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The booming medical escort market needs no further elaboration.
This is undoubtedly a market with immense potential. According to the China Health and Health Statistical Yearbook 2022, the total number of medical consultations in 2021 reached 8.472 billion, among which consultations at various types of hospitals amounted to 3.884 billion, with tertiary hospitals alone accounting for 2.231 billion visits. Assuming a 5% penetration rate, the overall number of consultations covered by patient escort services could reach as high as 400 million; even considering only tertiary hospitals, the covered volume could still reach 100 million visits.
Source: China Health and Health Statistical Yearbook 2022
However, the booming market for medical accompaniment services has also been accompanied by irregularities within the industry: some such services have become synonymous with “scalpers,” who resell appointment slots under the guise of providing accompaniment; for patients, some practitioners merely act as errand runners, lacking a professional medical background and thus offering very limited services.
This undoubtedly runs counter to the essence of medical accompaniment services—the provision of hospital- and medicine-related knowledge services.
In response to the current market chaos, China’s first and only national group standard, T/CMEAS 009-2023 “Professional Skill Specification for Medical Escorts,” was released in Beijing in May 2023.
CHENGYI HEALTH served as the primary drafting organization for this group standard. Chen Zhanguang, Manager of CHENGYI HEALTH, pointed out, “One of the objectives in issuing this group standard is to address the current inconsistency in service quality across the industry, thereby promoting greater professionalism and standardization among medical accompaniment practitioners.”
Established in 2022, CHENGYI HEALTH is endeavoring to train patient escorts from a professional medical perspective and to deliver services through these trained personnel. This approach is closely linked to the founder, Li Gang, who has a medical background and previously worked for an extended period at the Beijing Chaoyang District Maternal and Child Health Hospital.
What CHENGYI HEALTH aims to achieve is to “make medical visits easier for patients” through professional patient escorts.
The contradiction between the demand for and supply of medical accompaniment services is persistent and acute.
On the one hand, from a demand perspective, multiple factors have led to a surge in the demand for medical accompaniment services. At the individual level, the overlapping trends of population aging and the rise of “empty-nest” households mean that children are often too busy with work to care for their parents, driving rapid growth in demand for elderly medical accompaniment services. Meanwhile, in an increasingly “atomized” society, the weakening of interpersonal ties has, to some extent, spurred demand for such services among young people living alone. From another perspective, patients seeking medical care outside their home regions often lack familiarity with local hospitals, further increasing the need for accompaniment services. At the corporate level, growing emphasis on employees’ health rights and benefits has also contributed to rising enterprise demand for medical accompaniment services.
On the other hand, from a supply perspective, there remains a shortage of high-quality medical escort services. The robust demand for appointments at renowned Grade 3A hospitals has led to a proliferation of scalpers. Some medical escorts essentially act as intermediaries for these scalpers to reach patients; they may not actually provide substantive escort services but instead profit from the illicit trading of hospital appointment slots. Other medical escorts may lack a medical background, merely assisting patients in moving from one location to another within the hospital, thereby offering limited value. Furthermore, service protocols among some practitioners are insufficiently standardized. As the clientele primarily consists of specific groups such as patients or pregnant women, the lack of adequate risk mitigation measures for unexpected incidents can lead to disputes over medical escort services.
How to better address the supply-demand imbalance in current medical accompaniment services has become a critical issue for industry practitioners. Since its inception in July 2022, CHENGYI HEALTH has sought to tackle this challenge from the supply side by training more high-quality medical companions to provide patients with superior accompaniment services.
There is no shortage of institutions currently offering training services for patient escorts on the market. “Some training providers offer programs similar to the previously popular certification courses for ‘public nutritionists’ and ‘psychological counselors,’ meaning that trainees may not possess the practical competencies required for professional practice. For instance, from a service perspective, some practitioners may even lack the ability to communicate effectively in Mandarin with patients and their families, let alone deliver high-quality patient escort services. Some training courses may only provide basic industry knowledge, emphasizing familiarity with hospital layouts rather than a grasp of medical knowledge. Other institutions focus primarily on teaching practitioners how to acquire clients through social media platforms,” pointed out Chen Zhanguang. “We recognize the issues associated with previous training organizations. We place greater emphasis on helping patient escorts learn and understand medical and hospital-related knowledge. This enables them to better guide patients in selecting appropriate hospitals based on their understanding of the healthcare system, thereby avoiding the unnecessary consumption of medical resources and aligning more closely with the essence of tiered diagnosis and treatment.”
CHENGYI HEALTH’s distinct approach to training is reflected in two dimensions:
On the one hand, given its position in the service industry, Chengyi Health Group has established certain entry barriers for individuals seeking qualification as patient companions. The group requires patient companions to possess adequate learning and comprehension abilities, as well as strong communication and adaptability skills. For instance, preference is given to candidates with prior experience in the healthcare sector or the domestic service industry when selecting trainees.
