From traffic storytelling to profit realization: How does Healthy Road (02587) implement a closed-loop system using "AI Digital Employees"?

On February 12, Health Path (02587) released a positive earnings surprise announcement, which served as a watershed, clearly delineating the company’s transition from the Strategic Investment Phase to the Value Realization Phase.

According to the announcement, the company expects to achieve revenue of no less than 1.5 billion RMB in fiscal year 2025, representing over a 25% year-over-year increase, with net profit turning around to at least 50 million RMB—a historic reversal. A deeper analysis of this positive earnings surprise reveals that the most noteworthy aspect is not merely the profit figures but the high-quality changes in revenue structure behind them, especially the commercialization validation of AI profitability.

Zhitong Finance APP has learned that, amid the widespread challenges faced by the digital healthcare industry—namely “difficult AI implementation and monetization”—Health Path’s independently developed AI software products are expected to contribute approximately 30 million RMB in scaled revenue in 2025, marking the company’s AI strategy officially moving from proof of concept to commercialization.

Benefiting from big data technology services and AI product launches, the revenue from Health Path’s information technology services segment is projected to rise from 296 million RMB in 2024 to no less than 350 million RMB in 2025. According to Zhitong Finance APP, the rapid market acceptance of Health Path’s AI business hinges on its unique “Digital Employee” model, which precisely addresses efficiency pain points in the healthcare industry.

Unlike the “arms race” of general large models, Health Path has chosen a more pragmatic vertical application path, leveraging deep learning on massive amounts of medical and patient interaction data accumulated over more than twenty years to build an AI digital employee system characterized by “high IQ, high EQ, and high efficiency.”

On the doctor’s side, AI assistants help with medical record organization, diagnostic support, and post-treatment follow-up, significantly reducing administrative burdens; on the patient’s side, AI health managers can provide round-the-clock chronic disease management and re-purchase reminders at very low human resource costs. This “human-machine collaboration” model not only directly drives operational efficiency improvements, greatly reduces overall operating expenses, but also provides more optimized practical tools for primary healthcare institutions and pharmaceutical companies, opening up vast paid B-end market space.

In terms of revenue growth scope, the shift in pharmaceutical companies’ compliant marketing budgets opens up a trillion-yuan-level market potential for Health Path. As the pharmaceutical industry’s centralized procurement normalizes and compliance requirements deepen, traditional marketing models are undergoing systemic upgrades, with an estimated 800 billion to 1 trillion RMB in traditional marketing budgets rapidly shifting toward precise, compliant digital channels.

With over twenty years of accumulated resources connecting more than 12,000 hospitals and over 900,000 registered doctors, Health Path has become a natural platform for this budget transfer, also bringing explosive growth opportunities for its content services business. According to the positive earnings announcement, in 2025, revenue from Health Path’s content services is expected to jump significantly from 577 million RMB in 2024 to no less than 800 million RMB, becoming a core engine driving continuous growth in revenue and profit.

Meanwhile, the deepening implementation of hierarchical diagnosis and treatment policies and the advancement of county-level medical informatization are establishing a solid long-term growth foundation for the company. The National Health Commission has explicitly stated the goal of achieving full coverage of intelligent auxiliary applications in primary healthcare by 2030, making the digital upgrade of grassroots medical institutions an inevitable administrative necessity.

In response, Health Path is closely aligned with policy guidance, actively deploying in lower-tier markets. It is reported that Health Path is collaborating with the Lianjiang County government in Fuzhou to explore building a digital health service system tailored to Lianjiang’s realities, aiming to create a “Lianjiang model” for county-level digital health development. Currently, there are over 18,000 county hospitals nationwide. As Health Path’s county-level informatization layout gradually takes shape, it is expected to be fully realized by 2026.

By bridging the “structural holes” between in-hospital and out-of-hospital care and among various levels of medical institutions, Health Path has essentially become the “utilities infrastructure” of digital healthcare. This deep connection to core healthcare levels enables it to be more clearly benchmarked against overseas valuations—such as Open Evidence, valued at up to $12 billion—and through its dual-ended closed-loop of “Doctor Assistant + Health Manager,” it has evolved beyond a simple tool platform into a “Plus Model” with higher ceiling potential, demonstrating greater scarcity in the digital healthcare track.

Overall, the profit reversal in 2025 is just the beginning of Health Path’s value release. As AI technology is implemented in more specialized disease management fields and county scenarios, the company is facing a critical window to reshape its valuation system from a “traditional service platform” to a “hardcore technology engine.” For investors seeking long-term, steady growth, this leading digital healthcare enterprise—deeply rooted in offline scenarios and holding powerful AI monetization tools—will likely see its intrinsic value unleashed in a remarkable and promising manner.