Wenlan Medical: Transforming Burn Care Beyond 'Family Secret Remedies' with a Chain of Specialized Clinics

According to data from *Burn Rehabilitation* published by the People’s Medical Publishing House, approximately 26 million people in China suffer from burns and scalds of varying degrees each year, yet the treatment rate stands at only 4:1. This disparity is attributed not only to insufficient public awareness but also to the lack of specialized institutions dedicated to the treatment of burn and scald injuries.

The burn and scald care sector, long reliant on conservative “ancestral secret remedies,” has welcomed a “new” force. After three years of preparation, Weixiao officially established Wenlan Medical in 2017, positioning it as a specialized institution for the diagnosis and treatment of burns and scalds, committed to providing cost-effective and accessible medical services to patients. Wenlan Medical offers an integrated solution that combines initial clinic consultations, remote consultations, reconstructive surgery for burn and scald injuries, specialized products, and post-diagnosis services, thereby creating a closed-loop business model for burn and scald care.

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that, to date, Wenlan Medical has opened clinics in four cities—Suzhou, Dalian, Changsha, and Harbin—and has successfully treated more than 5,000 patients with burns and scalds.

“There are 60 to 70 small burn clinics across China, but they are all individually owned businesses, most relying on ancestral secret remedies and concentrated in third- and fourth-tier cities,” Wei Xiao told VCBeat. “Moreover, most public hospitals lack specialized burn departments. In addition, protracted diagnostic and treatment processes, congested traffic, and excessively long waiting times pose significant challenges for patients seeking care.”

The experience of her daughter being scalded by boiling water deeply touched Wei Xiao. “I would be willing to spend any amount of money and go anywhere, as long as my daughter could recover without leaving scars,” Wei Xiao told VCBeat. “At that time, I began to wonder: what exactly are the public’s needs for burn and scald diagnosis and treatment?”

With over a decade of experience in the healthcare sector, Wei Xiao has a deep understanding of the pain points within the private medical industry. After conducting thorough market research, he established the goal of “providing cost-effective and accessible diagnosis and treatment services for burn and scald patients.” Wei Xiao stated that Wenlan’s mission is to help patients “save time” and “optimize space.”

Through relentless efforts, Wei Xiao enlisted Dr. Xie Erfan, a top expert in the field of burns and scalds from the Third Military Medical University, and acquired the technology and R&D team behind “Huang Shabu” (Yellow Gauze), a product with over 30 years of specialized experience in treating burns and scalds. Under Dr. Xie’s leadership, the team further improved the formula based on “Huang Shabu,” launched the “Wet Compress Patch,” and secured national patents. Furthermore, to address the historical lack of public awareness regarding such injuries, Wenlan Medical established its own science popularization system. VCBeat has learned that, to date, Wenlan Medical holds multiple national patents and has published more than 60 educational articles on burns and scalds.

Following the product’s implementation, Wei Xiao engaged the IT technical team to develop a remote consultation platform for burn and scald injuries. This platform enables patients at Wenlan clinics across China to receive not only in-person consultations with clinic physicians but also real-time remote consultations with specialists, thereby ensuring medical quality while enhancing the patient experience. Furthermore, to provide comprehensive care for burn and scald patients and establish a closed-loop service model, Wenlan Medical has established a Burn and Scald Plastic Surgery and Skin Grafting Center to offer advanced treatment options for severe cases.

“Serving the world with a clear conscience, conducting business with an orchid’s grace.” This is the origin of the name Wenlan, and also reflects Weixiao’s commitment to medical quality.

To achieve better prognostic outcomes, Wenlan Medical has revised the traditional treatment paradigm of “treating burns first, then addressing scars,” by synchronizing burn wound management with scar control.

Furthermore, Wenlan Medical tailors treatment plans for each patient, ensuring that therapies vary by burn etiology, medications are selected based on wound presentation, management strategies differ according to the anatomical site of injury, and protocols are adjusted according to the patient’s age.

To ensure consumers receive tangible benefits, Wenlan Medical has streamlined distribution channels by manufacturing and selling its own medical consumables. This approach not only guarantees product quality but also minimizes costs. Furthermore, Wenlan Clinics prioritize locations with convenient transportation access and maintain facility sizes between 100 and 150 square meters, thereby ensuring efficient clinical care while reducing additional overhead expenses.

Through a series of foundational initiatives, Wenlan Medical has leveraged standardized solution packages—including telemedicine, specialized products, and call centers—to completely eliminate its heavy reliance on the skills and competencies of outpatient physicians, thereby achieving high scalability. In terms of future planning, Wenlan Medical will focus on expanding its business footprint across China. Weixiao projects that by 2021, it will establish branch offices in first- and second-tier cities as well as provincial capitals, and replicate its model to set up 100 clinics and 5–6 plastic surgery centers through both direct-operation and partnership models.