TaoGu Tech Launches Henan's First Internet Hospital: A Strategic Leap from Networked to Smart Healthcare

On February 9, the “Liangyuan District Internet Hospital,” jointly established by Beijing Taogu Technology Co., Ltd. and Shangqiu Liangyuan District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, was officially launched in Henan Province. This internet hospital was established under the guidance and promotion of the local government. In January this year, Liangyuan District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital obtained the official approval document for the “Liangyuan District Internet Hospital” from the government. It is among the first batch of internet hospitals established in Henan Province since the 2015 Wuzhen World Internet Conference.

According toIntroduction: This internet hospital delivers closed-loop medical services integrating online and offline care, connecting healthcare resources across different regions of China. It represents a significant leap from networked hospitals to smart hospitals, not only advancing policies on primary diagnosis at the grassroots level and two-way referrals but also promoting the “double sinking” and “double improvement” initiatives.

So, how can this internet hospital transition from a networked hospital to a smart hospital? What problems has the internet hospital solved?

From the perspective of hospital development, prior to the emergence of the concept of internet hospitals, there were roughly three stages: informatization, networking, and internet integration.

Phase I was characterized by hospital informatization. In addition to hospitals implementing Hospital Information Systems (HIS) to advance their own informatization, numerous IT companies began providing workflow-based services to hospitals, branding themselves as “Internet Hospitals.” However, the primary interfaces hospitals opened to the public were outpatient appointment registration systems and medical insurance card services. Although many hospitals subsequently launched outpatient appointment registration systems, a surge of online registration platforms emerged, with notable examples including JiuYi160.com and various provincial and municipal health bureau–operated appointment booking platforms. Nevertheless, core functions such as medical record management and electronic prescribing remained tightly controlled by hospital administrators.

The second phase is the online hospital. The most well-known online hospital in China is the one established by Guangdong Provincial Second People's Hospital. Since its launch last October, it has enabled online diagnosis for more than 50 types of diseases. Through over 1,000 service outlets set up across Guangdong Province, patients no longer need to queue at hospitals for registration. Instead, they can visit a nearby outlet, where physicians provide free consultations via video call. After the prescription is issued, patients can pick up their medications directly at pharmacies. This approach saves both registration time and medical expenses. However, the quality of online hospitals varies significantly, and their scope of services remains relatively limited. More importantly, medical insurance reimbursement, a major concern for many people, has not yet been integrated into the online hospital system.

Similar to the online hospital model is Wuzhen Internet Hospital. It primarily relies on a business model centered around remote diagnosis. What sets it apart is that, in addition to support from the Tongxiang Municipal Government, WeDoctor Group plays a significant role, marking the first time a mobile health company has entered the physical hospital sector.

The advantages of the Wuzhen Internet Hospital are twofold. First, it boasts a richer pool of physician resources. Any licensed physician can practice at multiple sites through the internet hospital platform. Given that WeDoctor Group has accumulated more than 5,000 expert medical teams over the past two years, physician availability is not a bottleneck. Second, it further opens up electronic prescriptions and medical record management, potentially breaking the traditional hospital restriction on the outflow of prescriptions and medical records. This development also facilitates physicians’ independent practice.

Of course, the Wuzhen Internet Hospital remains an isolated case. In particular, its policy support is difficult to replicate elsewhere; for instance, even online hospitals launched by traditional hospitals have yet to achieve integration with the medical insurance system.

 Similar to Wuzhen Internet Hospital, this low-key launch of“Liangyuan Internet Hospital”

According to reports, the Liangyuan District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Shangqiu City entered into a strategic partnership with Beijing Taogu Technology Co., Ltd. last year, under which Taogu customized a “Mobile Hospital” app for the hospital. The “Liangyuan Internet Hospital” represents a continuation and upgrade of the original product’s functionalities, expanding the range of services offered by the “Internet Hospital.” These enhancements include upgraded online consultation models and pharmaceutical care services, as well as the addition of artificial intelligence and online medical insurance settlement, among other features, enabling patients to experience a comprehensive end-to-end online healthcare journey.

The initiative primarily addresses two key issues in the Liangyuan District: First, it provides remote follow-up consultations, prescription renewals, and medication delivery services for approximately 40,000 patients with chronic diseases in the district, thereby eliminating the burden of repeated hospital visits. Second, it has increased the local rate of family doctor contract signings and established a tiered diagnosis and treatment system spanning villages, townships, and counties.

Taogu stated that the “Liangyuan District Internet Hospital” was modeled after the Wuzhen Internet Hospital, incorporating guidance from local authorities and the hospital’s own characteristics. This approach has enabled physicians at Liangyuan District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital—and throughout Henan Province—to better realize their professional value, while amplifying and optimizing medical resources to maximize the efficacy of healthcare delivery through internet-based solutions.

Taogu Technology has long been committed to innovating and exploring internet-based healthcare service models. Serving as the technical service provider for the Liangyuan District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taogu benefited from the Shangqiu City Liangyuan District Government’s consistent emphasis on informatization construction and its ambition to establish a smart healthcare service platform in the district. The alignment of vision among the three parties was the primary driver behind the transformation of the Liangyuan District regional platform into an internet hospital.

On the other hand, Taogu Technology possesses strong internet DNA and an outstanding team, having developed branded, customized “Mobile Hospital” solutions for hundreds of hospitals across China. Zhang Shouchuan, Chairman and CEO of Taogu Technology, previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Ali Health and Vice President of JD.com’s Open Platform. Dr. Xiong Yuhong, CTO of Taogu Technology, formerly held the position of Vice President of Mobile R&D at JD.com and was a Senior Scientist at HP Labs in Silicon Valley. Other core team members hail from prestigious institutions and companies such as the Chinese PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital), the Second Artillery General Hospital, Alibaba, JD.com, and Microsoft, bringing extensive clinical expertise as well as rich experience in internet technology and operations.

