Haodf Online: Pioneer of Yinchuan Internet Hospital with Integrated Medical Insurance Reimbursement

On March 19, Yinchuan City held the “Internet Healthcare Industry Project Signing Ceremony,” during which the second batch of 15 enterprises signed agreements with the Yinchuan Municipal People’s Government to build internet hospitals. This move has instantly established Yinchuan as China’s largest hub for the internet hospital industry. Coincidentally, this date also marked the launch of Haodafu, the first internet hospital in Yinchuan.Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital Has Been Operating Smoothly for a Full100-Day Period.

At this conference, the Yinchuan Municipal Government announced that internet hospitals will enable online medical insurance reimbursement.Starting March 19, residents of Yinchuan can have their medical consultations on the Haodf Online Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital covered by medical insurance. Patients can not only use their personal medical insurance accounts for payment but also benefit from outpatient pooling, with reimbursements provided according to specified ratios.

In 2016, internet healthcare companies sought to break through their existing business scopes and explore new business models. For Haodf Online, a veteran in the industry and China’s largest medical information and doctor-patient interaction platform, the key focus in 2016 was establishing an internet hospital. Following the centralized signing ceremony for the Yinchuan Internet Hospital, Haodf Online, as the first internet hospital to launch in Yinchuan, naturally found itself at the forefront of attention, serving as a benchmark and model for others to emulate.

In April 2016, after signing an agreement with the Yinchuan Municipal Government and undergoing more than six months of preparatory work, Haodf Online officially launched its internet hospital in December. As part of the Smart City initiative, the Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital is built upon the Yinchuan Smart City project. This “hospital” has no physical offline medical facilities; Yinchuan serves as the data center for the internet hospital, where rows of high-speed servers and robust data throughput capabilities within the Yinchuan Big Data Center form the hospital’sStrong Backing。

The goal of Haodf.com’s transformation is to transition from Internet Healthcare 1.0 to 2.0, using lightweight consultations as an entry point into diagnosis and treatment. Haodf.com believes that the commercialization potential in the Internet Healthcare 1.0 era is limited, which is why many internet healthcare companies aggressively moved into internet hospitals and online diagnosis and treatment in 2016.

Wang Hang, CEO of Haodf.com and Chairman of Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital, stated, “Internet hospitals can better guide patients to seek medical care locally, promote tiered diagnosis and treatment, and alleviate the financial burdens on families and the medical insurance system caused by seeking care in other regions, thereby making it more time-efficient and less strenuous for Yinchuan residents to access medical services. Therefore, Yinchuan’s recent medical insurance innovation is a highly significant initiative that benefits the public.”

Haodaifu Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital has been successfully operating for three months. The number of physicians who have successfully completed multi-site practice registration stands at 11,000, covering 28 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across China. Among them, 82% are from Grade III Class A hospitals, and those from hospitals ranked Grade III and above account for a total of 92%. Of the physicians authorized to provide online medical services, 88% hold the title of Chief Physician or Associate Chief Physician.

HaoDF Online requires real-name authentication for registration across its entire platform. The number of physicians who have activated services on the platform stands at 144,000, with 85% of them coming from tertiary hospitals or above.Since its inception (as of March 16, 2017), the Haodaifu Online Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital has served a total of 985,000 patient visits (Haodaifu Online has cumulatively served 31,265,427 patients over more than ten years). Among these, 6,516 patients from Yinchuan were served by Haodaifu Internet Hospital, with approximately 10% suffering from critical or complex conditions. Authoritative specialists from Beijing and Shanghai provided services to 1,565 patients in Yinchuan.

Additionally, there areFifty-three nationally renowned experts have established collaborative partnerships with Yinchuan First People's Hospital, designating it as a key partner department and providing coordinated support for the development of its priority disciplines. Meanwhile, YinchuanRegional PatientsVisit Yinchuan CityThe First People's HospitalHaodaifu Websitethe number of has doubled1x,the hospitalDoctors viaHao DaifuInternet Hospital ServicesYinchuanThe number of patients has increased.10x.

Three types of patients can improve their medical experience through Haodf Online Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital:

First, patients requiring expert consultations. For patients whose conditions are relatively complex or difficult to diagnose and treat after visiting local hospitals, and who seek diagnostic and treatment opinions from senior specialists, attending physicians can conduct online consultations with senior doctors or even national experts via the Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital. This enables patients to receive expert care close to home. For patients requiring surgery, top-tier specialists from across China can be booked through the Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital to perform surgeries at local hospitals.

Second, patients with chronic diseases for follow-up visits. Patients no longer need to frequently visit hospitals for follow-up consultations and prescription refills; they can conduct online follow-up visits and obtain online prescriptions through the Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital, with medications delivered directly to their homes.

