Insurer ZhongAn Online gets Internet hospital license

ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance announced on Wednesday that it has obtained a license for an Internet hospital and it plans to deliver better medical services and health protection to its customers in the future.

The Internet hospital will function more like a bridge to connect patients with multiple resources like hospitals, pharmacies and insurance companies and users will enjoy more convenient, one-stop service within the ecosystem, the Shanghai-based carrier said.

More specifically, ZhongAn will endeavor to pay the insurance compensations directly to medical institutions and cooperative pharmacies, thus saving policyholders a lot of time, and no advance payment for medical treatment will be required further, according to Zhao Yi, senior director for medical cooperation and development at the company.

As China’s first digital-only insurer, ZhongAn said it has been able to provide online medical consultation services for its users, thanks to its operational experience online . It plans to expand the service and make home deliveries of medicine in the future and bring better experience to customers.

Insurance and medical behavior are closely linked, the company said. Through the establishment of the Internet hospital, it aims to make full use of medical technology and explore the applications of advanced technologies like blockchain in medical data management, which will in turn help optimize the insurance model for health protection plans.

The country’s first Internet hospital was launched in Wuzhen in December 2015, in a response to the government’s call for more sustainable and accessible medical systems to the general public.