WeChat Launches China's First Cross-Provincial Real-Time Reimbursement Service for New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme in Shenzhen

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) has learned that the nation’s first WeChat-based payment service for the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) was recently launched at Shenzhen Longhua District People’s Hospital. NRCMS patients who have undergone standardized referral procedures for cross-provincial medical care can now settle their bills in real time at the hospital. This enables more convenient real-time reimbursement for out-of-area medical expenses compared to returning to their place of insurance registration for claims, significantly shortening medical insurance settlement times and improving clinical efficiency for both patients and hospitals.

The patient and family members with Luo Xinle (far right), President of Shenzhen Longhua District People’s Hospital, and Jin Hongchang (far left), Director of the Information Department

On the day WeChat’s New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) payment feature was launched, Mr. Yang, whose hometown is in Sichuan Province, used WeChat to experience the cross-provincial (non-local) networked settlement for his hospitalized wife’s medical expenses under the NRCMS.

““My wife and I have been working in Shenzhen, but our social insurance is covered by the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) in our hometown in Sichuan. Previously, we couldn’t use NRCMS for medical treatment in Shenzhen; we had to pay out-of-pocket first and then return to our hometown for reimbursement. Unexpectedly, WeChat has now enabled cross-regional reimbursement, which is incredibly convenient. We can check our medical expenses and reimbursement amounts on our mobile phones, and even settle payments upon discharge directly through our phones. Most people from our county back home are working in Guangdong, and they can all benefit from this service when they fall ill, truly relieving a major concern for us.”

A staff member at the payment window of Longhua District People’s Hospital revealed to reporters, “Shenzhen has a large population of migrant workers, and we receive inquiries about New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) reimbursement almost every day. I have to explain the process more than ten times daily, and I truly empathize with the anxiety felt by NRCMS patients. Now, WeChat has resolved this issue, benefiting patients while alleviating my burden of repeated explanations and improving work efficiency.”

It is understood that using WeChat for New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) payments is highly convenient. Users need only enter their personal information, place of insurance participation, and referral form number in WeChat as required to successfully bind the referral form. During hospitalization, patients can view daily itemized expenses and reimbursement amounts. Upon discharge, mixed settlement via WeChat Pay enables real-time online cross-provincial (non-local) medical expense reconciliation and reimbursement under the NRCMS. The reimbursement process, which previously required traveling thousands of kilometers and took 1–3 months or even longer, can now be completed in just one minute through WeChat.

   WeChat Referral Form Binding & Detailed Inquiry

Previously, patients enrolled in the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) had to pay the full amount of their medical expenses out-of-pocket when seeking treatment outside their home region, and they also had to bear the travel costs for reimbursement upon returning to their place of enrollment. With WeChat’s real-time settlement system for cross-regional NRCMS care, patients are only required to pay the portion not covered by insurance, significantly alleviating their financial burden and, to some extent, reducing the “Poverty Caused by Illness and Return to Poverty Due to Illness” possibility.

In July 2017, staff members of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) Cross-Province Medical Treatment Settlement Management Center (hereinafter referred to as the “Management Center”), based in Beijing, worked closely with Tencent’s product and technical teams and hospital technicians in Shenzhen. By sacrificing their personal rest time, they ensured the accuracy and timeliness of patient settlements upon discharge. Staff from the Management Center stated that nationwide cross-province (off-site) medical treatment networked reimbursement under the NRCMS has been fully implemented. Through collaboration with Tencent WeChat and extensive application of “Internet Plus” technologies, one-stop services have been provided to enrolled patients, particularly migrant workers, making the achievements of healthcare reform visibly evident.

Shenzhen Longhua District People’s Hospital has become the first hospital in China to launch WeChat-based payment for the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS), following the signing of the “Framework Agreement on Cross-Provincial Networked Settlement for Urban and Rural Residents’ Basic Medical Insurance (NRCMS)” between the National Health and Family Planning Commission’s Offsite Medical Care Settlement Center and Tencent in February this year.

WeChat Payment Confirmation Patient's family member successfully settled the bill via WeChat

Luo Xinle, President of Shenzhen Longhua District People’s Hospital, told reporters that the introduction of WeChat-based payments for the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) has not only bridged NRCMS with mobile payment systems, resolving the long-standing difficulty of reimbursement for patients seeking medical care outside their home regions, but also integrated various big data resources. This enables hospitals to gain clearer insights into the specific needs of both the healthcare system and patients, addressing fundamental pain points within the entire healthcare ecosystem and thereby driving continuous innovation in business service models. Meanwhile, close collaboration among patients, hospitals, Tencent, and national platforms has made capital flow processes more rational and transparent, further promoting the overall advancement of China’s healthcare and social security systems.

After integrating WeChat payment for the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS), hospitals can accept NRCMS patients from eight provinces—Liaoning, Jilin, Anhui, Hainan, Sichuan (partially), Guizhou, Shaanxi, and Gansu—enabling real-time cross-provincial settlement for medical expenses. This capability relies on the national NRCMS cross-provincial medical expense settlement information system, which was connected to the network in December 2016 to support real-time settlement. According to the latest data from the National Health and Family Planning Commission, from January to June this year, a total of 2,369 cross-provincial medical visits were settled through the nationwide networked system, with a total reimbursement amount of RMB 26.47 million.

DragonEight Provinces Currently Supported by Hua Hospital for Cross-Provincial Reimbursement

With the deepening development of the market economy, migrant labor has become a widespread social phenomenon, and inter-provincial population mobility has become the new normal. How to resolve cross-provincial direct settlement for migrant workers who meet the criteria for out-of-area medical care has also become an urgent social challenge.

As early as February 23 of this year, the National Health and Family Planning Commission’s Center for Cross-Regional Medical Expense Settlement signed the “Framework Cooperation Agreement on Networked Cross-Provincial Reimbursement for Urban and Rural Residents’ Basic Medical Insurance (New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme)” with Tencent. Leveraging Tencent’s resources and advantages in “Internet Plus Healthcare” and mobile payments, the agreement aims to vigorously promote networked cross-provincial reimbursement for China’s New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS). The recent launch of Shenzhen’s first WeChat-based NRCMS payment service is a key initiative under Tencent’s “Internet Plus” strategy.

Currently, WeChat’s New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) payment system is undergoing technical integration with hospitals such as the Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital and Shenzhen Nanshan Hospital, and will soon be launched to serve more NRCMS patients seeking cross-provincial medical care.

Through this in-depth collaboration, Tencent will extend the usage scenarios of WeChat Pay from hospital outpatient visits and pharmacy purchases to cross-provincial medical treatment, thereby further expanding its coverage. As a proactive promoter and leader of China’s “Internet Plus” initiative, Tencent will fully leverage its accumulated resources and advantages in “Internet Plus Healthcare” and mobile payments to continuously advance the development of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS), bringing genuine convenience to more users across China.

(Note: The regions in Sichuan Province that support real-time cross-regional settlement for the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme are: Liangshan Prefecture, Ya'an City, Panzhihua City, Neijiang City, Dazhou City, Guang'an City, and Mianyang City.)