At least three former senior executives from Baidu Health have joined PA GOODDOCTOR since last November. The individuals are Han Shuai, former General Manager of the Ecosystem Platform Department under Baidu's Healthcare Business Group (HCG); Zhang Yandong, former General Manager of the Medical Business Department of HCG; and Peng Yu, former HCG Strategy Head.
During their tenure at Baidu, all three held director-level positions and reported directly to He Mingke, who was then the head of HCG. In October 2025, He Mingke succeeded Li Dou as the CEO of PA GOODDOCTOR.
According to multiple sources, Han, Zhang, and Peng were key deputies to He Mingke during his HCG leadership. Their understanding of internet-based healthcare business models aligns closely with his vision.
From PA GOODDOCTOR's perspective, this marks the company's return to appointing an internet industry professional as CEO since Wang Tao’s departure in 2020. However, the external environment has shifted significantly: mobile internet has been reshaped by large AI models, commercial health insurance faces unprecedented policy opportunities, and user behavior is undergoing subtle but crucial changes.
As PA GOODDOCTOR strengthens its leadership, the question remains: can it reclaim a leading role in the integrated insurance and healthcare sector over the next decade?
**1. Assigning Roles**
The three former Baidu Health executives joined PA GOODDOCTOR in the following order: Han Shuai, Zhang Yandong, and Peng Yu.
Han Shuai joined at the end of November last year, exactly one year after leaving Baidu. He holds the position of Assistant General Manager at PA GOODDOCTOR, overseeing supplier management.
On January 9 this year, Han accompanied CEO He Mingke at a signing ceremony between PA GOODDOCTOR and Yimai Qingteng, marking his first public appearance since joining. This role is somewhat consistent with his previous responsibilities as head of the Ecosystem Platform Department at Baidu HCG.
Han's career at Baidu involved two main phases. Initially, he founded the "Lemon Love Beauty" brand, focusing on authenticity verification for medical aesthetic products. In 2022, when Baidu integrated its medical aesthetics business into HCG, Han transitioned to managing the Ecosystem Platform Department, where he continued medical aesthetics initiatives and also built Baidu Health's content ecosystem.
As China’s largest search engine, Baidu processes hundreds of millions of daily health-related queries. Han's approach involved leveraging Baidu’s ecosystem to empower content creators through data, content, traffic, and distribution tools—essentially using Baidu’s traffic to manage business partners effectively and deliver diversified services to consumers.
In contrast, Zhang Yandong’s experience is more focused on formal medical services. After joining Baidu in April 2021, he served as head of internet medical products and later as head of the Online Medical Center. Under HCG, he became General Manager of the Medical Business Department, overseeing online medical services and large model products. During his tenure, Baidu Health became the first in the industry to achieve scaled profitability in internet hospital operations.
At PA GOODDOCTOR, Zhang is responsible for the "Online" and "In-Hospital" components of the company’s "Four Accesses" service model, which aligns with his prior work in internet medical services and hospital collaborations.
Peng Yu previously served as HCG’s Strategy Head, focusing on project management. At PA GOODDOCTOR, she is tasked with dynamically evaluating company projects from a strategic perspective and allocating resources accordingly—a role she is well-acquainted with.
All three executives report directly to He Mingko, mirroring their reporting structure at Baidu.
**2. Long-Term Vision**
This wave of appointments has significantly increased the "internet expertise" within PA GOODDOCTOR’s leadership team. Two underlying factors explain this shift.
First, under PA GOODDOCTOR’s new strategy, the internet remains a critical infrastructure for medical services. Last June, the company introduced its "Four Accesses" service model, with "Online" services—such as virtual consultations—as a primary focus. Since becoming CEO, He Mingke has prioritized enhancing the platform’s internet-based healthcare capabilities. A recent example includes partnerships with Meituan and Dingdang Fast Medicine to launch "Flash Drug Delivery," which improved medicine delivery times to within hours in major Chinese cities.
Second, professionals from internet backgrounds are naturally closer to AI and more adept at implementing AI-driven strategies. Han Shuai accumulated experience using AI, blockchain, and big data in medical services during his "Lemon Love Beauty" days. Zhang Yandong participated in the development and launch of Baidu Health’s Lingyi large model and introduced five related medical AI products. Peng Yu, as former HCG Strategy Head, possesses deep insights into integrating AI with healthcare supply chains.
In June last year, PA GOODDOCTOR launched a "7+N+1" medical AI product suite, including digital avatars of top doctors, AI family physicians, AI elderly care managers, and AI health managers. According to the company, AI-assisted consultation accuracy has reached about 98%, complex disease treatment plan accuracy is nearly 90%, and operational efficiency has improved by approximately 50%.
Behind these personnel changes may lie a broader strategic ambition—one that involves not only PA GOODDOCTOR but also its parent company, Ping An Group.
A late last year article highlighted PA GOODDOCTOR’s efforts to build a Chinese version of the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) model. While HMO is not new in China, its renewed relevance stems from recent policy support—such as guidelines promoting health insurance development and a new commercial health insurance drug list—coupled with AI-driven efficiency gains in cross-platform collaboration.
This may well be the central mission for PA GOODDOCTOR under He Mingke’s leadership: leveraging a large addressable market, a clear business model, first-mover advantages, and a solid moat to establish a Chinese HMO benchmark inspired by successful models like UnitedHealth in the U.S.