Haodf Internet Hospital Partners with Yinchuan's First People's Hospital as Offline Base, Launches Remote Specialist Clinic

VCBeat News: On April 18, Yinchuan First People’s Hospital announced that it had officially signed an agreement with Haodf Online, becoming the offline base hospital for Haodf Online’s Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital (hereinafter referred to as “Haodf Internet Hospital”). Meanwhile, the remote specialist outpatient clinic established through this partnership has officially commenced operations.

The base hospital is established from the perspective of online and offline complementarity, to facilitate follow-up treatment for patients of Haodafu Internet Hospital and reduce medical risks. Haodafu Internet Hospital has landed in an offline physical hospital, setting up offline diagnosis and treatment venues such as outpatient clinics, beds, tests, and imaging at Yinchuan First People's Hospital, arranging Yinchuan patients who need offline medical services to receive treatment there. After consulting at Haodafu Internet Hospital, if further treatment is required, patients will be arranged to receive follow-up treatment at Yinchuan First People's Hospital, and their online and offline diagnosis and treatment behaviors will be fully supervised by relevant institutions.

Remote Specialist Outpatient ClinicsRemote specialist outpatient clinics are a key initiative by Haodafu Internet Hospital to align with the national tiered diagnosis and treatment policy, facilitating connections between large hospitals and primary healthcare institutions to establish an "online medical consortium," thereby helping patients overcome difficulties in accessing medical care. This new form of outpatient service allows patients, under the on-site guidance of local physicians, to conduct video consultations with specialists from higher-level hospitals, including nationally renowned experts from cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Patients can access diagnostic and treatment plans from distant specialists while enjoying the convenient services provided by local doctors, eliminating the need for long-distance travel. This approach not only provides patients with expert medical opinions from leading specialists in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai but also saves time and reduces economic costs associated with seeking medical care.

Ms. Yang from Yinchuan was diagnosed with viral encephalitis 20 years ago, which was complicated by epilepsy. She registered for a remote specialist consultation at the First People’s Hospital of Yinchuan and successfully secured an appointment with Dr. Lin Hua from the Department of Neurology at Beijing Xuanwu Hospital. Ms. Yang underwent tests such as electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in Yinchuan. With the assistance of Dr. Yu Guoqing at the First People’s Hospital of Yinchuan, she uploaded her test results to Dr. Lin Hua at Xuanwu Hospital. Four days ago, Ms. Yang and Dr. Yu Guoqing completed a video consultation with Dr. Lin Hua, a process that took only two days from start to finish.

Currently, the proportion of patients with complex and refractory diseases in Yinchuan and even the western region seeking medical treatment across provinces remains high. Many severely ill patients still have to travel long distances for medical care. Whether it is the hardship of traveling back and forth during the process of seeing a doctor or the additional costs incurred from receiving medical treatment in different locations, both impose a heavy burden on the patients themselves and their families.

Delivering expert medical capabilities to primary care institutions via the internet, enabling patients to receive diagnosis and treatment services from both local physicians and remote specialists locally, is Haodaifu Internet Hospital’s key business focus this year and a significant measure to support tiered diagnosis and treatment. Haodaifu Internet Hospital plans to complete its nationwide “Online Medical Consortium” platform by the end of the year, thereby extending the benefits of internet-based medical services extensively to patients at the primary care level.

The cornerstone of this round of healthcare reform is the tiered diagnosis and treatment system. The remote specialist outpatient model can significantly promote remote collaboration between specialists and primary care physicians, thereby facilitating the stepwise implementation of tiered diagnosis and treatment. This novel consultation model will become the mainstream service model of Haodaifu Internet Hospital and gradually evolve into the standard daily practice for physicians at all levels. Through this approach, the diagnostic and therapeutic expertise of specialists nationwide can be efficiently extended to primary care settings, helping primary care physicians improve their clinical capabilities. This enables patients to seek medical care with confidence in their local communities, enjoy local health insurance reimbursement, and achieve the goal of managing serious illnesses within their county of residence.

Following the launch of the remote specialist outpatient clinic at Yinchuan First People's Hospital, patients in Yinchuan with complex and refractory diseases can undergo remote consultations with top-tier experts nationwide through the hospital’s physicians. Once the experts formulate a treatment plan, patients can complete their treatment at Yinchuan First People's Hospital. For patients requiring surgical intervention by specialists, the hospital will arrange hospitalization and examinations, and the attending physician will coordinate with out-of-town experts to travel to Yinchuan to perform the surgery. To facilitate timely and appropriate diagnosis and treatment for these patients with complex conditions, Yinchuan First People's Hospital has also established a green channel for expedited care within its remote specialist outpatient clinic.

In addition, Yinchuan First People’s Hospital will also leverage the Haodaifu Internet Hospital to serve more patients in surrounding counties, cities, towns, and villages, providing remote guidance to primary-care physicians on the standardized management of common and frequently occurring diseases, thereby reducing the inconvenience of frequent trips to Yinchuan for patients at the grassroots level.

Through the Internet, top-tier specialists in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai can be engaged at the upper end, while county hospitals and township health centers are covered at the lower end, thereby delivering diagnostic and treatment capabilities. This establishes a multi-tiered tiered diagnosis and treatment model that creates win-win outcomes for all stakeholders and benefits patients.

Ma Xiaofei, President of Yinchuan First People’s Hospital, stated, “We are committed to embracing an open mindset, breaking down the traditional barriers of hospital care, and leveraging our internet hospital platform to introduce China’s top medical experts and integrate the most advanced treatment protocols and technologies nationwide. Our goal is to establish Yinchuan First People’s Hospital as a first-class national remote consultation center. Furthermore, through our internet hospital, we will actively assist patients in Ningxia with complex and refractory conditions by seeking diagnostic and therapeutic solutions from leading experts across China.”

Wang Hang, Chairman of Haodaifu Internet Hospital, stated in an interview with VCBeat: “The collaboration between Yinchuan First People’s Hospital and Haodaifu Internet Hospital not only creates convenience for patients in need but also serves as an exemplary practice in advancing China’s tiered diagnosis and treatment policy. Aligning with the ‘Internet Plus’ initiative and the Healthy China strategy, this partnership has pioneered a nationally leading model for tiered diagnosis and treatment amid the wave of smart city and smart healthcare development in Yinchuan.”