Yitikang Secures Grassroots Healthcare Entry Point with Remote ECG Services Ahead of IPO

Primary healthcare is at a major inflection point. The tiered diagnosis and treatment policy is the primary driver behind this trend.

China’s tiered diagnosis and treatment policy proposes the 16-character principle of “initial consultation at primary care facilities, two-way referrals, separate management of acute and chronic conditions, and coordination between upper- and lower-level institutions.” Primary healthcare institutions will become the new entry point for medical services and a key battleground in the next round of competition for internet healthcare access.

Yitikang, which had previously focused on smart medical hardware, began its strategic deployment in this sector last year. Within approximately six months, its flagship product—the 12-lead remote ECG service system—has been deployed in nearly 3,000 primary healthcare institutions across 25 provinces and municipalities, including clinics, village health rooms, and township health centers.

Zhou Shuo, founder of Yitikan, introduced that the activation rate of its 12-lead remote ECG service system currently stands at 86.6%, with a retention rate exceeding 95% and over 10,000 effective consultations completed. “Users who have tried our product demonstrate a strong willingness to pay, with approximately 80% becoming paying customers. We see monthly user growth in the hundreds, and the total user base is projected to surpass 10,000 by year-end.”

The gateway to future healthcare will inevitably shift toward primary care institutions. Recently, Guangdong Province announced plans to gradually phase out outpatient services at large hospitals, while multiple local governments have introduced tiered diagnosis and treatment policies, aiming for over 65% of initial consultations to occur at the primary care level. Yitikang’s mission is to help primary care institutions enhance their diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities while mitigating medical risks.

By leveraging Yitakang’s 12-lead remote ECG service system, hundreds of patients with critical and life-threatening conditions have been identified by primary care physicians, enabling their timely referral for specialized care.

Previously, Yitijiankang targeted grassroots physicians as its small-business segment; it has now expanded its focus from grassroots physicians to include independent clinics and small clinic chains in coastal regions.

As early as two years ago, Zhou Po identified certain issues in township health centers and village clinics during project implementation: after deploying devices such as ECG machines to these facilities, he found that grassroots physicians exhibited low enthusiasm for using them.

First, primary care physicians do not use electrocardiographs (ECGs) in a standardized manner; second, they are unable to interpret ECG tracings themselves and lack access to professional interpretation services. Following market research, Yitikang discovered that while ECG devices are an essential need for primary care physicians, these clinicians have a stronger demand for 12-lead ECG machines rather than single-lead devices. “Single-lead ECGs cannot detect issues associated with certain specific diseases,” explained Zhao Junlin, co-founder of Yitikang.

Compared with physicians at large hospitals, primary care doctors face greater medical risks; a single medical malpractice incident could lead to financial ruin. Most of these risks stem from conditions such as atypical myocardial infarction. However, there is currently no 12-lead ECG system on the market specifically designed for the use cases of primary care providers to offer timely risk alerts. Yitikang identifies this as their opportunity.

First, Yitikang has customized products for primary care physicians. Second, Yitikang collaborates with experts to provide timely interpretation of electrocardiograms (ECGs) for primary care physicians via an internet platform. Yitikang’s 12-lead ECG system not only enables static ECG monitoring but will also support 24-hour dynamic monitoring in the future.

VCBeat has learned that Yitakang has partnered with the cardiovascular physician group Dajia Yilian, under which experts on the Dajia Yilian platform remotely interpret electrocardiograms (ECGs). “Some local hospitals, community health centers, and small clinics do not specifically hire remote ECG interpretation specialists; therefore, these services need to be decentralized through remote and IT-enabled solutions,” said Zhou Po.

Specifically, after primary care physicians upload data using Yitakang’s 12-lead remote ECG service system, dedicated customer service representatives will immediately respond to consultation requests and promptly forward patients’ electrocardiograms to on-duty specialists. Upon receiving the request and combining it with the description of clinical symptoms, the specialists can typically provide ECG interpretation results within 5–15 minutes. In case of abnormal ECG findings, the customer service team guarantees to notify the on-site physicians immediately via phone calls, text messages, or other means for emergency management. Additionally, specialists will conduct irregular online and offline professional training courses to help primary care physicians enhance their professional skills and service quality.

In its November report titled “The Past and Present of Yitikang, Which Secured RMB 30 Million in Series A Funding from Matrix Partners China,” VCBeat noted that Yitikang has differentiated itself from other similar products in terms of positioning: if home medical devices detect abnormalities, patients should undoubtedly seek care at a hospital first. In contrast, Yitikang’s remote ECG service—specifically its 12-lead remote ECG system—is positioned to assist physicians in facilitating referrals or providing basic interventions after identifying issues.

Getting primary care physicians to adopt ECG devices is the first step; the second is enhancing their stickiness to the product to ensure sustained use. The most effective way to boost user stickiness is to address their pain points.

Zhao Junlin introduced that primary care physicians have the following needs: first, enhancing daily work skills and advancing professional titles; second, reducing diagnostic and treatment risks in clinics; third, increasing clinic revenue; and fourth, raising their personal professional profile.

Zhou Po told VCBeat that primary care physicians have a strong desire for learning, often covering their own accommodation and meals during training sessions. “If our training programs can provide them with tangible benefits, they will be motivated to learn; if they can improve their income by earning more money, they will be willing to continue using Yitikang’s products.”

In addition to assisting primary care physicians with brand image promotion, Yitikang also collaborates with provincial and municipal tertiary hospitals to provide remote consultation services for primary healthcare institutions. It is understood that governments in remote areas are highly supportive of fostering partnerships between large hospitals and primary healthcare facilities.

Zhao Junlin told VCBeat that penetrating the grassroots market was a challenging endeavor in the early stages, as cold calling proved highly inefficient. “We subsequently engaged various partners and underwent continuous trial and error.”

In the early stages, Yitijiankang established its reputation by creating model markets in select regions. Leveraging the influence of local key opinion leader (KOL) physicians, the company gradually built awareness and word-of-mouth recognition for its ECG monitor products, thereby gaining market entry. Currently, Yitijiankang has partnered with Yaopin Zhongduan Wang, a B2B pharmaceutical e-commerce platform, to share resources. While Yaopin Zhongduan Wang possesses channel resources among offline clinics, Yitijiankang provides corresponding services to these clients.

According to Zhou Po’s vision, primary-care physicians as a small-B segment actually represent a major channel, and Yitijiankang will serve as a “collaborative clinical laboratory” in the future.

From Yitikang’s perspective, leveraging internet technologies to empower primary care physicians in conducting ECG monitoring is a relatively high-frequency activity, while low-frequency services such as health checkups and insurance serve as extended offerings. This creates a model in which high-frequency services drive low-frequency ones. However, Yitikang is still further exploring specific collaboration models.

The ECG monitor serves as Yitikang’s entry point into primary healthcare. With the emergence of the internet hospital model, many diagnoses at the primary care level can now be performed using intelligent medical devices. “As the patient population grows, primary healthcare will require more such diagnostic and testing products to mitigate risks,” stated Zhou Po. He added that Yitikang will expand its portfolio beyond ECG to include a broader range of intelligent medical devices tailored for primary healthcare institutions.