Is Building a Personal IP the Only Path Forward for Plastic Surgeons Amid High Mobility? Insights from Yue Mei VP Zhuang Haili

On July 7, 2018, Zhuang Haili, Vice President of Yuemei, was invited to attend the inaugural National Medical Aesthetics Institutions Expo held in Shanghai, where she delivered an insightful presentation titled “Internet Thinking Boosts Physician Brand Building.” VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has summarized the key points from her speech.

Vice President of YuemeiMs. Zhuang Haili, image provided by the company

Zhuang Haili, holding a Bachelor of Medicine and a Master of Management, is a founding team member of Yuemei and currently serves as Vice President. With nearly 10 years of experience in physician operations, she possesses profound insights into the medical aesthetics industry and physician management. Yuemei is currently establishing a physician group to create a shared physician platform and leverage internet thinking to build physician brands.

The Internet entered China in 1994, and officially ushered in the commercial era in 1997. At that time, Internet users primarily used the web to search for information on products and services. Taobao was launched in 2003, and the predecessor of JD.com went online in 2004, marking China’s entry into the e-commerce era. During this period, Internet users mainly engaged with e-commerce platforms, ranging from physical goods at various price points on Taobao to travel websites such as Ctrip and Tuniu.Price ComparisonObtain products and services at relatively low prices.

By 2015, China’s per capita GDP had exceeded US$8,000. This rise in income has triggered shifts in national consumer psychology and behavior, driving up demand for high-quality products and services. With the Internet permeating every aspect of daily life, user preferences are evolving from a focus on low prices to an emphasis on quality and cost-effectiveness—a trend we refer to as “Version 3.0 users.”

Focusing on the medical aesthetics industry, consumers in this sector exhibit two key characteristics: first, the procedures involve relatively high medical risks; second, they are non-essential. These two factors determine that medical aesthetics consumers pursue quality no less than consumers in other industries.

So, what constitutes high-quality medical aesthetics? This is something everyone deeply understands; it includes at least three key elements: the physician, service, and environment. Among these, which is the most core element? It must be the physician, who directly impacts outcomes and risks, as they are the primary practitioners performing medical aesthetic procedures.

Physicians are the core element of patient acquisition. To discuss patient acquisition, we must first return to today’s title: What is Internet thinking? Internet thinking entails a comprehensive re-examination of the market, consumers, products, corporate value chains, and even the entire business ecosystem within the broader context of the Internet.

So, thinking from an internet perspective, how to acquire customers in the Internet User 3.0 era? Build a doctor's IP. IP literally means Intellectual Property, referring to ownership of certain knowledge achievements by individuals. In the internet age, it can refer to a symbol, a value system, or a label—essentially personification. Behind it lies traffic, brand recognition, and a group of followers. Building a doctor’s IP is an effective way to attract customers in the new internet era.

Now let us turn our focus back to physicians and examine their career trajectories. A plastic surgeon typically enters medical school at the age of 18, completing a five-year program in clinical medicine followed by a three-year master’s degree. If they do not pursue a doctoral degree and exclude standardized residency training, they may serve as a medical assistant for an additional two years before boldly beginning to perform surgeries independently—marking a full decade of training. If they pursue a doctorate or spend more time as a medical assistant, this period can extend to 15 years. By their thirties, they finally emerge as young attending surgeons capable of leading operations. After another ten years of practice and accumulation of expertise, they begin to establish their professional brand and reputation, achieving financial success in their forties. Consequently, the golden period of a surgeon’s career spans merely the next ten years.

So, what are the professional aspirations of physicians? They essentially boil down to three aspects: professional growth, financial compensation, and personal branding. In plain terms, doctors seek development, income, and recognition. This trajectory is not unique to physicians; most professionals go through similar stages in their careers, ultimately striving for self-actualization.

How Doctors Develop: A Large Volume of Cases and Extensive Hands-On Practice. Patients Make Doctors, Serving as Their Best Teachers. Meanwhile, a high-caliber environment is essential, including mentors, supportive peers, and formidable rivals. We have deep insights in this regard. Yuemei collaborates with hospitals across China, and there is a significant gap in the average technical proficiency of doctors between first- and second-tier cities and third- and fourth-tier cities.

Regarding the material compensation physicians seek, we must reevaluate their position within the aesthetic medicine value chain. We believe that the value of physicians is not yet fully reflected in many institutions. Where does value accumulate in the aesthetic medicine industry? In two areas: first, the upstream sector, including pharmaceuticals, materials, and equipment; and second, physicians themselves. As we all know, this industryHigh Physician Turnover, because their value cannot be fully realized, they will seek opportunities where they can achieve self-fulfillment.

How Can Hospitals Operate Effectively? By Aligning with Trends, Adjusting Strategies, and Enhancing Operational Efficiency and Service Quality.

