How to Site, Acquire Customers, and Operate Community Clinics: Insights from Influential Doctors Yu Ying, He Chao, Duan Tao and Others
Recently, community clinics have begun to gain popularity due to the influx of numerous influencer doctors, such as Duan Tao and Yu Ying.
They are physicians who have served within the public healthcare system and are also active in the internet healthcare sector. Possessing robust clinical expertise and a deep understanding of the current healthcare system, they aspire to realize their medical ideals amid the sweeping trend of tiered diagnosis and treatment. By establishing clinics, they aim to provide patients with convenient and accessible community-based medical care.
However, community healthcare has long suffered from a lack of patient trust. In terms of institutional credentials, community healthcare facilities are not public Grade 3A hospitals but rather clinics operated by individual practitioners; regarding medical equipment, they lack the comprehensive resources available at Grade 3A hospitals; and in terms of clinical expertise, these facilities do not have many specialists or professors from Grade 3A hospitals...
This has long been the reality of community healthcare in China—a setting overlooked by many practicing physicians, yet it is the closest to patients and represents the most critical step in implementing tiered diagnosis and treatment.
So, what types of community healthcare services are highly favored by residents? How should community healthcare facilities approach site selection, customer acquisition, and operations? Are there any exemplary community healthcare models worth learning from? And how does capital view the community healthcare sector?
When it comes to clinics, Yu Ying believes that the core issues boil down to three questions: Where are the patients? What services should we provide? And how can we generate revenue?Although healthcare is a public welfare endeavor, clinics that fail to generate profits will be unable to sustainably provide diagnostic and treatment services to residents.
Beyond revenue generation, clinic design should prioritize the following considerations: 1. What services the clinic provides to patients; 2. How to align physicians’ needs with those of the clinic and develop effective marketing strategies; 3. How to build the professional brand of the clinic’s physicians.
With 3 million followers on Weibo, Yu Ying resigned from Peking Union Medical College Hospital in 2013. Due to challenges such as the cumbersome approval procedures for clinics, she abandoned her initial plan to lead a community clinic and officially joined Amcare as a partner after May 4, 2014, serving as the CEO of Amcare’s first comprehensive outpatient center.
On a day in April 2015, the Amcare General Outpatient Clinic opened its doors. A prominently large sign was erected at the main entrance, and extensive pre-opening publicity campaigns were conducted, generating considerable buzz and fanfare.
Amcare is a high-end pediatric clinic with an average transaction value of RMB 800–1,000. As of July 2017, the clinic’s comprehensive outpatient revenue reached RMB 11 million, with nearly 2,000 patient visits. This performance is quite impressive compared to other high-end private clinics.
"Patients have always been primarily concerned about pricing when seeking care at private medical institutions. Although Amcare positions itself as a high-end healthcare provider, its pricing structure represents a unique category within the premium segment. 'Every patient who has received care at Amcare ultimately finds that the costs are not as high as they had imagined,' she explained."
Yu Ying said, “Our team lacks expertise in marketing and does not have major clients; our customer acquisition strategy relies on the word-of-mouth effect generated by the services provided by nurses and physicians.”
How to Ensure Effective Outpatient Care and Promote Word-of-Mouth Referrals? For instance, encourage patients to share their consultation costs at Amcare Clinic on their WeChat Moments, or offer a small gift to pediatric patients, thereby incentivizing parents to spread positive word-of-mouth.
Yu Ying also put considerable thought into how physicians are introduced. Unlike other clinics that display a photo wall at the entrance to highlight their doctors’ professional backgrounds, she took a different approach. In private hospitals, patients used to focus on whether a physician had previously held a professorial position, what their professional title was, and how much each consultation cost. Today, however, patients are no longer concerned with where a doctor comes from or their newly acquired titles. Therefore, starting with the way physicians are presented, Yu Ying has deliberately downplayed the traditional patient mindset of “judging the temple rather than the monk.”
After de-emphasizing seniority, Yu Ying redefined the physicians as attending physicians based on Amcare’s proprietary evaluation system.
