Original title: The threshold will greatly increase the Internet medical industry bid farewell to “barbaric growth”
New changes have taken place in overseas epidemics, and the attention of Internet medical treatment has increased. The “Internet Diagnosis and Treatment Regulations (Draft for Comment)” issued a few days ago put forward strict requirements on the quality and safety of Internet diagnosis and treatment services.
According to industry insiders, the opinion draft involves the supervision of medical institutions, personnel, and businesses of Internet diagnosis and treatment, and the industry threshold will be greatly increased. This will help clarify the boundaries of Internet diagnosis and treatment and promote the healthy and orderly development of the industry. Under the volatility of the epidemic, the amount of Internet diagnosis and treatment is expected to increase. In the future, the cooperation between Internet medical companies and hospitals and the development of the chronic disease market will be the direction of development.Online and offlineCompanies with both imports have a comparative advantage.
● Our reporter Fu Suying
The level of industry operations is expected to improve
The above-mentioned draft of opinions proposes that provincial-level health and health authorities should establish a provincial-level Internet medical service supervision platform to realize real-time supervision of medical institutions that carry out Internet diagnosis and treatment activities within their jurisdiction; medical institutions should conduct real-name authentication of medical personnel who carry out Internet diagnosis and treatment activities; Electronic prescriptions, prescription review records, and prescription review records of medical institutions shall be traceable; drug management shall be strengthened to prohibit the occurrence of problems such as unified prescriptions and supplementary prescriptions.
Liao Jieyuan, chairman of WeDoctor Group, said that the industry threshold will be greatly increased. Internet medical services will bid farewell to “barbaric growth” and enter a stage of standardized and high-quality development. Internet diagnosis and treatment platforms with strong technical and operational foundations will accelerate development.
This draft of the opinion puts forward corresponding requirements for the prescription link and pharmacy services of prescription drug online sales. Liu Tong, senior vice president and chief public affairs officer of 1 Medicine.com, believes that this can be regarded as a supporting policy for online prescription drug sales, which further pave the way for the opening of online prescription drugs.
The draft opinion puts forward strict requirements on the quality and safety of Internet diagnosis and treatment services, which is conducive to promoting the healthy and orderly development of the industry.Yang Yong, the general manager of Yunxi Fund, said that the draft opinions have made clear provisions on hot issues of social concern, includingrobotPrescribe prescriptions by simulated consultations, sell drugs first and then replenish prescriptions, online drug rebates, etc.
Liu Yan, Chairman of Anjue Assets, believes that the draft opinions put forward higher standards for comprehensive digital medical platforms, medical e-commerce platforms focusing on online drug retailing, and various online consulting platforms that provide AI diagnosis and treatment and focus on light consultation. , Will accelerate the exit of backward companies, benefit the industry leader in the long term, and the overall operation level of the industry is expected to be optimized and improved.
Unabated enthusiasm for companies to go public
Internet medical companies are enthusiastic about going public.The current Internet medical industry is roughly divided into three categories: focusing on online medical care, such as Ping An Good Doctor and WeDoctor; focusing on medical e-commerce, such as JD Health and Ali Health; Internet medical IT vendors, such asWeining Health、Entrepreneurship Huikang。
On October 15, Yuanxin Technology submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Prior to this, WeDoctor, Dingdong Health, Zhiyun Health, and Sipai Health have successively submitted prospectuses.
Liu Yan believes that the growth data of the Internet medical industry in the past year has been good, and the secondary market is more confident in the future development of Internet medical services. The epidemic has promoted the development of the Internet medical industry to a certain extent. Industry competition has basically stabilized, the market structure has become clearer, and the gross profit margins of leading companies in the industry have performed better. The gross profit margin of WeDoctor reached 29.9%, Dingdang Health remained stable at over 30%, and Zhiyun Health surged to 42% in the first quarter of 2021.
