Weekly Highlights of Internet Healthcare: Major Partnerships and Strategic Expansions in July 2015
Events & Perspectives
There is a common saying,
If you don’t believe it, take a look ↓↓↓
Baidu Doctor Signs Agreement with Yizhitong.
Last week, Baidu Doctor and the Tianjin Yizhitong Community Synchronous Appointment Registration Service Platform held a signing ceremony. The two parties will integrate high-quality resources to establish a strategic partnership in areas such as medical information service platforms, medical service payments, medical big data, and personal medical consumer credit. Together, they aim to explore innovative models in the internet healthcare sector and build China’s largest smart healthcare platform. According to VCBeat, Baidu Doctor has already established deep collaborations with top-tier public hospitals, including PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital) in Beijing, Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Health Hospital, and China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, thereby solidifying its strong foundation within the traditional healthcare system. This collaboration with Yizhitong further accelerates Baidu Doctor’s expansion of its capabilities in the new healthcare ecosystem.
Tencent’s Diabetes Management Campaign.
Last week, Guizhou Bailing Group Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced that it had signed the “Bailing Doctor-Patient Management Platform Technical Service Agreement” and the “Framework Agreement for Glucometer Procurement” with Tencent. Previously, on May 25, 2015, the company had entered into the “Strategic Cooperation Agreement on ‘Internet + Chronic Disease Medical Services’ in Guizhou” with the Guizhou Provincial Health Information Center and Shenzhen Tencent Computer Systems Co., Ltd. These two latest agreements represent a further deepening of that strategic cooperation initiative.
Pursuant to the “Bailing Doctor-Patient Management Platform Technical Service Agreement,” Guizhou Bailing has commissioned Tencent to develop the “Bailing Diabetes Hospital Doctor-Patient Management Platform” system, and to provide related cloud storage services as well as operational and technical support services for the doctor-patient management platform, thereby assisting Guizhou Bailing in achieving electronic management of patient records. The agreement term is one year, during which Tencent shall ensure that Guizhou Bailing can access and copy platform data at any time.
The announcement further disclosed: “Unless otherwise agreed upon by Party A and Party B, the collaboration under this Agreement shall be conducted on a pro bono basis, with each party bearing its own costs associated with the cooperation hereunder.” According to the Framework Agreement for the Procurement of Blood Glucose Meters, Guizhou Bailing will purchase 100,000 units of the “Teng Ai · Tang Daifu” blood glucose meters from Tencent in batches.
Ping An Good Doctor partners with “Huashi” chain pharmacies to officially enter the pharmaceutical e-commerce sector.
Recently, Ping An Good Doctor announced a partnership with Huashi Pharmacy, a subsidiary of Shanghai Pharmaceuticals, to facilitate drug sales and delivery through a B2C model involving cooperative chain pharmacies. Via the pharmacy section within its app, users can complete a one-stop health management process on their mobile devices, ranging from medication consultations and payment to home delivery. The product portfolio primarily focuses on over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, as well as dual-track prescription medications required for chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. With this development, in addition to online consultations and appointments with renowned specialists, its pharmaceutical e-commerce operations have officially entered normal operation.Through this collaboration, both parties will achieve resource sharing and complementary advantages from online to offline channels and across sales and pharmaceutical distribution links, thereby enhancing their respective core competencies. This segment has initially launched online drug sales and delivery services in Shanghai. Users in Shanghai’s core urban areas (within the Middle Ring Road in Puxi and the Inner Ring Road in Pudong) can also enjoy a “two-hour home delivery” service for urgent medication needs. Within the year, the company plans to establish O2O partnerships with local pharmaceutical groups and chain pharmacies in seven cities—Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenyang, and Tianjin—to roll out similar convenient services.
Wonders Information and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Enter into Strategic Partnership.
According to the announcement, Wonders Information will provide Shanghai Pharmaceuticals with necessary technical and talent support, while Shanghai Pharmaceuticals will offer essential market and business support, jointly strengthening drug supply. Meanwhile, both parties will also jointly explore and advance deep strategic cooperation in the pharmaceutical e-commerce sector. Specifically, Shanghai Pharmaceuticals and Shangyao Cloud Health will provide necessary resource support, including drugs, warehousing, logistics, and offline pharmacies, while Wonders Information will deliver essential resource support such as integration of online medical information services covering hospitals and communities, together aiming to capture a larger share of the pharmaceutical e-commerce market.
