HONG KONG, Mar 21, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - Neusoft Xikang Holdings Inc. ("Neusoft Xikang" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries collectively referred to as the "Group"; Stock Code: 9686.HK) was pleased to announce its audited consolidated results for the year ended 31 December 2023 (the "Reporting Period").
In 2023, internet medical services were more widely recognized and developed rapidly, and digital healthcare services are becoming a regularised healthcare option for the public. The government has continued to release a series of favorable policies to provide support for the digital healthcare to expand into other healthcare scenarios, which has brought strong impetus to the sustainable development of the internet medical services. The Group has responded positively to the industry development trend in the post-pandemic era, pushed forward business restructuring in an orderly manner, focused on businesses with high strategic synergies, continued to optimize its business structure and resources allocation. Meanwhile, it increased the proportion of its medical services business and strengthened its production control, resulting in a sustainable and healthy development of its business in general, with an improvement in its gross profit margin and a significant reduction in its net loss.
During the Reporting Period, the Group achieved revenue of approximately RMB537.7million, representing a decrease of 21.8% for the same period of the previous year; gross profit margin increased by 6.1 percentage points year on year to 30.6%; and net loss of approximately RMB154.9 million, representing a significant decrease of 36.3% year-on-year. Revenue from medical services business increased by 14.3% year-on-year. Among them, revenue generated from home care services amounted to RMB22.7 million, representing an increase of 279.2% as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. And the number of doctors and nurses increased by 14.7% and 81.2% year-on-year respectively. More than 150,000 attendances of home-based care were provided.
Accelerating the expansion of cloud hospital platform services with local governments as the core starting point
During the Reporting Period, the Group continued to adhere to the strategic to the market strategy featuring the cooperation among medical institutions with local governments as the core starting point, and continued to focus on markets in the East, North and South China regions and strengthen the cooperation with existing government customers and the expansion of new government customers by tapping into the advantages of its cutting-edge technology, experience, resources and customer base. As at 31 December 2023, the number of medical institutions connected to the Group’s platform was 36,000, of which the number of hospitals was 2,610 and the number of primary medical institutions was 33,000. During the Reporting Period, the number of paid medical institutions was 491, an increase of 238.6% for the same period of the previous year.
In Zhejiang Province, the Group continued to strengthen its cooperation with the government of Zhejiang Province and acted swiftly to promote the construction and operation of the platform, "Healthcare in Zhejiang". It took only one year for the platform of "Healthcare in Zhejiang" to expand from Ningbo City to other 11 cities in Zhejiang, with more than 570 healthcare institutions stationed on the platform. In East China, the Group continued to strengthen the construction and operation in Ningbo City and Jiangsu Province. By the end of 2023, 45 online hospitals were stationed on the Ningbo cloud hospital platform and 159 hospitals were stationed on the Online Hospital Platform in Jiangsu Province. In North China, the Group assisted the government of Henan Province in the second half of 2023 in the construction and operation of a provincial-level home care service platform in Henan Province - the service platform of "Home Care in Henan", and as at 31 December 2023, 54 medical institutions were stationed on the platform. In Shenyang, the Group, in conjunction with the Shenyang municipal government, continued to promote the development of home care services in the city, and as at 31 December 2023, there were 57 medical institutions offering home care services in Shenyang.
Meanwhile, the Group has strengthened its cooperation with medical institutions and promoted them to land on the Group's platform in a faster and more economical manner. During the Reporting Period, the Group launched upgraded platform products oriented on patient treatment experiences, further assisting hospitals in optimizing patient treatment processes and enhancing treatment efficiency. As of 31 December 2023, 151 online hospitals have had presence in the platform, an increase of 52.53% from 99 in 2022.
