Beibeike: Monetization Begins by Retaining Doctors

Bei Beike is a platform dedicated to assisting reproduction through internet-based medical services, functioning as an expert-oriented fertility app. It establishes an interactive communication platform for patients and doctors, helping patients meet needs such as online triage and offline referral.

Unlike most internet healthcare products, BeiBeiKe has not provided substantial subsidies to users. Instead, it retains physicians by helping them improve work efficiency and enhance their professional knowledge and skills, thereby attracting a large patient base through these physicians. For BeiBeiKe, the first step toward profitability in its business model is to secure physician loyalty.

Since the official launch of the WeChat product this August, Beibeike’s doctor-facing platform has established collaborations with thousands of physicians, who refer a substantial number of patients to Beibeike on a daily basis.

Boosting Physicians' Work Efficiency to Foster Dependency

Beibeike’s physician system is divided into four parts. The first part consists of Product Partners, who are all expert-level physicians responsible for helping the team refine the physician diagnosis system. The second part is the full-time physician system; currently, all physicians providing free consultation services on the Beibeike platform are full-time physicians. These physicians have signed contracts with the Beibeike platform and dedicate a certain amount of time each week to provide services on the platform, for which they receive compensation. The third part comprises physicians in general collaborative relationships, who leverage the platform to manage their own patients. The fourth part consists of physician assistants who provide support services to physicians.

“For every patient a doctor refers on our platform, we pay them a certain fee, but this is not the primary method we use to retain doctors.”Shi Lei, founder of Beibeike, told VCBeat that doctors cannot be retained through financial incentives alone; the most effective approach is to help them manage a larger patient base, improve their work efficiency, and deliver tangible benefits that truly meet their needs.

On the physician side, due to variations in clinical expertise, treatment plans for patients may differ. Bei Beike inputs case records into its database by collecting clinical cases, thereby generating a diagnostic and therapeutic decision-support system that provides physicians with reference treatment plans. Shi Lei noted that leveraging Tsinghua University’s strengths in big data research, Bei Beike’s database architecture is being progressively refined. The treatment plans in the database are primarily intended as references for physicians, who must still tailor therapies to individual patient conditions. Additionally, the platform provides physicians with relevant information such as industry news, academic conferences, and medical research updates.

Doctors redirect patients from online to offline consultations.

BeiBeike has established six preconception care centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, the United States, and Macau, facilitating offline patient referrals through services such as appointment scheduling, accommodation, and medical treatment.

Users can schedule referral appointments through physicians on the Beibeike Doctor Platform. Once approved, platform staff will handle the appointment at the relevant hospital, sparing patients the need to queue for registration. Taking Peking University Third Hospital as an example, it is generally difficult for out-of-town patients to secure a registration slot due to the hospital’s high patient volume. However, Beibeike addresses this issue by enabling scheduled appointment bookings. It is reported that Beibeike has currently integrated nearly 1,000 hospital beds near Peking University Third Hospital to provide accommodation for patients traveling from afar for medical care.

Offline referral services not only resolve the issue of patients having to register and wait in line for medical consultations, thereby saving both money and effort, but also generate certain revenue for the platform itself. Shi Lei explained that users utilizing the referral service on the platform pay a fee to the platform, while Beibeike also provides subsidies to physicians who successfully accept referred patients.

While providing domestic medical services to patients, Bei Beike also offers high-end cross-border healthcare options, such as customized twin pregnancies and fetal gender selection. Shi Lei told VCBeat that by integrating accommodation resources near Peking University Third Hospital, Bei Beike not only provides convenient lodging for patients but also assesses whether they are potential clients for premium cross-border medical services based on their chosen accommodation standards. Staff members recommend relevant cross-border healthcare products to users staying in upscale hotels, thereby generating additional revenue for the platform.

Functionally, Beibeike will also provide patients with triage services by matching them with suitable doctors. The platform will indicate which doctors at which hospitals specialize in specific fields, thereby facilitating patient selection.

Furthermore, BeiBeike offers a task-based guidance system for preconception care tailored to patients. On the platform, patients can clearly understand what actions are required at each step of their treatment journey. As users often encounter various questions during their preconception period, physicians on the BeiBeike platform also provide free consultation services.

Shi Lei, founder of Beibeike, holds an MBA from Tsinghua University and is a serial internet entrepreneur. He has previously engaged in online game brand marketing and invested in the logistics industry. The team currently comprises more than 20 members.

It is reported that BeiBeiKe secured millions in angel investment from Matrix Partners China in September.