Luye Medical and Cleveland Clinic Forge Strategic Partnership to Establish Value-Based International Hospital in Shanghai

In July 2018, Luye Medical Group announced the official launch of its strategic international partnership with Cleveland Clinic, revealing plans to establish the world’s first “Cleveland Clinic United” hospital at the Shanghai New Hongqiao International Medical Center.

At that time, Dr. Tom Mihaljevic, CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic, promptly posted an update on his LinkedIn: “New Cleveland Clinic Initiative to Widen Worldwide Reach to China.”

In his lengthy article, Dr. Mihaljevic stated that humanity faces common challenges in the fight against disease. Only through continuous innovation and collaboration can we bring about profoundly positive and far-reaching impacts on improving human health. Under this strategic cooperation project with Luye Medical, both parties will introduce “value-based, patient-centered” medical practices to the New Hongqiao International Medical Center. Upon completion of the hospital, patients will truly experience a healthcare delivery model centered around their needs. Nearly a year has passed; how has the collaboration progressed? What challenges have been encountered? And where will “patient-centered” medical practices be implemented?

At the 2019 China Hospital Development Conference hosted by DXY this year, reporters conducted exclusive interviews with Mr. Prakash Chandrasekaran (hereinafter referred to as “Prakash”), Senior Director of International Operations at Cleveland Clinic, and Ms. Yang Ling, Vice President of Project Implementation at Luye New Hongqiao Hospital. Both parties discussed the progress of their collaboration.

Yang Ling told reporters that cooperation with Cleveland Clinic was officially put on the agenda in 2017, and during the two-year period, the main efforts focused on two aspects: first, strengthening team integration and mutual understanding between both parties; second, preparing the necessary hardware and software systems for the construction of a new hospital.

“We chose Luye Medical because their team is reliable and demonstrates strong execution capabilities—qualities we highly value in a partner,” Prakash told the reporter. He expressed hope that this collaboration with Luye Medical would bring other strengths of Cleveland Clinic to China, integrate them with China’s healthcare advantages, and help more Chinese medical institutions through education and knowledge sharing.

Cleveland Clinic is a globally recognized leader in healthcare and a pioneer of future care models. Physicians work in collaborative teams to address the most complex medical cases, always prioritizing patients’ needs. Cleveland Clinic is dedicated to both healthcare professionals and patients, upholding a philosophy centered on the patient experience. This culture fosters excellence across quality, clinical outcomes, integrated research and medical education, innovation, and patient experience. In short, Cleveland Clinic is an institution that cares for its healthcare professionals, patients, community, and organizational integrity.

It is widely acknowledged in the industry that Cleveland Clinic boasts numerous core strengths, such as quality and safety, and patient experience, while also standing out in the fields of medical education and research. “Whether we are establishing branches in other regions around the world or collaborating with Luye Medical in China, these three areas are the key elements we aim to introduce,” Prakash candidly stated.

Luye Medical is the healthcare services arm of Luye Life Sciences Group, operating over 50 private medical institutions across Australia, Singapore, China, New Zealand, and other countries. Leveraging the strengths of Cleveland Clinic, Luye Medical will focus on key specialties—including cardiology, urology, and oncology—within its international strategic partnership with Cleveland Clinic, to build globally renowned centers of excellence and deliver world-class medical services and experiences to patients in China.

This strategic alliance is, in essence, aimed at establishing a new paradigm in the private healthcare sector. Leveraging best practices in clinical operations, patient experience, and care quality, Cleveland Clinic has launched the “Cleveland Clinic United” initiative to collaborate with healthcare institutions worldwide, enabling patients across the globe to access higher-quality medical services and improving the lives of more patients.

In fact, co-establishing a physical medical facility is no simple task. Yang Ling stated, “We aim to introduce all of the high-quality services from top U.S. hospitals into China, including their management systems, quality frameworks, and patient experience. This is a challenging process, but both parties are willing to make the effort.”

She mentioned that the hospital is currently under construction, located in the Shanghai New Hongqiao International Medical Center, with Phase I expected to be completed by the end of next year.

This collaboration with Cleveland Clinic has been given high priority within Luye Medical Group. Unlike pure financial investments or third-party management models, every aspect of the partnership is directly managed and executed by both Cleveland Clinic and Luye Medical Group.

In addition to their deep involvement in hospital construction, management, and operations, Luye Medical and Cleveland Clinic have jointly established a talent development framework in the clinical domain. For instance, they collaborate with medical universities and Grade A tertiary hospitals to facilitate academic exchanges and establish a Physician Advisory Board, aiming to explore innovative healthcare service models tailored to China’s unique context. Experts such as Cleveland Clinic’s Medical Director and Luye Medical’s Chief Medical Officer also form a Joint Medical Council. Together, they oversee clinical planning and quality assurance, ensuring that Cleveland Clinic’s culture, technology, quality value system, and operational systems are comprehensively replicated within this new hospital through frequent collaboration.

“Cleveland Clinic has provided us with substantial support. Since establishing our partnership, we have sent senior leadership teams there every month for frequent exchanges and learning opportunities. Additionally, interactions between our physician and nursing teams have been very frequent,” said Yang Ling.

Throughout the collaboration, Yang Ling and various Luye Medical teams engaged in close, direct interaction with Cleveland Clinic. She consistently perceived, in the smallest details, Cleveland Clinic’s advocacy of “people-centered” and “patients-first” principles.

“We hope that one day, our hospital staff will also be like those at Cleveland Clinic, firmly believing that the patient experience is paramount, regardless of their position,” said Yang Ling.

Therefore, in recruiting physicians, both Yang Ling and Prakash aim to find partners who can deliver high-quality services and share the same cultural values—namely, a steadfast commitment to being patient-centered and focused on the patient experience.

In terms of target customer positioning, Yang Ling categorizes the hospital’s target audience into two groups: individuals with high-end medical needs and patients with basic medical needs. To meet the diverse needs of these patients, the hospital will accept both commercial health insurance and public medical insurance as payment methods.

Regarding equipment, Yang Ling envisions building a hospital supported by a comprehensive IT system, which is technically divided into four components. First, an IT system that covers the entire hospital workflow is essential. Second, telemedicine and remote outpatient services should be implemented to provide patients with care anytime and anywhere. Third, in terms of hospital interconnectivity, all processes—including cloud-based payments and registration—must be integrated with cloud platforms. Fourth, security must be ensured, encompassing not only hospital data security but also patient safety.

Prakash believes that the integrated healthcare system Cleveland Clinic has built across the entire city of Cleveland can also be applied to this collaboration with Luye Medical, providing an excellent model for “healthcare integration in the Yangtze River Delta.” Its core essence can be summarized by the “4 Cs”: Communication, Collaboration, Care Transitions, and Compassion.

To achieve the “4Cs” goals, Prakash introduced that Cleveland Clinic’s pathway includes the following aspects: an integrated health insurance system and diagnostic platform, interoperable electronic health records, and community entry points within the Cleveland Clinic Integrated Care Model (CCICM), including community outpatient clinics and ambulatory surgery centers.

So, what challenges remain under this powerful alliance? Both Yang Ling and Prakash believe that challenges are opportunities, with the aim of leveraging all available strengths to benefit patients and achieve value-based healthcare. This approach will not only help alleviate the shortage of medical resources, enabling more people to access high-quality medical services, but also vigorously promote the development of private hospitals, thereby further fostering comprehensive growth in public hospitals across various aspects.