Additionally, Amcare offers targeted products. For instance, during International Women’s Day, it provides health check-up packages tailored for women, with a roll-up banner placed at the outpatient entrance listing four specific examination items and priced at RMB 688. This ensures that passersby are immediately aware of the cost for these four tests. The price is comparable to that of public hospitals, serving as a form of direct advertising that leaves a clear and immediate impression.
If you are opening a high-end private clinic, it is crucial to make your pricing clear to patients. Many patients come in and express surprise at how affordable the services are; they expected to spend thousands of yuan, only to find that the cost was just 300 yuan. This significant contrast encourages them to share their experience on WeChat Moments.
In the early days of the clinic’s operation, the most frequent inquiries Yu Ying received were about the doctors’ former hospitals and academic credentials. She would often highlight the doctors’ key strengths and train front-desk staff in communication techniques. This is understandable, as patients paying out-of-pocket naturally seek reassurance about their physicians’ backgrounds when the clinic lacks the brand prestige associated with institutions like Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Currently, however, most inquiries are directly related to scheduling appointments or asking about newly launched service packages, such as health check-up bundles.
After patients visit the clinic, customer service staff follow up with them, focusing on their healthcare experience. They encourage patients to voice any negative aspects of their visit and offer a 100-yuan discount coupon for their next appointment. As a result, many patients have become close friends with Yu Ying. One such key client is a BMW manager who specializes in customer service. Initially, she raised countless complaints, offering nothing but criticism. The clinic’s head nurse and operations director began to feel overwhelmed, and even Yu Ying found her feedback somewhat overly nitpicky.
"To deliver better service, Yu Ying directly invited customers to share their insights on customer support. This approach not only gave them a sense of professional recognition but also made them feel respected. As a result, 'the customer felt the service provided was exceptionally thoughtful,' she added."
In terms of physician management, consultation fees vary by doctor. According to Amcare’s evaluation criteria, specialist consultation fees are slightly higher than those for pediatrics and internal medicine, and distinguished attending physicians charge RMB 100 more than ordinary physicians.
According to Yu Ying, Amcare has also implemented a physician elimination system. Many physicians transitioning from public hospitals experience a sense of crisis, fearing they may fail to keep pace with the times or meet the demands of private healthcare institutions. For clinic operators, encountering underqualified physicians is even more distressing and regrettable. There was once a physician at Amcare who submitted four resignation requests. Although this individual was an outstanding clinician, his immature professional conduct led to the acceptance of his departure. While his exit resulted in the loss of some patients, the decision was necessary for the sake of the team.
In terms of medical capabilities, primary care institutions cannot compare to tertiary Grade A hospitals; therefore, Yu Ying primarily relies on communication skills to bridge this gap. By continuously simulating clinical scenarios, excellent physicians help those who are less adept at communication. If a doctor is unwilling to provide detailed explanations to patients, Amcare assigns dedicated nurses to educate patients on primary preventive healthcare, including disease-related health literacy. Consequently, many skilled nurses are now transitioning into roles as chronic disease management specialists.
In terms of medical quality control, the expansion of departments and scope of diagnosis and treatment has increased the daily patient volume from 20 to 80, posing significant challenges to quality assurance. To address this, Yu Ying implemented rigorous checks at every stage of the diagnostic and therapeutic process, strictly adhering to the principles of evidence-based medicine, thereby building a strong reputation through word-of-mouth.
Yu Ying believes that clinic operators should not underestimate the power of online word-of-mouth dissemination. It is no longer merely a matter of hushed conversations; rather, its impact is amplified through the internet. Many clinic operators focus excessively on advertising, such as brand promotions in elevators or subway stations. This approach is costly and ineffective. Instead, it is better to concentrate on delivering high-quality medical services, turning patients into advocates at every stage. This type of word-of-mouth marketing yields excellent results.
“Amcare Clinic has been in operation for over two years, and 50% of our daily new clients come from word-of-mouth referrals,” said Yu Ying.