The Third Professional Aspiration of Physicians: Building a Physician BrandPhysicians in public hospitals primarily rely on the hospital’s brand. Once they step out of the state-run system and transition from institutional employees to market-oriented professionals, their immediate priority is to build their own personal brand. Whether engaging in multi-site practice, market-based practice, assuming management roles, or launching their own ventures, establishing a physician brand remains an effective and sustainable strategy for patient acquisition.

Below, I will share with you the physician operation model of Yuemei.

Here is an introduction to Yuemei’s strategic direction. What Yuemei is currently doing and plans to do in the future is to systematically address the cost, quality, and future technological innovation challenges in the medical aesthetics industry through an integrated online-to-offline (O2O) model, with the goal of becoming a leading medical aesthetics group that integrates quality, reputation, and scale.

Everyone is familiar with Yuemei Platform’s hospital collaboration model, which helpsHospital Brand Exposure and Patient Conversion to On-Site Visits. This is the foundation of Yuemei, and we will continue to build upon it. Today, we will focus on sharing Yuemei’s physician operation model.

Yuemei operates an online-to-offline (O2O) integrated physician-sharing platform. Since late 2015, we have been providing physician brokerage services, pioneering an internet-based operational model for aesthetic medicine practitioners. In late 2016, Yuemei’s self-operated outpatient clinic, Yuemei Haoyi, commenced operations. Our physician brokerage services encompass a comprehensive physician-sharing system that includes physician screening, partnership establishment, online promotion, virtual physician assistant services, management of physicians at our self-operated offline clinics, and overall physician management.

Physicians are categorized into three types: full-time, on-site, and appointment-based. The model primarily relies on on-site and appointment-based physicians, both of whom operate under a shared hospital framework. Most of these physicians are specialists from renowned public Grade 3A hospitals, with multi-site practice registrations at Yue Mei Hao Yi.

To build a physician’s brand and create a personalized IP, it is essential to first establish a clear persona and precise positioning. The term “persona” refers to the character profile—the image you cultivate in the minds of your audience. This concept originates from anime, where every character begins with a defined persona. Successful personas often feature distinct personality traits, pronounced strengths, and accurate market positioning. Positioning refers to your target patient demographic: whether it is the mainstream cohort of post-90s individuals seeking cosmetic procedures, or the financially capable post-70s group pursuing rejuvenation treatments.

Many doctors lack a clear sense of their professional positioning and have not established a distinct personal brand. Our role is to identify each physician’s unique attributes—without exaggeration or deception—and clearly define them, assign relevant labels, and then concentrate our marketing efforts on promoting these distinctive qualities.

Physicians managed by Yuemei conduct brand promotion both on and off the Yuemei platform. On-platform promotion includes channels such as the Yuemei App and Yuemei Website. The operations team produces a series of promotional content, including thematic pages, physician profile pages, online physician programs, physician-generated UGC content, and user diary posts. After users browse this promotional content, conversion is handled by online physician assistants. Unlike traditional online/telephone consultants, online physician assistants focus more on providing physician-assistant-style services, offering highly targeted and comprehensive support.

Concurrently, off-platform promotion is being carried out. Yuemei is currently a strategic partner of JD Health’s medical aesthetics division, which sources its projects from Yuemei and maintains deep collaboration with Dianping. Additionally, Yuemei leverages partnerships with thousands of medical aesthetics influencers on social media to promote cooperating physicians’ services, while also operating its own new media accounts to deliver precise promotional support for doctors.

Using this approach, let us take the operational data of one of our minimally invasive surgeons as an example. Our experience shows that a physician brand with distinct characteristics can be established within three months, with Unique Visitors (UV) growing from zero to the order of 100,000 within this period. Through refined operations, the treatment volume can reach full capacity by the third month.

By the end of 2016, Yuemei had established its own Yuemei Haoyi Outpatient Clinic to deliver on-the-ground services for physician operations on its online platform. Yuemei Haoyi undertook extensive exploratory initiatives in hardware infrastructure, soft-service systems, and physician management systems, achieving seamless integration between online and offline operations.

Yue Mei Hao Medical Clinic: Single-Occupancy Laminar Flow Operating Room (Over 30 Square Meters)

In physician management, we have established a comprehensive mechanism—ranging from physician screening and partnership establishment to prioritization, downgrading, and elimination—and developed standardized criteria for physician selection.

To ensure the replicability of our business model, we have undertaken extensive standardization efforts. Yue Mei Hao Yi has developed 18 employee service manuals, totaling approximately 170,000 words, based on practical operational experience. These manuals cover organizational structure, human resources management, training, medical practices, and customer service, and are updated every three months.

In summary, we are witnessing consumption upgrading, with a generational shift among medical aesthetics consumers. Internet-driven thinking can facilitate new business models and support the development of physician branding adapted to this new landscape.