Following Alibaba Cloud, Kingsoft Cloud has also entered the cloud computing + healthcare sector.
Last week, Kingsoft Cloud announced a strategic partnership with Peking University Medical Information Technology Co., Ltd. and officially launched its cloud computing + healthcare product, “Kingsoft Medical Cloud.” Developed by Kingsoft Cloud and PKU MedInfo, Kingsoft Medical Cloud is a hybrid cloud solution based on a “public cloud + private cloud” model, initially implemented at Peking University People’s Hospital. Reportedly, this hospital is the first Grade A tertiary hospital in China to synchronize the core resources of its Clinical Data Repository (CDR) data center to the medical cloud.
Winshining Healthcare Signs Contract for Wenzhou “Health Cloud+” Project.
Last week, Yunsheng Medical signed the "Framework Cooperation Agreement for Wenzhou's 'Health Cloud+' Project" with the Wenzhou Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission. According to VCBeat, the Wenzhou "Health Cloud+" project is expected to involve an investment of over RMB 400 million and will take two years to complete. The project adopts a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, under which the signing parties will jointly establish an operating entity to manage and advance the initiative. The project’s construction primarily encompasses four aspects: first, upgrading and transforming healthcare informatization in the Wenzhou region to lay a solid foundation for services; second, planning and launching "Smart Health Service Packages," deploying monitoring devices on a large scale to primary healthcare institutions and individual households, and building a health cloud platform portal; third, establishing various service channels linking primary healthcare institutions with major hospitals to support their active participation in cloud-based medical services, thereby constructing a comprehensive healthcare ecosystem; and fourth, setting up training bases for family doctors to enhance the service capabilities of primary healthcare personnel through diverse training programs.
Another one who had a blast isSpring Rain Doctor, in addition to operating offline clinics,Incubating Again with 300 Million Yuan, Teaming Up with Sanxing Electric and Hainan Haiyao!
Early this year, rumors circulated in the market that Chunyu Doctor would leverage its own traffic to incubate early-stage projects in the internet healthcare sector.
Recent announcements by two listed companies, Sanxing Electric and Hainan Haiyao, have finally confirmed that Chunyu Doctor is engaged in business incubation. Chunyu Doctor has established a limited partnership investment firm named “Chunfeng Shili” (Ten Miles of Spring Breeze). The partners of this firm include Zhang Rui, founder of Chunyu Doctor; Bi Lei, Vice President; and Li Xiaomin, former investment manager at Defu Fund.Sanxing Electric and Chunfeng Shili have jointly established Chunfeng Bairun Investment Enterprise. The fundraising target for its Phase I fund (Chunfeng Chuangxiang Mobile Healthcare Phase I) is RMB 300 million. Sanxing Electric, as a limited partner, has committed RMB 50 million; Chunfeng Investment, as the general partner, has committed RMB 3 million to Chunfeng Bairun’s equity; and Hainan Haiyao, as a limited partner, has committed RMB 50 million. The fund has a duration of five years.
Soaring at the forefront of the trend.
China Telecom. Last week,China Telecom Yunnan Branch and the Yunnan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission held a signing ceremony in Kunming for the “Internet + Healthcare” cooperation agreement.According to VCBeat, the two parties will build a unified provincial medical convenience service platform and launch pilot programs for tiered diagnosis and treatment. In addition, they will advance the construction of a telemedicine collaboration system connecting provincial, prefectural, county-level, and primary healthcare institutions.
Zhejiang Mobile. With the Zhejiang Provincial Health and Family Planning CommissionSigned an agreement, with plans to build on the collaborative establishment of the “Zhejiang Provincial Appointment-Based Diagnosis and Treatment Platform,”Advance the construction of the “Tiered Diagnosis and Treatment Information Service Platform.”This collaboration will provide unified process management, data interfaces, software functionalities, and information resource services to support the implementation of “primary care at the grassroots level, two-way referral, and tiered diagnosis and treatment” across various regions. The parties will subsequently proceed with the establishment of provincial-level standardized two-way referral platforms, deploy corresponding hardware, software, and data centers, facilitate the integration of pilot hospitals, and develop patient-oriented mobile applications. Furthermore, the two parties plan to join forces with relevant industry, academic, and research institutions and enterprises to establish the “Zhejiang Health Information Service Alliance,” leveraging the “Appointment-Based Diagnosis and Treatment Platform” and the “Tiered Diagnosis and Treatment System.” This alliance will offer personal health applications and value-added services to the public, thereby standardizing and accelerating the development of health information services in Zhejiang Province.