Third, initial consultation patients. Currently, online initial consultations are available only for a limited number of simple conditions, such as dermatitis, eczema, and acne. For relatively complex conditions, the internet hospital will arrange appropriate in-person examinations and consultations at designated hospitals.

To further improve the multi-tiered medical security system and continuously amplify the protective effects of medical insurance, the Yinchuan Municipal Government officially released the "Yinchuan City Internet Hospital Medical Insurance Personal Account and Outpatient Pooling Management Measures (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") at this meeting.

According to the Measures, insured individuals can not only use their personal medical insurance accounts to directly pay for online consultation fees, but also have online consultation fees that fall within the scope of the Basic Medical Insurance “Three Catalogs” reimbursed by medical insurance. In other words, Yinchuan residents can use their medical insurance as usual for services such as text-based consultations, telephone consultations, disease counseling, remote consultations, and medication purchases provided by Haodf Online Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital, just as they would at physical hospitals. The funds required for the outpatient pooling fund for online consultations shall be disbursed from the outpatient pooling funds of both employee basic medical insurance and resident basic medical insurance.

Previously, the primary approach to medical insurance management for internet hospitals across China was payment through personal accounts; their inclusion in outpatient pooling remains a precedent.In an interview with VCBeat, Wang Hang stated, “The next phase in the development of internet healthcare lies in its integration with insurance products, forming a unified ecosystem comprising patients, physicians, and insurers. The recent interoperability established between the Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital and medical insurance systems will propel Haodafu’s Yinchuan Internet Hospital into a new stage of development ahead of schedule.”

Currently, Haodf Online has completed initial integration with the Yinchuan Medical Insurance Information System. Amounts covered under the medical insurance reimbursement scope will be directly deducted during online payment, eliminating the need for offline reimbursement procedures. During the pilot period, insured individuals may only select Haodf Online Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital as their contracted provider for outpatient pooled fund online services.

During the pilot phase, the Yinchuan Human Resources and Social Security Bureau imposed certain restrictions on the use of medical insurance in internet hospitals. First, geographic restrictions: The personal account portion of the employee medical insurance in Yinchuan can be used for registration, diagnosis, and treatment at internet hospitals, and to pay for medical expenses. However, the outpatient pooling account is currently being piloted only among insured employees and residents in the three districts under the city’s jurisdiction. Second, institutional restrictions: Outpatient pooling benefits are available exclusively at Haodafu Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital. Third, provider level restrictions: Attending physicians must hold the title of associate chief physician or higher. Fourth, amount restrictions: The urban and rural resident medical insurance pooling accountAnnual PaymentMaximum amount of 50 yuan, from the pooled fund account of employee basic medical insuranceAnnualPay up to 120 yuan.

To provide citizens with better medical insurance services, the Yinchuan Human Resources and Social Security Bureau has also stated that it will make timely adjustments to reimbursement rates and payment limits based on the pilot implementation at Haodafu Internet Hospital and the operational performance of the online outpatient pooling fund, thereby expanding coverage in terms of participating entities, geographic regions, and monetary amounts.

“The selection of Haodf Online Yinchuan Smart Internet Hospital as a pilot for Yinchuan’s new medical insurance policy demonstrates that the competent authorities have sufficient confidence in Haodf Online’s compliance and operational capabilities. The actual implementation of Haodf Online’s medical insurance payment services will also provide valuable experience for the broader rollout of the new policy,” said Wang Hang.

The Yinchuan Municipal Government found in its previous research that,Due to the incomplete implementation of certain policies, internet hospitals have not yet fully realized their potential. Issues such as the formal recognition of internet hospitals, the integration of electronic prescriptions with medical insurance systems, and their impact on professional title evaluations remain unresolved. Without addressing these challenges, internet hospitals will remain marginalized healthcare institutions, with their full potential left untapped. In response, the Yinchuan Municipal Government and the Health and Family Planning Commission have introduced a series of supportive policies—some implemented comprehensively, others through pilot programs—to foster the development of internet hospitals.

At the meeting, You Feng, Director of the Yinchuan Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, stated: “Medical care, pharmaceuticals, and medical insurance are mutually reinforcing; the reform and development of the healthcare system cannot proceed without the support of medical insurance. Internet hospitals represent a favorable business model that not only revitalizes medical resources but also optimizes their allocation. The operation of Haodafu Internet Hospital in Yinchuan has validated this point. With policy support, internet hospitals have developed, addressing the shortage of medical resources in Yinchuan and Ningxia. Moreover, as they serve the entire country, they can provide higher-quality medical resources to people across China.”