Data shows that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the total population of people aged 60 and above in China will exceed 300 million. With improved living standards and medical conditions, the physical fitness and life expectancy of Chinese seniors have significantly increased, along with their demands for a higher quality of life. Due to cultural and economic factors, the "9073" model remains the basic framework for senior care in China, with 90% of seniors choosing to spend their later years at home. Therefore, the demand for "Chinese-style" home-based senior care services that suit the current situation of Chinese society has become particularly urgent.
On November 16th, the "United Strength, Shared Success" 2024 Ping An Home-Based Senior Care Inaugural Supplier Conference was held in Guangzhou. Concurrent with the China (Guangzhou) International Elderly Health Industry Expo, the conference brought together industry elites to discuss new developments in home-based senior care services. Hao Fuqing, former Deputy Director-General and First-Level Inspector of the Social Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission, He Hongtao, Executive President of the Guangdong Elderly-care Services Association, Li Dou, Chairman and CEO of Ping An Health, along with relevant leaders from Ping An Life Insurance and Ping An Health, and over 100 representatives from Ping An Health’s home-based senior care suppliers attended the conference. They engaged in in-depth exchanges, focusing on industry development opportunities and how to optimize services to meet customer needs.
At the conference, Yao Yao, General Manager of Ping An Health's Home-Based Senior Care Business Center, elaborated on Ping An Group's strategic layout in the home-based senior care field, starting with the direction towards quality senior care and the current market demand for home-based senior care. He stated that Ping An Health’s home-based senior care services leverage Ping An Group's 234 million individual customers and 56,000 corporate clients, utilizing technology empowerment and medical resource advantages. With family doctors and senior care concierges as the two main service hubs, it connects payers and suppliers to create a one-stop home-based senior care service platform featuring "the 3-in-1 senior care concierge system + 10 Service Scenarios + 1 service supervision system".
He explained that this model connects "medical, food, housing, transportation, finance, health, wellness, entertainment, nursing, and safety", ten service scenarios through AI concierges, life concierges, and doctor concierges. By establishing a supply management system through standardization, centralized procurement, and supervision, it provides customers with medical, health, and senior care services throughout the entire aging cycle, ultimately achieving the value proposition of peace of mind for the elderly, reassurance for their children, and dedicated service from the concierges. This model will form a growth flywheel, where the growth of financial business will bring more customers, and more customers using home-based services will lead to quality improvement, which in turn empowers the financial business. As of September this year, Ping An Health’s home-based senior care services have accumulated over 150,000 customers, eight times the number from two years ago, covering 75 cities.
With the rapid development of China's senior care service industry, a series of challenges have emerged, such as difficulties in covering home services, highly differentiated customer needs, and difficulties in integrating diverse services. Facing these challenges, Yao Yao detailed Ping An Health's new paradigm for creating "Chinese-style" home-based senior care, specifically focusing on: three roles, namely standard setter, service supervisor, and platform integrator; four interconnected networks, including medical, housing, nursing, and entertainment; and five "ones", including one set of service standards, one product system, one personnel certification system, one strategic supply alliance, and one intelligent service system. At the same time, Ping An Health’s home-based senior care services hope to resonate and deeply integrate with suppliers and partners, achieving interconnected information, processes, and standards, to help address the pain points of service fragmentation in senior care.
This year, Ping An Health’s home-based senior care services also launched the "Pilot Program", aiming to create innovative services together with suppliers. Suppliers participating in the "Pilot Program" will receive substantial support from Ping An Health’s home-based senior care services in terms of brand and business resources. "Pilot Program" partners will be committed to achieving zero complaints regarding safety for the elderly in smart guardianship projects; building a nationwide offline senior care concierge service to design full life-cycle senior care plans for customers; and creating "human-machine integrated" professional senior care in caregiver empowerment projects, exploring new paths for high-quality industry development through innovative services.
During the roundtable discussion, guests shared and exchanged views on the theme of "Innovation in Senior Care Finance – Opportunities and Challenges in Developing High-Quality Home-Based Senior Care Services", covering various aspects such as favorable trends in national policies, challenges faced by the senior care industry, how businesses can seize opportunities to achieve high-quality development, the integration of senior care finance and services, and the establishment of service standards. They also conducted more in-depth discussions on how to better meet customer needs, improve service standards, and optimize payment and supply processes.
Ping An Health’s home-based senior care services have always been committed to the well-being of the elderly, actively practicing corporate social responsibility. At the conference, the "Pilot Program" entrusted the Shenzhen Ageing Development Foundation to donate 500 Ping An Health’s home-based senior care age-friendly gift boxes to elderly people in remote areas, conveying care and concern for seniors.
In concluding remarks, Li Dou expressed his gratitude for the firm support and encouragement from the Party and the state for the development of the senior care industry. It is because of the joint efforts and professional support of all parties that the trust and satisfaction of Ping An Health’s home-based senior care customers have been continuously increasing. Facing the complex reality of consumer and family structures in the current senior care industry, he elaborated on the advantages and solutions of insurance in meeting the diverse needs of seniors, and expressed his confidence in the future of the home-based senior care industry. He hopes that Ping An Health can work with home-based senior care suppliers to focus on customer-centric needs, expand cooperation boundaries, promote resource integration, truly root services and businesses in areas with greater needs, and solidify the foundation for benefiting the general public.
In the future, Ping An Health’s home-based senior care services will leverage Ping An Group's resource advantages and strong technological capabilities to explore new opportunities together with its alliance partners. Adhering to long-term principles and persisting in doing difficult but right things, it will dedicate itself to product refinement and service quality improvement, bringing a "worry-free, time-saving, and cost-effective" service experience to more customers, enabling seniors to truly achieve their "desired retirement life".