Internet medical care in my country has developed rapidly in recent years. According to data from the National Health Commission, as of the first half of this year, there were more than 1,600 Internet hospitals across the country, an increase of about 500 from the end of last year. According to the Frost & Sullivan report, the proportion of China’s online consultation market in 2024 and 2030 is expected to rapidly increase from 6% in 2019 to 42% and 68.5%, respectively. The scale of the online consultation market will significantly expand from 9 billion yuan in 2019 to 155 billion yuan in 2024, and 407 billion yuan in 2030.
In this context, listed companies continue to increase the size of the Internet medical industry. On November 19, Weining Health andFosun PharmaFosun Health, a holding subsidiary, has signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement to jointly promote the integrated development of online and offline Internet medical services, and achieve the goal of full-course management of online and offline, in- and out-of-hospital, and pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis.
Dongxing SecuritiesIt is believed that the convenience of Internet medical treatment has brought about the shift of grassroots needs to online. The scale of the consultation market in China’s medical institutions is growing steadily. It is expected to reach 412 billion yuan in 2025, and online diagnosis and treatment will share 20% of the market, reaching 82 billion yuan.
Actively develop the chronic disease market
At present, the Internet medical industry services are concentrated in the light closed-loop of registered consultation and health management, and the profit model is still being explored. Liu Yan said that by deploying offline, starting with pharmacies, Internet hospitals, and community outpatient clinics, occupying more entrances, creating a closed-loop flow, implementing Internet medical services, and truly solving patients’ immediate problems, and corporate value will be greatly enhanced. Internet medical companies need low cost to further open up medical insurance. In addition, the medical field is strictly regulated, and what services can be provided by Internet medical services need to be gradually clarified.
Yang Yong believes that the core of the long-term and healthy development of Internet medical care is to promote the linkage of medical institutions, doctors, and Internet companies to form a complete and standardized closed loop of medical services. Internet medical care should grasp the demands of all parties as the source of development.
Regarding the business model of Internet healthcare, Liu Yan said that after the policy is clear, different models will have opportunities. The key lies in the company’s operational capabilities, and companies with both online and offline entrances have relatively more advantages. Regardless of whether it focuses on medical services or health management, the current main source of revenue is still pharmaceutical e-commerce, and more profit models need to be explored to increase user stickiness.
Dongxing Securities pointed out that cooperating with hospitals to develop the chronic disease market is the development direction of Internet medical care. At present, Internet medical services dominated by physical hospitals account for a relatively high proportion, and the market space depends on policy support and cooperation with hospitals. The huge chronic disease management market is expected to bring huge demand for online consultation services. Patients with chronic diseases need regular follow-up visits and long-term renewal of prescription drugs, and such consultation activities can be completed online.
According to Frost&Sullivan data, the scale of the chronic disease management market is expected to increase to 14.9 trillion yuan in 2030, accounting for 84% of total medical and health expenditures.
Alibaba Health’s recent fiscal year 2022 interim results show that Alibaba Health has accelerated its prescription drug business layout and enriched prescription drugs. The drug revenue of self-operated pharmacies operated under the “Ali Health” brand accounted for 64% of drug revenue, and the prescription drug business revenue increased by 127.3% year-on-year . With refined operations in the field of prescription drugs, the number of chronic disease users reached 5 million, a year-on-year increase of 170%.
With the advancement of digital technologies such as 5G, big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, online retail pharmacies, online consultations, and digital healthcare infrastructure are undergoing transformation and upgrading, and their value chain will be improved. The person in charge of JD Health stated that it will explore artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and other scientific and technological forces, and combine the advantages and resources of JD Group and JD Health to help hospitals and doctors improve efficiency and accessibility.
Liu Yan believes that the future direction of profit creation for Internet medical companies is drug circulation and offline entities. With the support of policies that encourage the outflow of prescriptions, Internet medical e-commerce will accelerate its development.
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Editor in charge: Li Moxuan
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