WeDoctor Opens Its First Full-Service Clinic in Hangzhou, Aiming to Build 100 Nationwide Within Three Years as a 'Starbucks' of Community Healthcare

WeDoctor Hangzhou General Practice Center Opening Ceremony

On March 19, the WeDoctor General Practice Center located at No. 160 Jincheng Road, Beigan Subdistrict, Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou City, officially opened!

This is WeDoctor’s first national General Practice Center and a chain of physical medical institutions under the WeDoctor brand. Adhering to the philosophy of “whole-person, whole-process, and whole-family” care, it leverages information platforms and mobile health technologies to provide individuals, families, and enterprises with one-stop health maintenance and medical services, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. The establishment and operation of WeDoctor General Practice (Hangzhou) marks the true implementation of WeDoctor’s accountable care system.

Qiu Chao, Director of the Standing Committee of the Xiaoshan District People’s Congress; Ye Jianhong, Member of the Standing Committee of the Xiaoshan District Committee of the Communist Party of China, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of the Development Zone, and Director of the Administrative Committee of the Development Zone; Yang Xiaofeng, Deputy District Mayor; Huang Xiaoyan, Vice Chairman of the District Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Tu Jinming, Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of Xiaoshan Economic and Technological Development Zone; and Hua Baohua, Director of the District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, among other district leaders, jointly attended the opening ceremony.

VCBeat was involved in every critical phase of the project, including initiation, execution, implementation, trial operations, and the official opening. The transition from trial operations to full-scale operations took only 90 days. On the opening day, Wang Bobo, a resident representative from Beigan Subdistrict in Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou, shared his story of entrusting his father’s care to the WeDoctor General Practice Center. “WeDoctor General Practice promises 24/7 comprehensive and all-around health management, which gives me great peace of mind in entrusting my father’s care to this facility.”

What are the distinguishing features of WeDoctor’s General Practice Centers? What role do they play in WeDoctor’s overall strategic framework? And how are they related to entities such as Internet Hospitals, the WeDoctor Health Plan, and the Academy of General Practice?

Liao Jieyuan, Chairman and CEO of WeDoctor

WeDoctor General Practice “4S” Standard

On December 17, 2016, after attending the launch ceremony of the “WeDoctor Hangzhou General Practice Center,” Mao Qun’an stated in an interview with VCBeat that future general practice centers should operate like automotive 4S dealerships. Just as car owners instinctively take their vehicles to a 4S shop for repairs rather than returning them to the manufacturer, these centers should serve as hubs for tiered diagnosis and treatment, representing a key measure in implementing the “health gatekeeper” system.

Coinciding with the opening of WeDoctor General Practice today, and in pursuit of more standardized services, the WeDoctor General Practice Center has established its service framework in accordance with the 4S Standards for General Practice Health Services, encompassing four key dimensions: Satisfaction, Standard, Support, and Sharing.

1. SatisfactionWeDoctor General Practice upholds the service philosophy of “holistic, continuous, and family-centered care, delivered with professionalism, focus, and compassion,” providing individuals, families, and enterprises with one-stop health maintenance and medical services encompassing prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation, truly serving as the gatekeeper of public health.

2. Standard (标准).In accordance with international standards such as JCI and HIMSS, a standardized service system is established through the “1+N” service model. JCI (Joint Commission International) is an international healthcare accreditation standard centered on the core values of “reducing medical risks, ensuring patient safety, and continuously improving healthcare quality,” thereby ensuring rigorous control over medical safety and quality. HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) outlines requirements for informatization construction across six dimensions: “comprehensive information coverage, paperless operations, closed-loop management, clinical data repositories, data-driven decision support, and standardization and normalization.” The “1+N” model refers to healthcare service providers organized into teams comprising general practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, and rehabilitation therapists.

3. SupportIt integrates high-quality medical resources from both online and offline channels, as well as from domestic and international sources, to support user health management and physicians’ clinical practice. Offline, WeDoctor General Practice Centers collaborate with numerous large general and specialized hospitals within the province that integrate medical care, teaching, and research. Online, it has established a nationwide medical network covering more than 2,400 key hospitals across 29 provinces, 260,000 experts, over 7,200 expert teams, and 10 remote consultation centers for specific diseases led by academicians.

