Oct 8, 2021|
JD Launches Internet Hospital for Pets
by Vivian Yang
JD Health, the healthcare arm of JD.com, is extending its telehealth services from human to pets. A joint announcement by JD Health and JD Pet was made in Beijing today, Oct. 8, to launch an O2O healthcare service platform called “JD Pet Hospital,” which covers the entire lifetime of pets from disease prevention and diagnosis to comprehensive health management.
To date, over 3,000 veterinarians have registered on JD Pet Hospital. They provide 24/7 online pet health consultation services through text, images and video calls. The hospital now contains 7 departments, and mainly focuses on cats, dogs and some other common pet animals. Services include medical advice, medicine prescription and ordering, physical examination report analysis and more.
The landing page of JD Pet Hospital in JD Health App
“JD Health is committed to improving the quality of telemedicine so as to provide better and more convenient and affordable healthcare services, “said Enlin Jin, CEO of JD Health. “The wellbeing of pets is closely related to the health of many Chinese families. Thus it is necessary and natural for JD Health to create high-quality healthcare services for this new group of family members.”
“We aim to bring a worry-free experience to help customers attend to their pets. By integrating support from both online and offline, JD Pet Hospital can provide a better and easier pet health service, which will be a valuable upgrade and extension to JD Pet’s one-stop service for pet owners,” said Simon Han, vice president of JD.com and who is in charge of JD Pet.
According to JD Pet Hospital’s plan, the platform will continue to grow and connect with more premier pet hospitals, doctors and other service providers, and will explore diversified services in the areas of health support for exotic pets, pet behavior training, pet diet, traditional Chinese veterinary medicine and more.
Xuepeng Cai, head of the China Veterinary Drug Association, said that JD Pet Hospital can play a positive role in offering more convenient and affordable pet health services on the market, and promotes standardized management and transparency of the industry. The association will also carry out cooperation with the hospital in multiple areas in the near future.
Wenbo Tong, Head of JD Health’s Medical Service Department for Pets, pointed out that JD Pet Hospital will leverage the strength of JD’s smart and connected supply chain and omni-channel resources to support practitioners in the pet health industry to better grow their business and serve pet owners.
“Pet owners tend to buy pet food based on their own preferences without means to communicate with their pets,” said Tong, “but if they can easily consult reliable pet dietitians before they make purchases, they will get better support to find the right food for their pets.”
Tong also mentioned that even in the early morning between 2 to 5 A.M., JD Pet Hospital can respond to online medical consultations within minutes, providing timely attention to the animals and peace of mind for their owners.
It is estimated that the population of pet cats and dogs in Chinese cities has exceeded 100 million by 2020, and their annual medical expenses have reached RMB 1,500 yuan per animal, making the industry a hundred-billion RMB market. But the industry is facing a handful of problems at the same time, given the lack of industry standards, price transparency and timely services, which are the pain points that internet hospitals including JD Pet Hospital are attempting to solve.
JD Pet has introduced a series of prime pet services including a quality certification program for pet food, a “taste first and free return” service, pet insurance and more. Lu Liu, general manager of JD Pet, said that in the upcoming Singles Day Grand Promotion, the company will focus on promoting 200 novel and trendy pet products to customers in China.