WeDoctor and MetLife China Announce Strategic Partnership to Integrate Healthcare and Insurance Resources
On July 18, 2017, WeDoctor and Sino-US United MetLife Insurance Company Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “MetLife”) held a signing ceremony in Shanghai for their strategic cooperation agreement. Su Yingqi, President of WeDoctor, and Sun Siyi, Interim Head of MetLife China, attended the ceremony and engaged in in-depth discussions on issues of mutual interest. This collaboration represents a significant step for both parties to strengthen their partnership, advance together, and jointly deepen their presence in the health insurance market.
Under the framework agreement signed, MetLife customers will gain access to a suite of value-added health management services via the WeDoctor platform, including video consultations, remote multidisciplinary consultations, medication delivery, referral appointment scheduling, green-channel assistance for surgeries and hospitalizations, outpatient registration, and triage consultation. In turn, leveraging big data analytics and insights from the WeDoctor platform, MetLife will provide tailored insurance products and solutions to WeDoctor’s over 165 million verified registered users. This collaboration will enhance the overall competitiveness of both parties, foster complementary strengths, and drive mutual progress.
“Leveraging advanced technologies such as the internet and artificial intelligence, WeDoctor has completed the integration of its three major business chains—specialist care, primary care, and insurance—over the past seven years, achieving an upgrade from an internet healthcare platform to a new-type health security system,” said Ms. Su Yingqi, President of WeDoctor. “We hope to combine MetLife’s nearly 150 years of professional expertise in the commercial insurance sector to jointly provide more comprehensive and professional health protection and services to hundreds of millions of families.”
After years of practical exploration, WeDoctor has grown into a unicorn in China’s internet healthcare industry. As of March 2017, WeDoctor had connected with hospital information systems in 29 provinces, covering more than 2,400 hospitals; it boasted over 165 million real-name registered users and 280,000 physicians, established an internet hospital presence in 19 provinces and municipalities, and built 12 specialized remote consultation centers. In 2016, WeDoctor cumulatively served more than 410 million patient visits, saving Chinese citizens 32 million workdays.
Ms. Sun Siyi, Interim Head of MetLife China, attended the signing ceremony and stated, “Innovation excellence and digital engagement have strengthened MetLife’s differentiated competitive advantages in the Chinese market. In recent years, China’s ‘Internet + Healthcare’ services have witnessed rapid growth. Through this partnership with WeDoctor, we aim to leverage resource sharing and insights into customer needs to deliver more attractive customized products and value-added services.”
To deliver superior services and sustain value creation, both parties will take the signing of this strategic cooperation agreement as a new starting point to deepen their collaboration, fostering complementary strengths, resource sharing, and mutual benefits. This partnership aims to provide more consumers with professional, convenient, and efficient medical security and health management services.
About WeDoctor
WeDoctor is China’s leading internet healthcare service platform, founded in 2010 by Liao Jieyuan and his team. Leveraging internet technologies, WeDoctor provides hundreds of millions of users in China with integrated online-to-offline healthcare services, including appointment registration, online consultations, remote consultations, online payments, electronic prescriptions, medication delivery, general practice care, and health insurance.
In 2010, WeDoctor was established in Shanghai, providing hospitals and patients with one-stop convenient healthcare services, including appointment registration, off-site waiting, and in-clinic payment. In 2015, WeDoctor pioneered the development of expert teams and internet hospitals, leveraging team-based collaboration and remote consultations to extend high-quality medical resources to grassroots levels, enhance primary care capabilities, and support the implementation of China’s tiered diagnosis and treatment system. Every day, tens of thousands of users access quality healthcare services through WeDoctor, while numerous primary care physicians receive expert guidance and training online.
Currently, WeDoctor is integrating its 33 physical medical institutions to form a cross-provincial medical group. Building on this foundation, it is scaling up the three core capabilities—system infrastructure, user traffic, and operational expertise—accumulated over the past seven years, to assist major public hospitals in establishing medical consortia, innovating medical collaboration mechanisms, and enhancing the overall efficiency of the healthcare system.
WeDoctor integrates online and offline medical resources through medical groups, medical consortia, and other models, while efficiently connecting leading enterprises across the upstream and downstream of the pharmaceutical, insurance, and financial industries. Together, we are building an Accountable Care Organization (WeDoctor ACO) to provide users with proactive, continuous, one-stop health maintenance and medical services, serving as the “health gatekeeper” for hundreds of millions of Chinese families.
About Sino-US United MetLife Insurance Company Limited
Sino-US United MetLife Insurance Company Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “MetLife”) is a joint venture established by subsidiaries of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife Group) and Shanghai Lianhe Investment Co., Ltd. Leveraging MetLife Group’s extensive experience in the insurance industry and Shanghai Lianhe Investment Co., Ltd.’s in-depth understanding of the Chinese market, MetLife is committed to providing trustworthy and professional insurance solutions to Chinese consumers. Through diverse channels including advisory sales, bancassurance, direct marketing, and digital marketing, MetLife delivers life, health, accident, and savings-oriented insurance products and services to consumers in more than twenty cities across China.
As a wholly state-owned investment company under the Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Shanghai United Investment Co., Ltd. leverages its resources and advantages to focus on investments in high-tech industries and financial services. The company is committed to promoting industrial innovation and development in Shanghai and across China, thereby contributing to national economic growth.
MetLife is one of the world’s largest life insurance companies, operating in nearly 50 countries across the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Founded in 1868, MetLife has nearly 150 years of experience in the life insurance industry. Through its worldwide network of affiliates, it serves approximately 100 million customers globally, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefit programs, and asset management services. For individual customers, MetLife offers life insurance, annuities, auto and home insurance, retail banking, and other financial services. Additionally, it provides group insurance, retirement, and savings products and services to corporations and other institutions.