On the other hand, in terms of training content, CHENGYI HEALTH places greater emphasis on integrating theoretical knowledge with practical skills. The theoretical component of CHENGYI HEALTH’s training curriculum covers essential medical knowledge, hospital operations, and service standards, enabling patient escorts to better determine which hospitals are appropriate for specific conditions, thereby reducing the waste of medical resources. The practical component typically involves a half-month of offline mentored training, helping patient escorts gain a deeper understanding of common issues encountered during in-person escort services and become familiar with local hospital procedures. Only after passing assessments in both theoretical and practical components are patient escorts authorized to provide escort services.
It should be noted that the aforementioned training is designed exclusively for entry-level patient companions. When patient companions have advanced professional development needs and their case volume meets specified criteria, CHENGYI HEALTH provides advanced training for patient companions. Upon completion, they are awarded a Patient Companion Certificate endorsed by the China Medical Education Association, based on the group standard “Professional Skill Specifications for Patient Companions.” Reportedly, CHENGYI HEALTH has trained over 2,000 patient companions to date.
Ultimately, what Chengyi Health Group seeks to achieve is to provide patients with trustworthy, professional medical escort services by training civilian “medical-grade” medical escorts.
Merely providing training for patient escorts is not CHENGYI HEALTH’s answer to the sharply mismatched supply and demand in the patient escort market—instead, it seeks to address the core of the issue: service.
It involves two key points: first, who are the target recipients? Second, how should the services be delivered?
In response to the question of “who are the service recipients,” Chengyi Health Group’s answer is B2B enterprises: in November 2022, Chengyi Health Group officially entered the B2B enterprise services market.
“Choosing the B2B enterprise service market over the B2C consumer market is because the B2C market is still relatively immature. Moreover, customer acquisition costs in the B2C segment are significantly high, while the average transaction value per medical escort order tends to be low—currently around RMB 300 in first-tier cities, and even lower in second- and third-tier cities. Expanding into the B2C market requires substantial investments in manpower, resources, and time, which is often unaffordable for startups,” Chen Zhanguang added. “In the B2B enterprise service market, a steady stream of medical escort orders not only enables medical escorts to gain extensive practical experience but also generates substantive revenue for the company, ensuring its operational sustainability.”
It has been revealed that the B2B enterprises currently partnering with Chengyi Health Group primarily include insurance companies and banks. The decision to collaborate with these institutions stems from their extensive reach and close relationships with a large number of B2B enterprises, enabling Chengyi Health Group to leverage these partnerships to expand its B2B client base. In addition to direct collaborations with the aforementioned insurance and banking financial institutions, Chengyi Health Group is also actively exploring direct connections and cooperation with other B2B clients. It is reported that the number of B2B clients partnered with Chengyi Health Group has now exceeded 1,000.
In addressing the issue of “service delivery,” CHENGYI HEALTH’s answer is the establishment of standardized SOPs.
On one hand, CHENGYI HEALTH has established a standardized service process for individual clients sourced from B2B enterprise partners. This standardized protocol encompasses a series of code-of-conduct guidelines, such as prohibiting medical escorts from disclosing clients’ private personal information and forbidding collaboration with “scalpers” (violators will have their orders suspended). Throughout the service workflow, when an employee of a B2B enterprise initiates a medical escort request, CHENGYI HEALTH obtains the client’s information, creates a service order, and assigns it to the corresponding medical escort. The medical escort typically needs to communicate relevant precautions with the client in advance. On the day of the appointment, the medical escort helps the patient articulate their concerns more clearly to the physician based on a summary of the patient’s basic condition and primary complaints, accompanies the patient through the entire consultation and examination process, and meticulously records the physician’s instructions.
On the other hand, CHENGYI HEALTH has provided “dual insurance” for its medical accompaniment services. First, after completing a service, medical companions are required to upload service summaries and physicians’ orders, enabling the company to monitor and control service quality. Second, in view of the special nature of patients as service recipients and the inherent risks faced by medical companions, CHENGYI HEALTH has partnered with Ping An to offer the CHENGYI Medical Accompaniment Insurance, thereby ensuring dual protection for both patients and medical companions in the event of emergencies.
In fact, as the high-quality services delivered by Chengyi Health Group in its B2B enterprise service offerings have gained external recognition, an increasing number of C-end users are joining Chengyi’s medical accompaniment client base through referrals.
