Yuanzizai Rehabilitation Clinic Pursues Integrated Orthopedic Rehabilitation through Specialized Disease-Centric Model

“Modern office workers, who spend long hours sitting, often suffer from cervical spine pain. When faced with these issues, most people lack the awareness to seek systematic medical examinations at hospitals; instead, they turn to massage, casually visiting a ‘blind massage parlor’ or ‘beauty salon’ downstairs,” said Li Jingwei, founder of Yuanzizai. Theoretically, simple massage can alleviate muscle tension and relieve pain to some extent. However, massage only addresses the symptoms. The underlying pathological causes require professional assessment by rehabilitation therapists, who can then provide targeted interventions to help patients thoroughly resolve their pain.

Theoretically, simple massage can alleviate muscle tension and relieve pain to some extent; however, it only addresses the symptoms. The underlying pathological causes require a professional assessment by a rehabilitation therapist, who can then provide targeted interventions to help patients thoroughly resolve their pain.

Relevant data indicate① that among individuals who work at a computer for more than four hours per day, the prevalence of spinal disorders reaches 81.6%. Moreover, spinal issues represent only a segment of the sports rehabilitation market. Although the sports rehabilitation market holds substantial potential, patient acceptance remains relatively low in practice due to a lack of awareness regarding rehabilitation.

For startups in the rehabilitation sector, distinguishing between patients with essential needs and selecting the true target demographic is a crucial step toward rapidly penetrating the market. In the view of Li Jingwei, who has been deeply engaged in the rehabilitation field for seven years, the disconnection between orthopedics and rehabilitation represents the industry’s most significant pain point.

In 2017, Li Jingwei founded Yuanzizai Sports Rehabilitation Clinic (hereinafter referred to as “Yuanzizai”), positioning its business model around the integrated operation of orthopedic rehabilitation. Treatment programs are categorized by joint, with a focus on developing specialized disease-specific service products. By collaborating with physicians and building patient communities for specific conditions, Yuanzizai delivers integrated online and offline services.

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that since commencing operations in January 2018, Yuanzizai has served over 600 patients and established two rehabilitation centers in Beijing, one of which obtained a medical license through a collaborative partnership. A clinic in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, is currently under preparation and is expected to open by the end of this year.

In China, the rehabilitation industry is still in its early stages of development. A large number of patients with musculoskeletal issues flock to hospital orthopedics departments. In Li Jingwei’s view, this has given rise to two major pain points in the rehabilitation market:

Orthopedic outpatient clinics lack effective integration with rehabilitation services. Taking patients with running-related knee injuries as an example, those who do not require surgery often follow their orthopedist’s advice to “rest more, engage in more muscle-strengthening exercises, and reduce running.” However, due to the absence of systematic rehabilitation therapy and training, their knee problems are not effectively resolved in the long term.

Second, there is a lack of effective coordination between orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation. Most patients enter a state of “natural rest and recovery” upon discharge after surgery. Guided by the folk adage that “it takes one hundred days to heal injuries to tendons and bones,” patients remain inactive for this period, which, however, represents the optimal window for functional recovery. Consequently, although the surgical procedure is successful, the patient’s recovery fails to meet expected outcomes.

Thus, Li Jingwei recognized that physicians serve as a valve for market customer traffic. Originating from this insight, he chose to collaborate with orthopedic surgeons to jointly promote the integration of orthopedics and rehabilitation.

“If a friend asks you, ‘Which restaurant serves the best roast duck?’ or ‘Which one has the best hot pot?’ you can surely recommend a place. But if they ask, ‘Which restaurant serves both delicious roast duck and excellent hot pot?’ you might not have an answer.”

Li Jingwei drew this analogy: similarly, any given doctor excels in only one type of surgical procedure. By partnering with individual doctors and grouping patients with similar conditions together while providing care, the company has facilitated word-of-mouth growth for both the physicians and the enterprise itself.

Taking developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) as an example, DDH causes biomechanical defects due to acetabular and proximal femoral deformities, leading to joint instability and abnormal cartilage wear, which is one of the major factors contributing to secondary hip osteoarthritis (OA). It is understood that Yuanzai has currently collaborated with renowned physicians in this field to provide rehabilitation therapy for patients with DDH.

Patients exhibit a tendency to cluster by disease, as seen in the nationwide patient support groups for chronic myeloid leukemia depicted in the film “Dying to Survive.”

Patients exchange experiences within the group and invite friends with the same condition to join. Li Jingwei stated that this is a typical manifestation of the viral growth effect within the community. It is reported that, as of now, the DDH patient group initiated by Zizaiyou has grown to over 1,000 members.

Li Jingwei stated that the development of the entire orthopedic rehabilitation industry must begin with patient education. Rehabilitation therapists from Yuanzizai provide online Q&A sessions in group chats to help patients establish a correct understanding of orthopedic rehabilitation. He emphasized, “Yuanzizai aims to help patients recognize that surgery can only address 50% of the problem, while the remaining 50% must be resolved through rehabilitation.”

Nowadays, an increasing number of orthopedic surgeons are shifting their focus from solely addressing structural issues to prioritizing patients’ functional outcomes. Currently, VCBeat is seeking to establish collaborations with more physicians to assist them in patient education, while delving deeper into specialized fields and specific conditions to promote the integration of orthopedics and rehabilitation.

①https://www.haodf.com/zhuanjiaguandian/weixinli_5355648440.htm