Internet Hospitals Surge Amid Policy Push; Cisco and Partners Accelerate Healthcare Ecosystem Expansion

With the further nationwide advancement of the tiered diagnosis and treatment policy, and under the national policy orientation toward strengthening primary healthcare service capacity and promoting the downward flow of high-quality medical resources, the innovative model of internet hospitals is once again experiencing a surge in popularity.

Recently, WeDoctor has consecutively launched internet hospital projects in multiple cities, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Haikou. VCBeat has been providing ongoing coverage of these developments. Compared with previous initiatives, these internet hospital projects have received greater government support and deeper involvement from high-quality local medical resources.

Immediately thereafter, on January 12, Medlinker, a real-name verified physician platform, formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Huafang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Rizhao City, Shandong Province. The two parties will jointly establish the first internet hospital in Rizhao City and the first general practice-oriented internet hospital in Shandong Province. This also marks the first internet hospital launched by Medlinker in China—a platform headquartered in the southwest that has seen counter-trend growth this year and now boasts 430,000 real-name verified physicians.

It was revealed that Medlinker will be responsible for the overall operation of the internet hospital, providing patients with services such as online consultations, offline referrals and transfers, in-person consultations, surgical appointment scheduling, and online prescription delivery. Rizhao Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital will provide the physical medical facilities for offline care. Wang Shirui, Founder and CEO of Medlinker, stated that in 2017, Medlinker would also establish internet hospitals in Sichuan, Chongqing, Hebei, Liaoning, and other provinces and municipalities, to support the implementation of tiered diagnosis and treatment.

Behind this phenomenon, in addition to support from local governments under the Healthy China Strategy, is the increasing maturity of internet hospital services. For instance, these services have begun to break through the limitations of minor consultations, gradually forming a complete closed loop that spans appointment scheduling, consultation, electronic prescribing, and medication delivery to patients’ homes.

WeDoctor Chairman Liao Jieyuan previously stated that WeDoctor’s internet hospital has achieved overall profitability, with the company’s total revenue reaching approximately RMB 1 billion, of which the Wuzhen Internet Hospital accounted for RMB 800 million. The primary sources of profit are insurance, internet hospital services, and pharmaceuticals, with health insurance alone comprising 60% of the overall business.

Statistical data indicate that there are now over 30 internet hospitals in operation across China. Consequently, the vast technical services market underpinning the internet healthcare sector, represented by these internet hospitals, is attracting significant attention and proactive strategic deployment from industry giants.

Recently, Chengyun Technology, renowned for its urban big data operational services, hosted an industry symposium on “Internet + Healthcare” in Hangzhou, a hub for internet healthcare. The event was attended by founders and executives from dozens of industry companies, including DXY, Greentown Health, Teyang Network, and Yiyao Information.

Chengyun Technology, a joint venture established by Cisco and Zhejiang University’s affiliated Insigma Hengtian (Zhejiang University Wangxin), is among the first batch of application demonstration enterprises in Zhejiang Province’s big data industry and has been consistently involved in the construction of Hangzhou’s smart city initiatives. The company primarily focuses on cloud computing and big data, committing itself to three strategic directions: urban big data operational services, collaborative cloud services, and “Cloud + Industry.”

Previously, industry experts pointed out that the internet healthcare sector has long lacked a viable business model, primarily due to the absence of technological breakthroughs. In other words, the evolution of this emerging industry—from its inception and growth to maturity—depends not only on business model innovation and regulatory liberalization but also, more critically, on support from foundational technologies.

What has brought Chengyun Technology and these healthcare enterprises together is the connection through technological factors, specifically, the exploration of the application of Chengyun Technology’s Collaboration Cloud in telemedicine.

According to Chengyun Technology, it began collaborating with Cisco in 2013 to help Zhejiang University build a cloud-based video education system platform. Through this video interaction system, Zhejiang University has enabled video collaboration for various applications, including multi-campus teaching, international teaching and research activities, university-enterprise research collaboration, and cross-campus administrative meetings. This has significantly improved both instructional operational efficiency and management efficiency. Moreover, solely by reducing business travel for meetings, Chengyun Technology’s video cloud collaboration platform has saved Zhejiang University more than RMB 10 million.

Video collaboration technology, which has gained widespread recognition in sectors such as education and finance, will also be one of the key technologies for Chengyun Technology to deepen its presence in the healthcare industry and support telemedicine and medical education. Reportedly, Chengyun Technology has established a separate company named “Chengyun Vision” dedicated to its “Video Collaboration Cloud Platform,” aiming to accelerate the delivery of video-based solutions to healthcare clients.

On the day of the seminar, nearly all participating internet-concept companies were involved, to varying degrees, in telemedicine services. However, professional video technologies tailored to scenarios such as telemedicine and remote consultations present significant barriers to entry, posing substantial challenges especially for startups. Many attendees acknowledged having previously taken missteps in this area.

Due to the high level of professionalism and significant barriers to entry inherent in the healthcare industry, the integration and convergence of healthcare with the internet have progressed much more slowly compared to other sectors. When seeking partnerships with internet companies, healthcare institutions exercise extreme caution, concerned about insufficient capabilities or even malicious intent on the part of these tech firms. Meanwhile, many startups in the “Internet + Healthcare” space operate within narrow niches and at a small scale, making it difficult to achieve scalable growth; their technologies are often singular in focus, hindering the development of comprehensive end-to-end solutions. A key challenge is that “Internet + Healthcare” enterprises cannot replace healthcare institutions in conducting B2C services, while healthcare institutions struggle to find holistic and systematic “+ Internet” solutions.

Chengyun Technology stated that the further development of the internet healthcare industry increasingly requires collaborative advancement among various partners within an ecosystem network. It is essential to implement end-to-end solutions across applications, platforms, networks, and terminals (including smart wearable devices) by integrating information technologies such as video, cloud computing, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT). This integration will facilitate the effective alignment of business processes between internet hospitals and medical institutions, enable cross-border and cross-regional sharing of medical resources to benefit the public, and enhance the efficiency of medical services.

An ecosystem thrives on collaboration; without collaboration, there is no ecosystem. Chengyun Vision focuses on providing a capability platform for “Internet + Healthcare,” enabling end-to-end connectivity and fostering innovation in various new models. Meanwhile, numerous enterprises from all sectors of the ecosystem have already converged on this platform. In the future, collaborations among ecosystem participants and the integration of solutions across different companies will generate synergistic effects that surpass the competitiveness of any single enterprise.