Series Report No.9 on Medical Imaging: HinaMedInfo – What Enables This Chinese Company to Successfully Sell Its Medical Imaging Solutions in the U.S.?
Recently, the Beijing Regional PACS Project undertaken by HinaMed has entered a new phase. Upon full implementation, every resident in Beijing will be able to access their medical images from any hospital via portable mobile electronic devices. With internet connectivity, physicians can retrieve patients’ relevant medical records at any time. Furthermore, data sharing of medical imaging studies, such as CT scans, across different hospitals will be realized. When encountering complex or rare conditions, clinicians can also schedule remote consultations with specialists through online platforms.
In 2013, Haina Yixin obtained FDA market access clearance, becoming the first and currently only medical imaging company in China to receive FDA approval.
In February this year, Haina Yixin partnered with C7 Healthcare, a well-known U.S. provider of cloud-based healthcare IT services, to jointly build a managed platform for medical imaging services. As a result, C7 Healthcare terminated its five-year partnerships with three North American vendors of medical imaging information systems.
Cui Tongzhe, CEO of Haina Yixin, told VCBeat that when Philips Healthcare first entered the Chinese market in its early days, it offered a substantial acquisition price to acquire Haina Yixin, but he politely declined. As recently as last year, several large corporations still approached Haina Yixin to discuss potential mergers and acquisitions. For a company aspiring to become a world-class medical imaging enterprise, no temptation could shake its resolve.
Cui Tongzhe
7 Years Ago: Second Venture
However, the ultimate outcome of Cui Tongzhe and his team’s first entrepreneurial venture was a spectacular acquisition of their company.
In 2002, Dr. Hu Hui and Dr. Sun Yi, who had worked in the field of medical imaging abroad for many years, decided to return to China to establish Viatronix (Haina Weisheng) Company, focusing on the research and development of networked 3D medical image post-processing systems. They invited Cui Tongzhe to join the founding team of Viatronix to oversee product R&D. After conducting market research, Cui discovered that no similar system had been proposed globally, indicating broad market prospects. He therefore accepted the invitation without hesitation, returned to China, and assembled a small R&D team at the Shangdi International Incubator.
After nearly two years of intensive technological research and development, HinaWell independently developed the world’s first networked 3D medical image processing software system and secured relevant patents. The product garnered significant industry attention following its successful launch in June 2003 at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. In 2004, Vital Images, a publicly traded medical imaging company, acquired HinaWell for $18 million.
“Hainawisheng was acquired primarily because the company was unable to secure subsequent financing and could not continue its market expansion,” said Cui Tongzhe. Following the acquisition, Hainawisheng’s core team was integrated into Vital Images, where Cui Tongzhe served as Global R&D Director for another four years. Nevertheless, Cui never abandoned his original dream: “to build a medical imaging brand that is truly Chinese and to carve out a place for it in the international market.”
In 2008, Cui Tongzhe, Hu Hui, Sun Yi, and others decided to embark on a new entrepreneurial venture by establishing Haina Yixin. This time, they focused primarily on two key areas: first, medical imaging, encompassing PACS systems as well as specialized applications based on various types of medical imaging. For instance, while traditional PACS only supported two-dimensional storage and retrieval, three-dimensional processing can now be performed via networks. This area also includes seamless image access on mobile terminals, along with advanced applications for medical imaging departments such as ultrasound, endoscopy, and ophthalmology, which fall outside the scope of conventional PACS systems. The second area is telemedicine.
It is worth mentioning that Haina Yixin began venturing into mobile medical imaging systems as early as 2008, a rarity not only in China but also globally.
From the outset, Haina Medical Information has positioned itself as a medical imaging company that competes on technological superiority. This is precisely the area where Cui Tongzhe and his team excel.
In 1999, while pursuing his Ph.D. in the United States, Tongzhe Cui joined Stentor, a Silicon Valley startup, where he specialized in the research and development of Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS). As a core developer, he helped Stentor successfully develop and launch three generations of PACS products, and as a key inventor, he holds two patented inventions. In 2003 and 2004, Stentor’s PACS system was ranked number one in the industry by KLAS, a leading U.S. healthcare research firm. In 2005, shortly before its planned initial public offering on NASDAQ, Stentor was acquired by Philips for $280 million.