Not yet....
O2O Home Services Cross Industry Boundaries Again: Panda Nana Partners with Didi Premier to Deliver Beds to Your Door
Home Bed Delivery?
In fact, this is how things stand. Since massage tables typically weigh around 15 kilograms, transporting them to clients’ homes has become the most challenging aspect of in-home massage services. “Panda Nana,” an in-home massage service provider, has entered into a strategic partnership with Didi Chuxing to integrate dedicated car services into the workflow of therapists making house calls. This collaboration is expected to enable therapists to move beyond rudimentary physical storefronts and transport complete sets of professional equipment, including full-sized massage tables, via dedicated vehicles.
The two parties will also explore deeper collaboration in the future, potentially making “one-click massage booking” a reality. Panda Nana’s official team responded to these cooperation rumors and revealed some details. First, both sides are indeed negotiating a partnership. Under the proposed arrangement, Panda Nana’s masseurs would enjoy free ride-hailing services through the Didi app, while Panda Nana would provide corporate Tui Na (Chinese therapeutic massage) services for Didi Premier drivers, offering health solutions for shoulder, neck, and lower back problems caused by prolonged driving.
Early in the morning, here are a few final Easter eggs for everyone.
There are rumors that,The U.S. government is secretly collecting the DNA of world leaders while sparing no effort to protect President Obama’s DNA.Once these genetic codes are cracked, they could leak information detrimental to the individuals concerned. In the near future, they may even provide more data—on which personalized biological weapons could be developed, thereby eliminating any leader without leaving a trace. This....
Let’s talk about something more cheerful.
Google's Smart Teeth Can Now Recognize Actions.
Google’s Patent Applications for Smart Contact Lenses and Other Implantable Devices Exposed by Foreign MediaSome of Google’s patent applications filed this year for smart contact lenses and other human-implantable devices have been disclosed by foreign media. Supported by new technologies, Google’s smart contact lenses will be capable of recognizing specific actions, such as blinking, eye closure, or nodding, and executing corresponding operations on connected devices.
There is an even more peculiar patent: the smart tooth. This device is shaped like a tooth and can possess all the functionalities of smart contact lenses. However, whether people would be willing to sacrifice a healthy tooth for the convenience it offers remains a matter of personal opinion.
The final piece of good news that benefits both the nation and its people is,Shanghai to Release Procurement Measures for Listed Drugs.According to relevant sources, Shanghai will soon establish a “Shanghai Direct-Listing Drug Hospital Price Negotiation and Trading Platform” based on the C2C model, which is expected to go online shortly. This makes Shanghai the first province-level municipality in China to clearly define how medical institutions should procure “direct-listing drugs.”
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Healthcare Reform
State Council Releases Guiding Opinions on “Internet+” Actions in the Healthcare Sector:The General Office of the State Council officially released the Guiding Opinions on Actively Promoting the “Internet Plus” Action. With regard to the healthcare sector, the Opinions propose promoting new models of online medical and health services, including: 1. Medical data sharing; 2. Mobile healthcare services; 3. Telemedicine services; 4. Big data information platforms for healthcare; 5. Internet-based diagnosis and treatment (medical orders and prescriptions); 6. Internet-based health services. The Opinions also aim to foster the development of the smart healthy aging industry, including: 1. Smart health applications; 2. Health information management services; 3. Health service regulation; 4. Home-based elderly care services; 5. Mobile elderly care services. The development goal is to achieve richer internet applications in the health and medical fields, more diversified public services, and continuously optimized allocation of social service resources by 2018.
“Administrative Measures for Medical Advertising” Open for Public Comment: Prohibits Inclusion of Cure Rates and Eight Other Types of ContentThe State Administration for Industry and Commerce recently solicited public comments on the Measures for the Administration of Medical Advertisements. The draft explicitly stipulates that non-medical institutions are prohibited from publishing medical advertisements, and medical institutions are not allowed to publish medical advertisements in the name of their internal departments. The presentation of medical advertisements must not contain any of the following eight types of content: assertions or guarantees regarding efficacy or safety; statements of cure rates or effectiveness rates; comparisons with the efficacy and safety of other drugs or medical devices, or with other medical institutions; use of advertising endorsers for recommendations or testimonials; references to medical technologies, diagnostic and treatment methods, disease names, or pharmaceuticals; obscene, superstitious, or absurd content; use of the name of the People's Liberation Army or the Chinese People's Armed Police Force; and use of the names or images of patients, health professionals, medical education and research institutions and their personnel, as well as other social groups and organizations, for testimonials.