The Brand Tone of Amcare Clinics: Marketing is engaging, doctors are approachable, and medical care is serious. It suffices to clearly identify where the customers are, what they need, and what the clinic can offer. Since brand-building physicians are rare and hard to come by, chain operations should focus on cultivating medical quality rather than creating internet celebrities.
However, on September 1, 2017, Yu Ying resigned from her position as CEO of Amcare Clinic Center and embarked on a new entrepreneurial venture in Beijing, focusing on grassroots community clinics. She aims to establish a chain of community clinics that are affordable for the general public.
In Hangzhou, there is a general practice center called WeDoctor General Practice, located on the 3rd floor of Huijin Center, Jincheng Road, Xiaoshan District, covering an area of 2,400 square meters. It mainly provides online diagnosis and treatment, remote consultations, and offline medical services. The center has departments including general practice, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, dentistry, traditional Chinese medicine, dermatology, psychology, laboratory medicine, and medical imaging. It offers comprehensive healthcare and health maintenance services for individuals, throughout their entire life journey, and for their families.
WeDoctor General Practice Centers are a key component of WeDoctor’s offline strategy. Leveraging information technology platforms and mobile health technologies, they provide local residents with proactive, continuous, one-stop family health maintenance and medical services that integrate online and offline care, thereby shifting residents’ health paradigm from “passive health” to “active health.”
Since its opening more than five months ago, WeDoctor General Practice Center has served over 400 members, providing offline health services to members and residents on more than 1,000 occasions, delivering tens of thousands of online consultations, and completing 22 international and domestic consultations and referrals.
“Our General Practice Center is more akin to the outpatient department of a comprehensive hospital, staffed by numerous renowned general practitioners, experts, and professors from both China and abroad, dedicated to safeguarding the health of patients and their families,” said Liao Jieyuan, Chairman and CEO of WeDoctor.
When physicians at WeDoctor General Practice encounter cases beyond their scope of care, they need to initiate referrals to tertiary hospitals. By connecting with superior medical institutions across various regions and precisely matching hospitals and specialists based on patients’ conditions, a large-scale tiered diagnosis and treatment hub can be established. This facilitates the implementation of tiered diagnosis and treatment, helping to rectify the current “inverted triangle” structure of healthcare delivery.
In terms of medical resources, the platform has assembled a team of more than 60 full-time general practitioners, established collaborations with multiple domestic comprehensive healthcare institutions—including the Children’s Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine—and partnered with overseas second-opinion platforms such as Infinite MD and Yuesheng to build an international-standard health gatekeeper system.
It is reported that Infinite MD is headquartered in Boston, USA, and was jointly established by professors and physicians from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company boasts a network of more than 520 authoritative medical experts from top-ten hospitals across the United States.
Meanwhile, WeDoctor’s online team of experts and hospital resources will also be integrated into the General Practice Center. Since its establishment in 2010, it has expanded to cover 30 provinces and municipalities across China, connecting the information systems of more than 2,400 key hospitals, with over 290,000 specialists providing online services including appointment registration, precise triage, and remote diagnosis and treatment.
In terms of customer acquisition, WeDoctor General Practice relies primarily on word-of-mouth referrals and has signed partnerships with numerous chambers of commerce and entrepreneur associations. “Every client who experiences the services at a WeDoctor General Practice Center becomes our member,” stated President He Chao. Cheng Jun, Secretary-General of the Health Branch of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, remarked that WeDoctor General Practice Centers can provide the most advanced and modern general practice services to 8 million Zhejiang entrepreneurs, thereby truly serving this business community.
To address the shortage of general practitioners (GPs), WeDoctor General Practice Center has established the WeDoctor Academy of General Practice, a professional platform for GP education and training, in addition to providing medical services to users. Relying on the team led by Professor Zhu Shanzhu, Director of the Department of General Practice at Fudan University Shanghai Medical College and Dean of the WeDoctor Academy of General Practice, the academy focuses on GP training and continuing education. It offers online, offline, and distance learning programs, providing training and guidance in clinical skills of general practice and health service management to primary healthcare personnel, including those at community health service centers and township health centers. This initiative aims to meet societal demands for health services and supply qualified GP instructors as required by health and family planning authorities at all levels.
