Meihe Patient Companion Files IPO Prospectus: Combining Elite Specialist Access, Personalized Escort Services, and Inter-regional Medical Care

※Profit from consultations with renowned physicians

Compared with e-Peizhen and Anxin Peizhen, the biggest difference of Meihe Peizhen is that medical escort service serves as an entry point rather than a profit model; its profitability lies in providing follow-up services to patients through this entry point.

Xie Renjun is the co-founder of Meihe Medical Escort. He previously studied, worked, and launched startups in Canada. Upon returning to China, he founded Happy Point Entertainment Auction Network, Global Mining Rights Network, and Hanxing Auto Private Customization. Later, by leveraging the resources of Tuosheng Group, he reached cooperative agreements with hospitals to dispatch assistant physicians, thereby supplementing hospital services. By securing access to renowned medical experts through this model, Xie Renjun launched the “See Renowned Doctors” project, which served as the predecessor to Meihe Medical Escort.

After “Kan Mingyi” began generating revenue, Xie Renjun started to consider how to attract more users. By examining patients’ healthcare-seeking environments, they identified pain points in the patient journey and decided to launch medical escort services, thereby founding Meihe Medical Escort. To date, Meihe Medical Escort has partnered with six renowned Grade A tertiary hospitals, collaborating with more than 50 experts, all of whom are physicians at the associate chief physician level or above at Grade A tertiary hospitals.

Meihe adopts an O2O (Online-to-Offline) model for medical accompaniment services. Patients can place orders via mobile apps, WeChat, hotline calls, and other channels. Based on the order requirements, Meihe provides corresponding offline accompaniment services. Meihe primarily offers five types of services: Basic Accompaniment, Professional Accompaniment, Maternity Prenatal Care Accompaniment Package, Special Consultation with Renowned Experts, and Dual Special Consultation with Renowned Experts. The basic service package mainly includes pre-consultation reminders, door-to-door pickup and drop-off, in-hospital companionship, queueing for registration numbers, guidance through medical visits, assistance with pending test orders, payment support, accompaniment during consultations and examinations, medication pickup assistance, report collection, assistance with hospitalization procedures, and post-consultation follow-up care.

Meihe’s patient escort and caregiving staff are primarily composed of nursing assistants and nurses. Apart from a small number of full-time personnel, other caregivers are managed through a flexible, order-based system. When caregivers have availability to accept assignments and complete patient escort services, they generally receive nearly the full amount of the service fee, which holds certain appeal for healthcare professionals with spare time.

Xie Renjun stated that for ordinary patients seeking medical care at hospitals, basic escort services are sufficient to meet routine accompaniment needs. Moreover, the affordable pricing of basic escort services makes them more acceptable to average patients. Meihe Escort has cultivated a base of high-quality seed users through its escort services. When these users, their relatives, or friends require consultations with renowned specialists, they turn to the expert special consultation services available on the Meihe Escort platform, thereby driving demand for appointments with top-tier physicians.

Consulting renowned physicians is a rigid demand, as the general public typically seeks such consultations to obtain high-quality and efficient diagnostic and treatment experiences. In terms of pricing, Meihe Medical Escort’s specialized consultation service with expert physicians is relatively high; however, it often corresponds to effective and favorable treatment outcomes. Therefore, the target customers for this specialized expert consultation service primarily consist of two groups: patients with sufficient financial capacity, and those suffering from complex, rare, or severe conditions. The process of consulting renowned physicians also includes a comprehensive medical escort service, allowing users to experience accompanied medical care both within and outside hospital premises.

Regarding the approach to accessing renowned medical experts in the future, Xie Renjun stated that, leveraging the policy on physicians’ multi-site practice and existing resources, they plan to establish direct, targeted collaborations with doctors. This initiative aims to transform Meihe Kan Mingyi into a mobile “airborne” platform supporting virtual clinics led by top-tier physicians.

※Out-of-Area Medical Care Services

Currently, Meihe Medical Escort has added a new service: out-of-town medical care.

Meihe’s research on medical accompaniment services reveals that the majority of patients seeking cross-regional medical care are those with severe or complex and refractory conditions. When local healthcare facilities are unable to provide effective treatment, these patients often turn to large tertiary hospitals; however, unfamiliarity with the new environment frequently makes the medical consultation process exceptionally challenging.

Meihe Companion Clinic’s out-of-area medical care service adopts a model somewhat similar to seeking treatment with the assistance of local acquaintances in another region. However, the “acquaintances” in this context are far more professional, providing services that include pre-visit reception, in-hospital companionship, and post-discharge consultation. Pre-visit reception encompasses guiding patients from their local hospitals to facilities in other regions for treatment, as well as assisting them upon their initial arrival at the out-of-area hospital. In-hospital companionship includes the full suite of companion diagnosis services, supplemented by bedside care during hospitalization. Post-discharge consultation covers advice on post-diagnosis medication, reminders of important precautions, and guidance on follow-up visits and re-examinations after discharge.

When asked how to facilitate access to cross-regional medical care, Xie Renjun stated that referrals are primarily made by physicians at the patient’s local hospital. “Due to limited resources at local hospitals, doctors often recommend transferring patients to better-equipped facilities when their conditions cannot be adequately treated locally.” One of the co-founders of Meihe Medical Escort possesses established connections with local hospitals, enabling the company to swiftly establish partnerships. Additionally, Meihe Medical Escort collaborates with various healthcare resource providers, delivering added value to their customer bases. Furthermore, the company conducts offline promotional activities in high-traffic locations such as district- and county-level supermarkets and hospitals to enhance its visibility and brand recognition.

※Financing Needs
In 2014, Meihe Medical Escort secured RMB 5 million in seed and angel-round financing from its former parent company, Tuosheng Group. As the company continued to grow, it prepared for a Pre-A round of financing, with the proceeds primarily allocated to market expansion, enriching its pool of renowned medical experts, and establishing channels with local hospitals.

Editor: Yan Bu