Nanjing Public Hospitals: Performance Evaluations Decoupled from RevenueThe Nanjing Municipal Government has issued a document stating that the city will establish a performance evaluation mechanism centered on the quality of services, service volume, and public satisfaction in public hospitals. Performance evaluations will not be linked to business revenue. The evaluation results will serve as an important basis for fiscal investment, designation as medical insurance providers, and performance assessments of hospital directors. According to the plan, high-quality medical resources in Nanjing will follow the development direction of “expanding beyond the city gates and crossing the Yangtze River,” guiding premium basic medical resources to cluster in new urban areas and regions with weaker resource allocation.
Data
Digital Health Funding Reaches $2.1 Billion in the First Half of the Year：According to a report released by Rock Health, the total investment amount in the first half of 2015 was $2.1 billion, nearly flat compared with 2014. In the first half of the year, more than $2.1 billion in financing was raised, slightly lower than the same period last year. Among these, 80 projects received funding attention for the first time. Five companies went public (including Teladoc, which listed on July 1), with a combined market capitalization exceeding $11 billion, whereas only five companies had IPOs in the entire previous year.
In Vitro Diagnostics Market to Reach ¥72.3 Billion; Molecular Diagnostics and POCT Gain Favor:In vitro diagnostic (IVD) reagents have assumed an increasingly pivotal role throughout the entire medical process, owing to their precision, convenience, and efficiency. Within modern healthcare systems, they not only significantly reduce physicians’ workload but also substantially enhance diagnostic accuracy and disease prevention capabilities. Consequently, in vitro diagnostics are often hailed as “the doctor’s glasses.” This has generated substantial demand for IVD reagents across hospitals and clinics, thereby driving the rapid development of China’s in vitro diagnostic (IVD) industry. According to statistical analysis from the *China Pharmaceutical Health Blue Book*, published by the China Pharmaceutical Industry Information Center, the market size of IVD products in China reached RMB 30.6 billion in 2014 and is projected to attain RMB 72.3 billion by 2019, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.7%.
The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Releases Global Plastic Surgery Statistics:According to statistical data released by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), over 20 million surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures were performed worldwide in 2014. Botulinum toxin remained the most popular cosmetic procedure overall for both men and women. In terms of surgical procedures, breast augmentation was the most favored among women, while blepharoplasty was the most popular among men. The top three countries with the highest number of surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures in 2014 were: the United States with 4,064,571 procedures (accounting for 20.1%); Brazil with 2,058,505 procedures (accounting for 10.2%); and Japan with 1,260,351 procedures (accounting for 6.2%).
New Technologies
IJE: Patients with Epilepsy Can Use Smartphones to Manage Their Condition
Recently, neurologists published an article in the *International Journal of Epilepsy* evaluating the application of smartphones in epilepsy treatment. Although many patients with epilepsy can control their seizures with medication, unpredictable and unconscious behavioral changes and alterations in consciousness can limit their daily lives. Ranganathan’s team evaluated mobile applications available for the daily care of patients with epilepsy. These applications include epilepsy diaries, medication tracking, and reminders for the next scheduled dose. Furthermore, the applications can answer any questions patients may have, detect potential drug interactions, and monitor seizure activity. The latest applications can detect irregular sudden seizures and automatically trigger alerts to notify caregivers and physicians.
Japanese Team Develops 3D-Printed Liver
A research team comprising the University of Tsukuba and Dai Nippon Printing Co. has announced the development of a method for producing low-cost, three-dimensional liver models using 3D printing technology, which clearly visualize internal structures such as blood vessels. It is reported that, once implemented, this method will enable the creation of patient-specific models, thereby facilitating preoperative confirmation of surgical procedures and enhancing communication with patients regarding treatment plans. These models are fabricated via 3D printing based on patient data obtained from medical imaging examinations, such as CT scans. The models replicate the overall shape of the liver according to its external contours, while meticulously reconstructing internal features, including blood vessels and tumors.
Capital 