The establishment of this “Internet Hospital” represents an upgraded model of the original mobile hospital. In the future, Taogu will continue to actively explore and integrate additional services, such as systematically connecting with insurers, payers, and pharmaceutical providers to achieve integrated ecosystem coordination. It aims to explore service models that enhance overall efficiency by merging advanced technologies with traditional resources, thereby realizing the following functions:

1) Implement the family doctor responsibility system that has been long promoted by the government.

2) Extend medical services beyond the hospital walls, particularly for rural patients, who can access online consultations and pharmaceutical care services from home.

3) Enable local patients to not only access services from doctors at the Liangyuan District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital and other local hospitals, but also experience remote consultations with high-quality medical resources in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, and even Beijing.

4) Establish an internet hospital to build Taogu’s brand reputation and credibility within the industry, thereby creating opportunities to provide services to more medical institutions and government departments. 

 At this stage，Internet Hospitalconstruction mainlyDivided into two categories，Led by medical institutions or other types of enterprises. TaoguLiangyuan Internet Hospital was established based on the advocacy and promotion of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, with its foundation rooted in Liangyuan District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.andwith the hospital'sDeep integration with the HIS, linking patients' electronic medical records and health archivesetc. In servicesFormally,BothAll provide a closed-loop online-to-offline service for patient care., more convenient for patientsSearchtoRequired Physician ResourcesandRelatedMedicalServices.

From the perspective of Taogu Technology, internet hospitals represent a novel O2O (Online-to-Offline) medical service model. Centered on high-quality medical resources from secondary and tertiary hospitals, this model leverages community health service centers (township health centers), community health service stations (village clinics), pharmacies, and other healthcare institutions as convenient access points. By utilizing modern technologies such as the Internet and the Internet of Things (IoT), it provides patients with services including health consultations, online diagnoses, triage guidance, appointment scheduling, and telemedicine.

Intelligent technologies will further enhance comprehensive remote, cross-regional, and off-site diagnosis and treatment capabilities. With the assistance of novel approaches such as big data, the application of internet hospitals will become widespread.

Represented by Wuzhen Internet Hospital, hospitals have made their core services accessible to the public via the internet, integrating three key industry segments: healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and insurance. Its advantages lie in two aspects: on one hand, it offers richer medical resources, allowing any physician with a practicing license to engage in multi-site practice at internet hospitals; on the other hand, it further opens up electronic prescription and medical record management, potentially breaking the traditional hospital restriction that prohibits the outflow of prescriptions and medical records.

Smart Hospitals: The Product of Advanced AI and Internet TechnologiesSmart hospitals are the product of artificial intelligence (AI) and internet technologies reaching an advanced stage. Driven by the synergistic effects of big data, cloud computing, AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and network communication technologies, resource supply and matching throughout the entire healthcare process, as well as the management and delivery of all medical resources, have become fully digitalized and intelligent. These capabilities are shared with the public via the internet, ultimately achieving rapid, effective, and precise personalized health management.

Following the model of Wuzhen Internet Hospital, Liangyuan Internet Hospital has also prioritized development in both hardware and software to facilitate user adoption.

1) Some patients with chronic diseases find downloading apps on their mobile phones complicated; therefore, in addition to its app, Taogu Technology has developed a WeChat-based service platform to make it more convenient for patients to use.

2) The entrenchment of traditional mindsets among healthcare professionals within the medical system, coupled with insufficient awareness of internet-based solutions—subsequently, Taogu Technology strengthened hospital staff’s understanding of internet hospitals through proactive in-hospital promotion and outreach targeting physicians and medical personnel.

3) High drug distribution costs—Taogu Technology communicates with partners to deliver medicines to local township health centers, where residents pick up their prescriptions themselves, thereby effectively reducing distribution costs.

4) Interoperability issues with certain hospital systems—Taogu has been continuously deepening its collaboration and communication with HIS developers to achieve thorough integration of in-hospital systems, thereby better serving physicians and patients.

What sets it apart is that Liangyuan Internet Hospital has received strong support from the local government, and Liangyuan District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital has simultaneously obtained official approval for its internet hospital operations. The hospital has also actively advanced related initiatives for its internet hospital, strengthening internal promotion and outreach. Meanwhile, by leveraging Taogu’s extensive experience in internet healthcare operations and integrating medical resources from over one hundred partner hospitals currently collaborating with Taogu, the platform provides patients with higher-quality medical resources. Furthermore, through the integration of medical and pharmaceutical resources, it has implemented medication delivery services, thereby achieving a closed-loop healthcare service model.

During the development of the Liangyuan District Internet Hospital, Taogu Technology clearly recognized that township and village-level doctors and patients have a profound desire for medical services and strong expectations for the transformative impact of internet-based diagnosis and treatment. We aim to enable the public to experience the convenience brought by internet hospitals in accessing medical care.

Taogu has collaborated with hundreds of medical institutions across multiple regions, developing branded, customized mobile hospital platforms for them. At this stage, it is selecting representative hospitals for in-depth strategic partnerships, integrating high-quality physician resources, and upgrading existing mobile healthcare services into internet hospitals. This initiative aims to connect regional and even cross-regional medical resources nationwide, providing closed-loop online-to-offline medical services.

Taogu has partnered with leading companies across various healthcare-related sectors, such as Sinopharm, Jointown Pharmaceutical Group, JD.com, and Tianjian. Leveraging Taogu’s extensive expertise in the internet industry, we deeply explore and extend the value delivered within healthcare services, ultimately building a health service platform that truly serves the government, hospitals, and the general public.