Chen Zhanguang pointed out that the core of CHENGYI HEALTH’s services remains focused on B2B enterprise solutions. “We currently continue to serve end consumers through our B2B corporate clients, gradually educating the consumer market by providing medical accompaniment services. Shifting public perception takes time; at present, many people still view medical companions merely as ‘errand runners.’ However, we believe that as awareness evolves, medical companions will truly assume the role of a communication bridge between doctors and patients, thereby driving the rapid development of the medical accompaniment industry.”
From a conventional perspective, companies providing medical accompaniment services often face challenges related to the geographic limitations of such services.
Specifically, patients tend to seek care at Grade A tertiary hospitals in the eastern and coastal regions, where medical resources are concentrated; these areas are therefore most suitable for the provision of patient escort services. Furthermore, correlated with this geographic disparity is the lower willingness or ability to pay among patients at district- and county-level hospitals. In other words, from a certain perspective, the patient escort industry appears to be a business viable only in economically developed regions with concentrated high-quality medical resources.
However, CHENGYI HEALTH points out that regional limitations are not a barrier to the development of the medical accompaniment industry. Currently, CHENGYI HEALTH has chosen to provide services to B-end enterprises, which are inherently localized and have demands for medical accompaniment services in their respective regions. Furthermore, CHENGYI HEALTH believes that as the trends of "empty-nesting" and "atomization" intensify, the market for medical accompaniment services will continue to expand.
To better provide medical escort services to local clients, Chengyi Health Group launched a new strategic initiative in 2023—leveraging the city partner model to maximize the fulfillment of localized medical escort needs.
The selection of this model involves considerations at two levels.
On the one hand, the urban partner model significantly reduces CHENGYI HEALTH’s costs in expanding into emerging markets. Under this model, CHENGYI HEALTH initially holds equity stakes only, without sharing profits. The company provides partners—patient escorts aspiring to establish their own firms—with replicable business models, management training, and updated curricula for patient escort courses. CHENGYI HEALTH’s professional expertise in the patient escort service sector has greatly stimulated patient escorts’ enthusiasm for establishing branch companies.
On the other hand, by adopting the city partner model, CHENGYI HEALTH has achieved coverage of its regional service network and effective delivery of patient escort services. The establishment of a nationwide patient escort service network enables CHENGYI HEALTH to continuously expand its B2B client base across China while ensuring high-quality provision of patient escort services.
It is reported that as of October 2023, CHENGYI HEALTH has established nearly 50 branches across China and provides services to B-side enterprises based on a team of more than 2,000 medical escorts.
Notably, C-end clients independently acquired by individual patient escorts can also receive services through the service guarantee system and insurance coverage provided by CHENGYI HEALTH. Furthermore, leveraging CHENGYI HEALTH’s regional network coverage, the challenge of providing cross-regional patient escort services is effectively addressed. For instance, if a client acquired by a patient escort in Chongqing requires escort services at a hospital in Beijing, CHENGYI HEALTH can arrange for a local patient escort in Beijing to provide the necessary support.
To better meet customer demands, CHENGYI HEALTH is actively expanding its ecosystem. For instance, the company has established ecological partnerships with a major health checkup service platform, Ali Health, and “Yupin Gaofang” (Beijing Taikaier Nutrition Technology Development Co., Ltd.). Through its collaboration with the major health checkup service platform, CHENGYI HEALTH not only provides medical accompaniment services but also leverages the platform to offer value-added services to customers. Its partnership with Ali Health enables CHENGYI HEALTH to deliver medical accompaniment services while providing its customers with extended online diagnosis and treatment services.
The collaboration with the brand “Yupin Gaofang” is even more distinctive. It emerged organically from fulfilling patients’ needs for “health and nutritional products” during medical escort services. CHENGYI HEALTH maintains a prudent approach toward expanding into ecosystems such as pharmaceuticals and medical devices. “On one hand, CHENGYI Group does not mandate its medical escorts to recommend related products; on the other hand, partnered products are evaluated not solely on profitability but, more critically, on quality, as substandard offerings could backfire on the Group. Most importantly, the core of CHENGYI Group lies in providing medical escort services,” emphasized Chen Zhanguang.
In fact, acutely aware of the growth potential in the future consumer-facing medical accompaniment market, CHENGYI HEALTH is also attempting to establish an offline presence in advance. For instance, in October 2023, CHENGYI HEALTH launched its “Chengyi Store” service. By setting up physical Chengyi Stores within communities, the company aims to generate revenue through offerings such as health management products, while simultaneously building its brand around the concept of professional healthcare and serving as an offline touchpoint to reach consumer clients with medical accompaniment needs.
Currently, CHENGYI HEALTH is conducting a new round of financing.
“The medical accompaniment industry is not one where ‘quick money’ can be made; it requires a group of like-minded partners to promote the standardized development of the entire sector. We also believe that CHENGYI HEALTH will drive better development across the industry,” stated CHENGYI HEALTH with full confidence.