Hospital, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, and the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University.
The term “physician partner” referred to here primarily denotes physicians who hold equity stakes in the clinic, treating it as their own professional venture. Furthermore, with the surge in patient volume at “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” over the past six months, physicians’ incomes have risen accordingly, now significantly exceeding those in public hospitals.
Furthermore, after more than three years of operation, the “Mommy Knows” app has exclusively contracted with over 3,000 obstetricians and pediatricians from Grade A tertiary hospitals in nine key cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, to provide online consultation services. The professional team at Mommy Knows will establish individual physician studios for these 3,000 doctors, comprehensively supporting the enhancement of their personal brands and career development. In the future, an increasing number of renowned physicians and physician groups will continue to join the platform. By building this physician-focused platform, we aim to deeply unlock and maximize the value of medical professionals.
In addition to medical professionals, “Mommy Knows” online users will also interact with the offline “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic,” creating an integrated “online + offline” closed loop to provide users with 360° medical services.
In early 2015, the “Mommy Knows App” entered the mobile maternal and infant healthcare sector with a “lightweight” approach, accurately addressing the pain points of mothers and infants within the existing maternal and child health care system. It provides users with services such as online consultations, live-streamed parenting classes, and professional science-based health education, accumulating 6 million mother users to date.
With the launch of “Mami Zhidao Pediatric Clinic,” its first offline clinic in Shenzhen, the initial batch of offline seed users consisted almost entirely of existing users from its online app. Millions of online users are gradually being directed to offline services. Through scenario-based ecosystem development, “Mami Zhidao” has successfully connected both patients and healthcare providers, delivering comprehensive, high-quality medical and health services for mothers and infants—from preconception care through child-rearing.
From the user’s perspective, “Mommy Knows” creates a seamless online-to-offline (O2O) service loop. Users can directly connect with renowned specialists from top-tier (Grade A tertiary) hospitals via the “Mommy Knows” App to access online health consultations and preventive care services. For more comprehensive care, they can visit offline “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinics” to receive specialized and personalized diagnosis and treatment from physicians.
This one-stop service model, combining an online app with offline clinics, breaks the traditional boundaries of mere disease treatment and medical consultation, alleviates parental anxiety, and reduces users’ overall healthcare costs. As a result, by seamlessly integrating online and offline operations, “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” has achieved more than five times the operational efficiency of traditional pediatric clinics.
Purely online consultations struggle to provide users with comprehensive medical services. Since the beginning of this year, the National Health and Family Planning Commission has imposed stricter access and management requirements on internet-based healthcare to better mitigate medical risks. Meanwhile, the government has continuously introduced new policies to encourage private social capital to invest in healthcare, thereby meeting the public’s diverse needs. The “Mommy Knows App” enhances efficiency through online consultations, while its offline clinics cater to diverse and personalized needs. This “online + offline” model delivers comprehensive and compassionate medical services to users.
As a technology-driven innovative healthcare service company, “Mommy Knows” has developed a “Smart e-Hospital” clinic information management system (HIS on SaaS), specifically designed to provide internet-grade management services for Mommy Knows’ pediatric chain clinics.
This system not only streamlines the clinical workflow and enhances pre- and post-consultation follow-up functionalities, but also leverages data-driven management to improve healthcare efficiency. Furthermore, it permanently stores users’ personal health records in the cloud for on-demand access anytime and anywhere, thereby achieving truly user-centric management.
On the other hand, to provide patients with professional and compassionate medical services, “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” adheres to the international JCI-accredited medical service standards, which represent the highest level of hospital care and management. Domestic institutions such as Beijing United Family Hospital, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital affiliated with Zhejiang University, and Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center have all obtained JCI international accreditation. This system maximizes the utilization of medical resources while ensuring medical quality, thereby enhancing clinic operational efficiency and safety standards.
Furthermore, to deliver pediatric medical services of the highest caliber, “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” has partnered with Far East Horizon, a publicly listed company, to jointly develop a set of exclusive medical service standards tailored for pediatrics. Through ten months of extensive research, both parties systematically mapped out the entire operational workflow of pediatric clinics, focusing on two key areas: “patient-centered care process development” and “healthcare institution management.” The findings have been institutionalized within the clinic’s management system and daily operational protocols, laying a solid foundation for future chain expansion and service standardization.
From its online app to offline clinics, “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” has completed a closed-loop medical service ecosystem over nearly four years, standardizing and systematizing its pediatric care offerings. Following the successful operation of its first clinic, “Mommy Knows Pediatric Clinic” will accelerate its nationwide expansion across China. Reportedly, the brand plans to open six additional pediatric clinics in first-tier cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, further enhancing its “online + offline” medical services and striving to become China’s largest provider of maternal and child healthcare services.