Continuously improving service quality and efficiency, diversifying service content and gaining steady growth of online medical services
Centered around patients' health, the Group has further enhanced the coordinated development of online hospital services, family doctor services and remote medical services, strengthened cooperation with hospitals and physicians, and diversified online medical service content to improve medical efficiency and user experiences. During the Reporting Period, revenue generated from the Group's online medical services amounted to RMB157.6 million, an increase of 14.3% from RMB137.8 million for the same period of the previous year, accounting for 29.3% of the total revenue.
Regarding online hospital services, the Group vigorously boosted the development of online medical services in large hospitals based on the city-specific cloud hospital platform, enhancing the enthusiasm of medical institutions and physicians. As of 31 December 2023, the Ningbo cloud hospital platform had provided online medical services for over 1.5 million treatments, a 114.2% increase for the same period of the previous year. In 2023, online medical services provided by city-level online hospitals in Ningbo accounted for 53% of the total services in the city. At the same time, the Group continued to optimize the medical service process, constantly diversified scenarios and content of online medical services, leading to a significant increase in customer services. For instance, the introduction of appointment services for medical tests and examinations advanced by the Group in Ningbo saw 260,000 appointments in 2023, a 233.3% increase for the same period of the previous year.
In terms of remote medical services, leveraging abundant medical resources and a sound operational system, the Group continued to strengthen the development and operation of medical specialty consortiums, facilitating medical collaboration between urban primary family doctors and professional physicians from large hospitals. This promoted the establishment of a multi-level remote medical collaboration system based on urban primary family doctors, supported by professional physicians from large hospitals, and centered on experts in regional renowned disciplines. As of 31 December 2023, the Group's remote medical service treatments reached 1.45 million, an increase of 36.3% yoy.
Concerning home care services, the Group continued to explore innovation in models, by facilitating government departments establishing complete standards and systems for the services. While at the same time, there is ongoing innovation in home care service content and optimization of home care service processes, and improvement of service quality. During the Reporting Period, revenue generated from home care services amounted to RMB22.7 million, representing an increase of 279.2% as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. As at 31 December 2023, home care services are provided to more than 150,000 clients, representing a year-on-year increase of 185.9%, of which, the volume of home care services provided in Zhejiang Province exceeded 120,000, representing a year-on-year increase of 295.6%.
Strengthening corporate health management operations and enhancing professional service capabilities
Focusing on employee health and user health, the Group continued to build a new offline and online integrated health management service system. During the Reporting Period, the revenue generated from health management services amounted to RMB245.9 million, an increase of 17.6% compared to the same period last year.
During the Reporting Period, the Group continued to tap into the health needs of its employees and explored innovations in the health management service model, with a view to providing personalized, more precise and professional medical and healthcare services to its clients. In terms of market development, the Group adhered to the dual market development strategy of institutional and individual clients, continuing to consolidate its cooperation with institutional clients, actively expanding online sales channels and focusing on the development of large and medium-sized institutional clients. During the Reporting Period, the volume of health management services reached 590,000, representing a year-on-year increase of 22.5%; among them, institutional clients accounted for approximately 88.3%, with services provided to 520,000 institutional clients, a year-on-year increase of 26.4%. With the professional service capabilities and experience accumulated in the field of health management services, the cumulative number of institutional clients for the Group’s health management services reached 7,441 by the end of 2023, and the institutional clients retention rate in 2023 was 78%.
Future Prospects
In 2024, the Group will continue to adhere to the strategic model of city cloud hospital platform and continuously optimize its business structure. The focus will be on the coordinated development of "Medical + Nursing + Health" service business, providing users with more sustainable, convenient, and high-quality medical and health services. In terms of the cloud hospital platform services, efforts will be made to continue cost reduction and efficiency improvement. Technological empowerment will be utilized to enhance product performance and improve the user experience, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of the cloud hospital platform. In home care services, there will be continuous enrichment of service content and optimization of service experience, aiming to create a new integrated medical and health service system that manages the entire process seamlessly from pre-hospital to in-hospital and post-hospital. In terms of health management, there will be ongoing efforts to strengthen the operation of corporate health management, explore customer needs, and drive the continuous expansion of the health management business.