Meanwhile, WeDoctor’s General Practice Centers have been integrated into the national medical insurance system, enabling residents to access covered medical services. According to reports, Ms. Zhang, a resident of Xiaoshan District, concerned about abnormal findings from a health checkup conducted a few days earlier, returned to WeDoctor General Practice (Xiaoshan) for a follow-up examination on August 11. After completing consultations and examinations with her family doctor, Ms. Zhang used her medical insurance card to pay for laboratory tests, medications, and other related expenses.
Hangzhou WeDoctor General Practice Center is just the starting point; over the next three years, WeDoctor will establish 100 chain general practice centers across China. Currently, site selection and construction are underway in cities including Beijing, Jinan, Nanjing, Chengdu, and Shenzhen. Previously, WeDoctor General Practice signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Luneng Group, with the first collaborative project set to launch in Jinan.
He Chao introduced that, to achieve round-the-clock accessibility and enhance the user experience, WeDoctor General Practice is leveraging technological solutions—including WeDoctor Cloud, remote monitoring with smart peripherals, a knowledge-based Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS), and internet platforms—to further upgrade its existing service system. In the future, general practice will introduce a new paradigm of proactive health concepts and experiences to China’s healthcare industry.
Another clinic, located on No. 6 Street in Hangzhou and specializing as a pediatric family practice, also opened its doors on July 9. Fully funded and built by Linjia Haoyi, the facility covers an area of approximately 400 square meters across two floors. The interior design features a blue color scheme, with walls adorned with animal illustrations appealing to young children.
Linjia Haoyi was founded in early 2016 by founder Luo Lin and his team in Shanghai. Currently, its physician network includes both specialists and general practitioners, serving tens of thousands of users.
As China’s healthcare reform enters its deep-water zone, Luo Lin has identified that the core of the reform lies in promoting tiered diagnosis and treatment, which in turn hinges on strengthening the service capacity of primary care. His latest move to establish offline clinics is part of a strategic effort to enhance the quality of primary healthcare services and meet the growing demand for diversified medical services.
“Since the clinic opened two months ago, we have received numerous letters of appreciation from local residents. From the moment patients walk through our doors, our medical staff provides comprehensive support and addresses their concerns throughout the entire care journey, including physicians’ demeanor during consultations, post-visit follow-ups by healthcare personnel, and doctors’ attitudes during follow-up appointments,” Luo Lin told reporters.
So, what is the core of medical services at Neighborhood Clinics? How do they differ in terms of physician talent acquisition, operations, cost control, and patient acquisition?
Luo Lin’s original vision in establishing the clinic was to create a facility for nearby residents that offers a pleasant environment, relatively affordable pricing, and high-quality medical services. This initiative aims to promote professional and convenient tiered diagnosis and treatment services, while making healthcare experiences accessible, warm, and trustworthy.
In terms of site selection, Luolin strives for standardization by surveying the operational models of existing clinics and analyzing population density. Typically, it takes 1 to 1.5 years to complete a clinic from site selection to final renovation. In contrast, Linjia Haoyi completed the design, renovation, and approval processes for its clinics in just over three months. The spatial design was executed by Mobike’s design team. Through optimized space planning and process management, they ensured high-quality standards and patient experience while effectively controlling costs, thereby laying a solid foundation for future replication.
In terms of cost control, Linjia Haoyi has also made every effort to independently develop its clinic medical information SaaS system (Ruolin Cloud Clinic), which serves as an effective tool. It enables medical data to flow more efficiently, reducing the need for patients to make multiple trips, and has technically achieved online integration with municipal-level medical insurance systems. Given that primary healthcare facilities typically operate with limited staff and feature streamlined patient care processes, the advantages of this system include the following:
1. Simple, user-friendly, and easy to operate, effectively reducing patients' medical consultation time;
2. Develop standardized services, implement the national tiered diagnosis and treatment policy, integrate with Hangzhou’s medical insurance system, and achieve informatization;
3. Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS), which assists in clinical diagnosis and treatment decisions, improves healthcare quality, and reduces medical errors; data statistics enable precision marketing;
4. Leverage cloud-based data to break down information silos in primary healthcare.
In terms of medical personnel, the entire clinical team at the 6th Avenue Clinic comprises both full-time and part-time staff. The full-time physicians are primarily categorized into senior and intermediate professional titles, with two physicians holding senior titles and two holding intermediate titles. Additionally, the team includes three Tui Na therapists and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners, four nurses, and one laboratory technologist.