Co-founders Hu Hui and Sun Yi were engaged in core R&D work on CT and MR imaging at GE’s U.S. Medical Imaging Headquarters as early as the late 1980s, and helped GE launch the world’s first multi-slice CT scanner in 1998.
Compared with his first venture, Haina Medical Information quickly gained favor from capital. In 2011, Sequoia Capital invested 30 million yuan in Haina Medical Information, becoming the company's Series A investor. The Sequoia Capital investor responsible for Haina Medical Information stated that, in addition to valuing Haina Medical Information's technological advantages, the team's industry background and execution capabilities were also outstanding.
Recently, a major domestically listed company invested in Haina Yixin, becoming its second-largest shareholder. In addition to providing the necessary capital for Haina Yixin to further expand its business operations, this financing round will also help the company address its weaknesses in sales.
The market starts from the most grassroots medical institutions.
Cui Tongzhe told VCBeat that the initial telemedicine system developed by Haina Yixin was designed to serve township health centers in Chengde. “At the time, our founding team maintained a positive mindset. Rather than rushing to capture the domestic hospital market from the outset, we chose to observe and consolidate our experience, delving into China’s most grassroots healthcare systems. We progressed step by step—from townships to counties, and then to Chengde City—gaining a preliminary understanding of the current state of healthcare in China.”
This project is, in fact, part of the “Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Rural Healthcare Informatization” jointly launched by the Chinese Ministry of Health and Microsoft China. Beginning in 2008, Haina Yixin independently undertook the development and construction of a three-tier telemedicine consultation platform spanning county, city, and township levels. Pilot institutions included Chengde Central Hospital, Weichang County Hospital, and 14 downstream township health centers.
Leveraging Haina Yixin’s remote diagnosis and consultation system, township health centers can undergo low-cost digital transformation by utilizing their existing equipment. With multiple city- and county-level hospitals serving as hubs, the network extends to county hospitals under municipal jurisdiction and township health centers under county administration.
During the pilot project, Haina Medical Information engaged with the General Logistics Department’s Ministry of Health and established the PLA-Wide Remote Imaging Service Network for Medical Specialty Centers. This platform integrates expert resources from 171 military hospitals, with the ultimate goal of connecting 1,000 remote medical institutions to provide high-end remote imaging diagnostic services to patients at the grassroots level.
“Some county-level hospitals have high-end medical imaging equipment such as CT scanners, but they suffer from a shortage of experienced professionals; generally, only department heads have the opportunity to attend short-term training programs. The remote imaging service network can help them address this issue,” said Cui Tongzhe.
On December 6, 2012, the “Jincheng Remote Medical Consultation Platform,” constructed by Haina Yixin, was officially launched. Relying on this platform system, with Jincheng Regional Central Hospital (i.e., Jincheng People’s Hospital) as the core, linking Jincheng Second Hospital and Jincheng Grand Hospital, as well as five county-level central hospitals in Yangcheng County, Lingchuan County, Qinshui County, Zezhou County, and Gaoping City, a two-tier municipal and county remote medical consultation platform and terminal system was established in Jincheng City. The platform also connects upward to the Huiying Remote Medical Network, directly interfacing with high-quality expert resources in Beijing to provide consultations for difficult and complicated cases for patients in Jincheng City.
Huiying Telemedicine Network was officially launched in late 2012. It was included as one of the “National-Level Modern Service Industry Pilot Projects” by ministries and commissions such as the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission, receiving financial support of over RMB 10 million.
It is reported that the Huiying Telemedicine Network has onboarded more than 60 experts from over 20 high-quality hospitals in Beijing, covering multiple specialties including cardiology, neurology, and oncology. The network has been integrated with more than 60 prefecture- and county-level hospitals in Anhui, Shanxi, Hebei, and Inner Mongolia, as well as two township health centers. Hospitals using this platform are required to pay certain fees to Haina Yixin.
Huiying Telemedicine Network currently employs two types of remote consultation services: diagnostic offline remote consultations and interactive image, audio, and video-based online remote consultations (i.e., offline and online consultations). Taking offline consultations as an example, the patient’s attending physician completes the medical records and submits a consultation request. After review by Huiying’s quality control administrator, the case is assigned to a specialist, who provides diagnostic feedback to the user within two business days. Currently, all fees collected by Haina Yixin are used to cover specialists’ consultation fees and equipment maintenance costs, leaving virtually no surplus.