Meanwhile, WeDoctor’s General Practice Centers have assembled a team of more than 30 full-time general practitioners, established collaborations with multiple domestic comprehensive medical institutions—including the Children’s Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine—and partnered with overseas second-opinion platforms such as Infinite MD and Yuesheng. Headquartered in Boston, Infinite MD was co-founded by professors and physicians from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and boasts a network of over 520 authoritative medical experts from top-10 hospitals across the United States.

4. SharingIt refers to providing clinical, educational, and training support for community health and medical services. WeDoctor has developed a “(1+N)*X” system that delivers such support through two main platforms: the WeDoctor Academy of General Practice and Regional General Practice Centers. This system enables the continuous cultivation and deployment of general practitioners with high-level comprehensive management capabilities. Furthermore, by leveraging general practice centers as hubs, it facilitates synergy between medical resources and general practitioners on the WeDoctor platform, thereby delivering more efficient services to the public and laying the foundation for the implementation of the family doctor system.

Here, “1” refers to the WeDoctor Academy of General Practice, which trains and supplies general practitioners; “N” denotes N regional general practice centers, serving as the vehicles for implementing WeDoctor’s general practice services; and “X” signifies community health service centers, which are the targets of WeDoctor’s general practice services and outreach.

Delivering holistic, continuous, and family-oriented medical services to users in accordance with the aforementioned 4S standards. At the opening ceremony, Liao Jieyuan, Chairman and CEO of WeDoctor, summarized the three-tier service system of WeDoctor’s General Practice Centers: The first tier involves WeDoctor General Practice assembling a service team that places the strongest emphasis on practical application within the field of general practice, both domestically and internationally, and delivering services in accordance with the national 4S standards for general practice. The second tier leverages WeDoctor’s platform to connect with over 7,200 multidisciplinary expert teams; when needed, users are connected with the appropriate specialists across China within 15 seconds, enabling comprehensive, face-to-face consultations throughout the entire care process. The third tier establishes green referral channels with 2,460 key hospitals, promptly addressing users’ needs for surgeries, hospitalization, and other services.

The three-tier service system makes WeDoctor General Practice the people’s dedicated, full-journey health gatekeeper.

It is reported that WeDoctor General Practice (Hangzhou) currently employs more than 30 medical professionals. The team is led by Professor He Chao, former president of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital and a professor at Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Most members come from renowned Grade A tertiary hospitals and high-quality community health service centers, and the team also includes advisors from well-known overseas healthcare platforms such as Infinite MD and Yuesheng.

A visit to WeDoctor General Practice reveals that its Hangzhou facility features a General Practice Service Center, Health Promotion Center, Children’s Health Center, Medical Laboratory and Imaging Center, and Teleconsultation Center, along with multiple specialized departments including Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dentistry, Ophthalmology, and Psychology. The center is equipped with comprehensive medical devices such as CT and DR systems. Throughout the facility, both hardware and software have been specially designed according to distinct functional units, creating a safe, warm, and comfortable clinical environment reminiscent of home.

According to on-site staff who spoke with VCBeat, in addition to providing basic health screenings, WeDoctor General Practice offers personalized tests and examinations, such as genetic testing, based on users’ age, occupation, and medical history. It also establishes portable health records and tailors individualized health maintenance plans. Based on these plans, WeDoctor General Practice assigns each user a dedicated online service team comprising a personal family doctor and senior nurses, delivering 24/7 online and offline health management to help members experience fewer illnesses, delay the onset of disease, or even remain disease-free.

Unlike the service models of traditional medical institutions, WeDoctor General Practice primarily adopts a membership-based approach, providing members with integrated online and offline proactive health management services. Its flagship health service product, the Family Premium Health Plan, is priced at RMB 6,000 per person per year. It includes more than ten types of complimentary services, with unlimited access to premium health services, personalized health planning, disease diagnosis and treatment, health consultations, chronic disease management, domestic and international referral services, and pre- and post-hospitalization guidance. Furthermore, WeDoctor General Practice will establish corporate e-clinics for 80,000 to 100,000 high-quality enterprises across China. By deploying on-site health assistants and online corporate physicians, it aims to provide employees with basic disease prevention and health management services, thereby improving their overall health status.

