Alibaba's DingTalk Enters Mobile Healthcare: Strategic Synergy with AliHealth Unveiled in New Prospectus
Recently, Alibaba’s DingTalk announced its entry into the mobile healthcare industry and signed its first vertical cooperation project for community-based medical services. As is well known, DingTalk is a free, multi-platform communication and collaboration tool specifically designed by Alibaba for enterprises in China. Why, then, is DingTalk extending its business reach into the mobile healthcare sector? What are the advantages and shortcomings of DingTalk’s strategic layout in the healthcare industry? Furthermore, what is the relationship between DingTalk and Alibaba Health, Alibaba Group’s core healthcare platform?
In DingTalk’s inaugural community healthcare project, there are three partners: Alibaba DingTalk, the Yuexiu District Government of Guangzhou, and Guangzhou Baidao Computer Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Guangzhou Baidao”). The three parties reached a cooperation agreement on June 30 to jointly create an “Internet + Family Doctor” contract service project, marking the official launch of DingTalk Healthcare.According to information from the “Qichacha” app, Guangzhou Baidao is the corporate shareholder of Guangzhou Dingding Medical Co., Ltd. Dingding Medical was registered on November 10, 2015, and currently has a registered capital of RMB 8.06 million.
It is reported that this project has completed a six-month pilot phase. Several community hospitals, including those in Beijing and Zhongshan, have already joined DingTalk Healthcare. According to DingTalk, it takes only about two hours to help a hospital go live. After registering and signing up, users can communicate with their family doctors via DingTalk.
A representative from Alibaba DingTalk stated that the Guangzhou Family Doctor Project was a small-scale pilot initiative resulting from the tripartite collaboration among the Yuexiu District Government of Guangzhou, Guangzhou Baidao, and DingTalk.
Huang Dongbin, Chairman of DingTalk Healthcare, stated that tiered diagnosis and treatment has long been regarded as a key component of healthcare reform and an important measure to address the current difficulties patients face in accessing medical care. “Healthcare reform encourages the introduction of high-tech, market-driven forces, and the Yuexiu District Government has adopted a very open-minded stance in this regard. It recognizes and encourages DingTalk Healthcare to leverage mobile internet technologies to continuously optimize medical service processes, explore models for fostering harmonious doctor-patient relationships, and improve the overall healthcare environment.”
According to Huang Dongbin, DingTalk Healthcare adopts a tripartite co-creation model: 1) government departments provide policy guidance and implementation; 2) Alibaba DingTalk offers a stable and trustworthy foundational platform with robust technical capabilities; and 3) Guangzhou Baidao focuses on the research and development of technological applications. Through this collaboration, the three parties jointly implement and promote the co-created initiative of “DingTalk Healthcare + Contracted Family Doctor Services.”
VCBeat has learned that since last November, the Yuexiu District Health and Family Planning Bureau has launched the “Internet + Contracted Family Doctor Services” project via DingTalk Medical, using the Dadong Street Community Health Service Center as a pilot site for a six-month Internet-plus co-creation trial. “DingTalk Medical adopted an approach where physicians went online in phases, starting with a small group before expanding to most outpatient physicians. Similarly, the pilot began in select departments before rolling out to multiple business units, thereby starting with a small-scale trial and gradually expanding the user base,” said Huang Dongbin.
On June 6, the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting Family Doctor Contract Services,” jointly formulated by seven departments including the State Council Office of Healthcare Reform and the National Health and Family Planning Commission, was officially released. The opinions propose that by 2017, the coverage rate of family doctor contract services should reach over 30%, with contract service coverage for key populations exceeding 60%. By 2020, efforts will be made to expand family doctor contract services to the entire population, establish long-term and stable contractual service relationships, and basically achieve full coverage of the family doctor service system.
It is evident that family medicine will see significant development in the future, which is a core reason why many companies are actively investing in this sector.
Huang Dongbin told VCBeat that DingTalk’s healthcare strategy has three advantages:
First, DingTalk Healthcare focuses on building a new, harmonious doctor-patient relationship among community hospitals, family doctors, and resident patients. Therefore, the development and application of its features fully consider the practical needs and usability for the general public, providing everyone with a personal family doctor. This ensures that when managing their health or dealing with illnesses in daily life, people are not misled by false medical information and advertisements online, and can always find a trusted physician friend.
Second, DingTalk’s maturity provides a stable and trustworthy mature app platform;
Third, DingTalk currently has over 1.5 million active enterprise users. In China, corporate health management is a rapidly growing healthcare market, providing DingTalk Healthcare with a substantial user base for its future development.
In fact, its vast base of enterprise customers is DingTalk’s biggest advantage in entering the mobile healthcare sector. As Alibaba Group’s core healthcare platform, AliHealth possesses abundant medical resources. By leveraging DingTalk’s B-side customer base, the two entities can achieve resource synergy. “DingTalk’s major collaborations in the healthcare sector will be coordinated with AliHealth,” stated a DingTalk executive.In fact, as early as last year, Alibaba Health proposed leveraging “DingTalk” to establish its presence in telemedicine.
VCBeat has learned that Alibaba Health’s own family doctor program, launched in November 2015, leverages primary care institutions such as community hospitals to provide free mobile internet communication tools for community physicians and enrolled patients, aiming to establish a “familiarity-based” physician–patient relationship between community doctors and residents.
Since the pilot launch of Alibaba Health’s Family Doctor service in Beijing’s Anzhen Community, it has expanded to 12 communities across China, including regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Hebei. Currently, Alibaba Health is promoting its “Cloud Hospital” initiative, which leverages internet and data technologies to establish a cross-regional, tiered diagnosis and treatment network within medical consortia. This network comprises Grade A tertiary hospitals, primary healthcare institutions affiliated with family doctors, and medical service providers, with family doctors serving as a key entry point to the entire tiered healthcare system.
However, although policies encouraging family doctor contract signing have been introduced across China, the fee structure for such contracts is still under discussion. This is a challenge that both DingTalk Healthcare and Ali Health must jointly address.