For example, Dr. Jia, a Chief Physician, has nearly 40 years of experience in pediatric diagnosis and treatment, having attended to hundreds of thousands of pediatric patients. He graduated from Shandong Medical College in 1979 and previously served as the Vice President in charge of medical operations at Linyi No. 2 People's Hospital, President of Linyi High-Tech Zone People's Hospital, and Director of Medical Services at Hangzhou Baiyang Community Health Service Center. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of common and frequently occurring pediatric diseases, is capable of managing various complex and critically ill pediatric cases, and has particular expertise in child healthcare and pediatric psychological and behavioral disorders.
Part-time physicians are primarily those practicing at multiple sites. These physicians include renowned experts from The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, and Zhejiang Provincial Children's Hospital. The medical director is a chief physician with 40 years of clinical experience and hospital management expertise, demonstrating strong capabilities in both hospital administration and professional practice.
During its operations, Luolin has placed significant emphasis on medical quality, particularly in product development, identifying which products are suitable for primary care settings and differentiating itself from all private small clinics. For instance, the clinic on 6th Avenue specializes in pediatrics, with pediatric tuina (therapeutic massage) and physical therapy as its featured services. Additionally, it has introduced the U.S. Pediatric Development QS system, which provides a distinct advantage in community healthcare by serving patients within a several-kilometer radius.
Regarding revenue, Luo Lin told the reporter that it mainly includes three aspects: first, common and frequently occurring diseases: building trust with patients and serving as a traffic entry point—providing neighborhood-style care.
Second, single-disease management: such as child growth and development, pediatric healthcare, pain management, and speech disorders. Continuously explore deep-seated needs to transform healthcare from a reactive to a proactive approach.
Third, diversified operations: clinic e-commerce platforms, genetic testing, health screenings, home-based medical care, and referral services. This approach breaks through revenue per square meter constraints and drives revenue growth. Among these, Linjia Haoyi has established a clinic e-commerce system for distribution, offering service-oriented retail products such as genetic testing, health screenings, and categories not available within the clinics themselves.
One of our partner clinics has exceeded conversion rate expectations: it secured four orders within a week for genetic testing services with an average transaction value nearing RMB 10,000, and sold out 1,000 units of its summer blockbuster product, “Ding Bu Yang” (an anti-itch remedy for mosquito bites), in just three days. This performance has surpassed the traditional benchmarks for clinic productivity and revenue.
In the process of scaling up primary healthcare services, clinics need robust cost control measures in addition to focusing on revenue and management. Private, non-chain primary healthcare institutions have weak bargaining power in the supply chain and rarely pay attention to supply chain management. Linjia Haoyi has its own wholly-owned trading company, which optimizes the supply chain through centralized procurement, reducing procurement costs for clinics by 20%–30% annually.
In the future, Luo Lin also hopes to explore more models to help doctors better transition out of the public healthcare system, such as the physician partner model. Under this arrangement, both parties jointly establish clinics, with one party providing management expertise and the other delivering medical technical services.
In his view, being a good doctor does not equate to being a good boss; medical practice is distinct from business management. Moreover, doctors generate value only when providing clinical care, whereas operating a clinic requires dedicating over 40% of one’s energy to non-clinical administrative tasks, which are non-value-adding.
Linjia Haoyi’s self-operated clinics are projected to reach 15 next year; fully managed clinics are expected to total 10 this year, with a plan for 45 next year. The aim is to establish benchmarks, roll out unified standards, and truly empower primary care providers.
The clinic SaaS system is planned to be deployed in 500 clinics this year, reaching 2,000 clinics next year. The supply chain currently covers more than 300 clinics and will expand to 2,500 urban primary-care clinics next year.