He Chao, Founder and Dean of WeDoctor General Practice, told VCBeat that he aims to leverage his expertise and professional capabilities in hospital management and operations. He hopes to lead the WeDoctor General Practice team in building a grassroots-oriented, internet platform-based Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), thereby facilitating a shift from “disease-centered care” to “health-centered care.” He stated that the responsible medical service model implemented by WeDoctor General Practice has gained high recognition from major enterprises such as Tencent and Huawei, as well as health insurance companies, all of which have expressed interest in collaboration. WeDoctor has signed a service agreement with the Zheshang Greater Health Committee, making 8 million Zheshang entrepreneurs users of WeDoctor General Practice.

To date, WeDoctor’s business portfolio is extensive, encompassing initiatives such as its Internet Hospital, General Practice Academy, General Practice Centers, and the WeDoctor Health Plan. So, how are these components interconnected?

Liao Jieyuan told VCBeat that WeDoctor Internet Hospital (wu.gov.cn) is an online diagnosis and treatment platform built by WeDoctor to provide online medical services and remote consultation services. It offers services such as precise appointment scheduling, online follow-up visits, remote consultations, electronic prescriptions, extended medical orders, and home delivery of medications. Its core business focuses on online diagnosis and treatment between doctors and patients, as well as remote consultations among medical professionals. Its core value lies in decentralizing high-quality medical resources to the grassroots level, thereby enhancing the overall capacity of primary healthcare services.

Currently, 18 provinces and municipalities, including Sichuan, Gansu, Hainan, Heilongjiang, Guangxi, Henan, Yunnan, and Ningxia, have signed implementation agreements with Wuzhen Internet Hospital. Building on a foundation of 7,200 expert teams and 260,000 physicians, Wuzhen Internet Hospital has successively established 10 specialized disease-specific consultation centers led by academicians. By the end of 2016, the daily patient consultation volume at Wuzhen Internet Hospital had exceeded 50,000 visits.

WeDoctor Internet Hospital provides support for the online diagnosis and treatment services offered by WeDoctor General Practice Centers. Leveraging a network of 260,000 online physicians and more than 7,200 multidisciplinary expert teams, it achieves an integration of “primary care + tertiary hospital” and “general practice + specialty” services.

WeDoctor Academy of General Practice is a professional platform for the education and training of general practitioners. Relying on the team led by Professor Zhu Shanzhu, Director of the Department of General Practice at Fudan University Medical School and Dean of WeDoctor Academy of General Practice, the academy focuses on the training and continuing education of general practitioners. It provides online, offline, and distance learning programs, offering training and guidance in clinical skills of general practice and health service management to medical personnel at various levels, including community health service centers (stations) and township health centers. This initiative aims to meet societal demands for health services and, in accordance with the needs of health authorities at all levels, provides training services for general practice faculty. Currently, WeDoctor Academy of General Practice has successively undertaken continuing medical education projects for general practitioners requiring credit hours in Shanghai, Tongxiang City in Zhejiang Province, and other provinces and municipalities.

WeDoctor General Practice Academy supports continuing medical education for general practitioners at WeDoctor General Practice Centers and partner medical institutions, fostering the development of more general practice professionals.

WeDoctor Health Plan leverages a three-tier service guarantee framework to provide health accounts, HMO, and ACO services to individual, family, and corporate members, thereby establishing a “3+3+3” accountable healthcare delivery system.

WeDoctor HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) is dedicated to providing corporate clients with exclusive online health management and medical services, including personal physicians, referral services, online consultations and prescriptions, green-channel access for critical illnesses, accompanied visits and medical navigation, and electronic health records, thereby helping users shift from “passive medical care” to “proactive health.”

WeDoctor ACO (Accountable Care Organization) is an HMO-plus medical insurance plan. Members pay an annual premium to access three core services: health management, medical care, and medical coverage (WeDoctor Accountable Medical Services).

WeDoctor General Practice Center is a key component of WeDoctor’s online diagnosis and treatment, remote consultations, and integrated online-to-offline healthcare services, serving as the implementing body for the WeDoctor Health Plan. The launch of the WeDoctor General Practice Center marks the completion of WeDoctor’s closed-loop online-to-offline medical service system.

The establishment and launch of WeDoctor’s General Practice Centers have bridged the “last mile” in integrating online and offline medical services, creating a controllable, closed-loop healthcare delivery system.

In the future, with the deep integration of general practice centers and health insurance, WeDoctor will launch a true accountable care service model, poised to achieve profitability at scale.

According to Liao Jieyuan, within the next three years, 100 general practice centers will “blossom” across China. These centers will be established through open models such as self-construction, franchising, and trusteeship, with the aim of creating the “Starbucks” of the healthcare industry.