Springfield Healthcare Management Completes Version 1.0 Product Build with Patient-Centered Focus, Led by Founder Tao Duan

Duan Tao, Founder of Spring Healthcare Management, Delivers Speech at the First Maternal and Child Health Medical Summit Forum

This was a grand event spanning the fields of gynecology, obstetrics, and pediatrics. On April 20, the “2018 Inaugural Summit on Maternal and Child Healthcare,” hosted by Shanghai Chuntian Hospital Management Co., Ltd. and academically supported by the Obstetrics and Gynecology Professional Committee of the China Non-Public Medical Institutions Association, was officially held at the Kerry Hotel in Shanghai.

On the first day of the conference, Professor Duan Tao, founder of Spring Healthcare Management, delivered the keynote address at the opening ceremony. Attendees shared insights and engaged in discussions on topics such as “Reinventing Operational Management of Women’s and Children’s Healthcare Institutions,” “Excellence in Service and Patient Experience,” and “Physicians’ Future Career Choices in the New Landscape.” Additionally, the event saw the prestigious release of China’s first white paper dedicated to women’s and children’s healthcare institutions, titled *2018 White Paper on Women’s and Children’s Healthcare Institutions in China*.

According to Duan Tao, there are seven key stakeholders in the healthcare industry, namely the 4Ps and 3Ds: Payers, Providers (healthcare institutions), Physicians, Patients, Drugs (pharmaceutical companies), Diagnostics (diagnostic reagents and diagnostic service companies), and Devices (medical equipment and device companies).

Currently, the situation resembles a game of mahjong among the “4Ps”: the government seeks to achieve more with less spending, patients aim to get more services for lower costs, and doctors desire higher earnings with less workload. Each party pursues its own interests, resulting in a dynamic of mutual strategic gaming. Meanwhile, “3D” stands on the sidelines, supplying ammunition. In this context, it is crucial to shift the 4Ps away from this adversarial mahjong-style interaction and instead encourage them to join forces with 3D to achieve win-win collaboration. The ultimate goal remains the health and well-being of patients.

Specifically in the field of women’s and children’s health, Duan Tao stated: “In addition to the 4Ps, there is an additional P—Product—referring to the maternal, infant, and child industry. This industry has a market size of approximately RMB 2 trillion to 4 trillion, and within the clinical sector, only the specialized field of obstetrics and pediatrics corresponds to an industry of such magnitude.”

The maternal and child healthcare sector has consistently been a focal point for investment in recent years, particularly among mid-to-high-end institutions. The number of private maternal and child healthcare institutions increased from 262 in 2009 to 690 in 2016.

However, in contrast to the investment boom, China’s newborn population experienced an unexpected negative growth in the second year of the “universal two-child” policy. In January 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics announced that the number of newborns in 2017 was 17.23 million, a decrease of 630,000 from 2016.

It is projected that the number of women of childbearing age in China was approximately 156 million in 2020 and will decline to 110 million by 2030. On one hand, the size of the population of childbearing age is shrinking; on the other, their fertility intentions are waning. As the demographic dividend from the “two-child” policy gradually dissipates, a decline in the number of newborns is inevitable.

Furthermore, due to variations in government investment and economic development across different regions, there are significant disparities in the quality of medical services. Constrained by funding, staffing, and equipment resources, maternal and child health institutions are at varying stages of development, leading to considerable regional differences in their service offerings, scale, and growth prospects.

In recent years, the rapidly growing number of obstetrics and gynecology hospitals with 50–99 beds has been almost entirely composed of private institutions. These hospitals face challenges such as policy restrictions, weak strategic and operational management, and difficulties in attracting and retaining talent. For instance, many lack precise market positioning or adequate quality and safety controls. The risks associated with introducing new technologies and services have led to patient attrition, while some hospitals continue to engage in overtreatment, thereby damaging their reputation.

“In Shanghai, whenever a new high-end medical institution opens, there is a phenomenon of mutual poaching of doctors. Service and management have not improved, but when doctors jump to another hospital, their salaries increase by at least 30%. This is not good; we do not want this kind of competition. We want coopetition. Chuntian Medical Management aims to take the lead in changing this situation,” said Duan Tao.

Multiple relevant policies and regulations have been introduced, prioritizing the development of women’s and children’s healthcare with a focus on high-quality, large-scale operations. For instance, the Notice of the State Council on Issuing the Outline for the Planning of the National Healthcare Service System (2015–2020) states: “Relax requirements for entities establishing medical institutions, further ease conditions for Sino-foreign joint ventures and cooperative medical practices; guide privately run hospitals toward high-quality, large-scale development, and foster specialized hospital management groups.”

Although competition among maternal and child healthcare institutions is becoming increasingly fierce, the supply-demand gap continues to widen, making it essential to carefully consider how to deliver medical services that truly meet the needs of the mid-to-high-end population.

Especially as the post-90s and even post-95s generations continue to enter their childbearing years, against the backdrop of consumption upgrading and the rise of China’s middle class, Chinese women and families are increasingly demanding higher-quality consumption, leading to a sustained strengthening in demand for high-quality mid-to-high-end medical services. However, behind this rapid growth, a series of challenges need to be overcome, including underutilized payment capacity, immature operational management, and a shortage of talent.

In June 2017, Duan Tao announced the establishment of Chuntian Medical Management, launching a comprehensive strategic layout encompassing hospital and clinic management, the development of quality and service standard systems, and talent cultivation.

Duan Tao stated, “Chuntian Medical Management aims to build a platform that enables maternal and child healthcare institutions, physicians, and other stakeholders to collaborate and engage in friendly competition—fostering ‘coopetition’ rather than constant conflict. Chuntian will integrate digital and artificial intelligence solutions to commercialize technologies, addressing critical pain points for hospital operators and administrators, such as non-standardized management and physician shortages.”

Currently, every business segment of Chuntian Healthcare Management is advancing actively. “The team and organizational structure have been established, enabling the launch of projects across all lines. We have already delivered a Version 1.0 product. Whether it involves module output, entrusted management, or equity-based cooperation, we are essentially progressing according to our planned pace. Our primary focus is to help healthcare institutions achieve improvements in safety and quality, while simultaneously enhancing their technical capabilities, management practices, services, and market presence. These broader enhancements are expected to become evident no sooner than six months from now.”

Chun Tian Medical Management has established modular, standardized, algorithmic, and product-oriented frameworks across technology, services, and management. “We help healthcare institutions build two core pillars: the first is safety and quality, which patients can directly perceive; the second is the cultural core, such as teamwork and patient-centeredness. Although less visible, this is essential for pursuing excellence, restructuring relationships, and rebuilding trust.”