PACS Systems Gain Favor Among Large Hospitals
In June 2010, Haina Medical Information’s hospital-wide PACS and RIS systems were officially launched at Shougang Hospital. “At that time, to gain the hospital’s trust, we even promised to advance the funds for all hardware equipment required for the implementation. If the system failed to meet the hospital’s requirements, we would donate all the hardware to Shougang Hospital free of charge,” stated Cui Tongzhe. It was precisely this bold resolve and determination that ultimately earned Haina Medical Information the recognition of Shougang Hospital. Previously, Shougang Hospital had been using a PACS system from an imported vendor.
Peking University People's Hospital is the most highly informatized hospital in China. In 2011, Haina Yixin undertook the construction of the Telemedicine Imaging Center Platform for the Peking University People's Hospital Healthcare Service Consortium. Currently, Peking University People's Hospital has fully adopted Haina Yixin's General Practice Teleconsultation System.
Occupying Overseas Markets
In addition to its primary market in the United States, Haina Medical Information has also launched marketing and promotional efforts in six Southeast Asian countries, as well as in Brazil, Mexico, and other nations. In October 2014, Haina Medical Information partnered with Redtone, a publicly listed telecommunications company in Malaysia, and the Malaysian Ministry of Health to jointly establish a national-level telemedicine center project.
Redtone Company
The project, with an estimated total investment of RM 120 million, aims to connect over one hundred hospitals by 2020, with the goal of establishing the largest third-party telemedicine center in Southeast Asia. This telemedicine center will focus on remote diagnosis and consultation for medical imaging, as well as the integrated application of resident health record systems. By consolidating Malaysia’s domestic diagnostic and treatment resources, and through regular academic exchanges with experts from regions such as the United States and Australia, the center will enhance the professional skills of local physicians, thereby cultivating more specialists in medical imaging and various clinical disciplines. The center will serve as the diagnostic hub for all radiology departments across Malaysia, benefiting numerous local radiologists.
According to Cui Tongzhe, Redtone signed a $1 million purchase agreement with GE of the United States in 2013. “After they decided to adopt our system, they even waived the previous $1 million prepayment.” This project was also rated by Malaysia as one of the country’s major national digital health initiatives.
"Moreover, Haina Medical Information's projects in Indonesia and Vietnam have already been implemented. 'They purchase our software directly online, and we don't even need to send personnel overseas for service—something that similar domestic companies in China find difficult to achieve,' Cui Tongzhe told VCBeat. 'High cost-effectiveness is a major competitive advantage for Haina Medical Information in capturing overseas markets.'"
In its collaboration with Saiwen Medical, Haina Yixin provides core system-level applications including medical image storage, image interpretation, high-end 3D image processing, and mobile image access.
Sevin Medical’s users are distributed across various U.S. states, with more than 30 American medical imaging centers hosting daily diagnostic imaging services for over 400 healthcare institutions in the United States. Within the next two to three years, the number of healthcare institutions relying on this managed service platform is projected to reach a scale of 2,000 to 3,000 hospitals.
VCBeat Series on Medical Imaging Startups
How Strong Is Entrepreneurship in Medical Imaging? Look at the Top 11 Overseas Apps
Medical Imaging Series Report 1: Yilian Builds an Instagram + Quora Exclusively for DoctorsMedical Imaging Series Report 3: CloudMed Fully Addresses Doctors’ Pain Points in Case Discussions
Medical Imaging Series Report 5: WeiYun Imaging Becomes the Fastest Medical Image Viewing Platform
Medical Imaging Series Report 6: Aipeike: A U.S. Medical Imaging Expert Platform Available 24/7
Medical Imaging Series Report 7: Figure.1, Instagram for Doctors Only
Medical Imaging Series Report 8: 51 ReadScan Network: Why Are We Building a Medical Imaging Expert Group?
We welcome more startup teams in the field of medical imaging to contact us. Please leave a message on our WeChat account (vcbeat) or email us at vip@vcbeat.top.