As a complement to public hospitals, Luo Lin aims to promote the development of primary healthcare and facilitate better career opportunities for medical professionals seeking to transition out of the state-run system. Meanwhile, by standardizing clinic operations and unifying service standards, the goal is to become the 7-Eleven of the primary healthcare sector.
“Community healthcare in mainland China is very similar to that in Taiwan before 1995, with uneven medical quality,” said Yan Hongshun, founder of Taiwan’s Lian An Medical Group (hereinafter referred to as “Lian An”).
Lien An, established in 1997, is a Taiwanese chain community healthcare group. Over the past two decades, Lien An has served more than 350,000 patient visits, operating over 140 clinics across Taiwan and forming strategic alliances with more than 200 physicians under its “Community Medical Group” initiative, with a presence in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Kaohsiung, Taoyuan, and other regions. In recent years, as Taiwan’s primary care market has become increasingly saturated, direct operations have faced significant challenges. Consequently, Lien An seeks to expand into mainland China to share its proprietary insights and operational expertise gained from years of clinic management.
On the other hand, due to China’s active promotion of tiered diagnosis and treatment and primary healthcare, many medical professionals from various sectors have visited Lian’an for study and observation over the past two years, including Zeng Yixin, President of Peking Union Medical College; Yu Guangyan, President of Capital Medical University; and representatives from Fudan University in Shanghai.
Lian An Clinic’s services include general practice, gastroenterology, integrated outpatient care, otolaryngology (ENT), endocrinology and metabolism, orthopedics, and rehabilitation clinics, all operated under the Lian An brand in Taiwan. In Taiwan, medications are dispensed using automated packaging machines that seal doses into individual packets, a model also adopted for managing chronic diseases in the elderly. Outpatient services include ultrasound, endoscopy, X-ray, and bone mineral density testing.
1995 was a pivotal year for the development of community healthcare in Taiwan. With the launch of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance program, Yan Hongshun recognized emerging opportunities in primary care. To address the uneven quality of medical services, he began to consider what model of community healthcare would best suit local communities.
In the past, seeking medical care in Taiwan was referred to as “begging for treatment”; patients would bow upon arriving at a clinic before registering and seeing a doctor. Today, patients can confidently say to their physician, “Excuse me, I would like to have a consultation today.”
To differentiate his clinic from competitors, he invested significant effort in site selection, interior design, medical equipment, patient acquisition, and clinical services. For instance, he replaced low counters with an open layout and installed spotless windows that allow sunlight to flood the clinic, creating a warm and uplifting atmosphere for patients.
Different clinics require distinct interior design styles. For instance, a pediatric clinic should include a waiting area, a play zone for children, and consultation rooms, with the configuration of each space designed around children’s interests to create a unique atmosphere for pediatric consultations.
“At that time, I told all healthcare practitioners that clinics are part of the primary care service sector; our core competitiveness lies in delivering friendly and professional services while operating and managing independently,” said Yan Hongshun.
In terms of management, Yan Hongshun adopts an information-based system. Externally, clinic physicians can access patients’ medication and examination records from different medical institutions via the cloud; internally, physicians can communicate with one another. For example, for patients with hypertension, the clinic’s Hospital Information System (HIS) enables physicians to receive alerts regarding whether the patient has exhausted their medication supply.
In terms of operations, he cited an example from the site selection process for a clinic. Simply put, he treats the proposed clinic location as the center of a circle with a 1-kilometer radius. By traveling on foot and by car during different times of the day and night, he assesses the area’s population size, gender ratio, and age distribution to predict whether the clinic will attract a high volume of patients once established.
On the day of the clinic’s opening, various promotional activities were organized to serve the public, such as offering complimentary refreshments at the entrance, distributing balloons, and showcasing electronic product promotions.
According to Yan Hongshun, the reason he expanded from a single clinic to a chain of 140 clinics was that when he began building Taiwan’s Lian An chain of community medical centers, he took 7-Eleven as his model. Twenty years ago, what he saw on the streets of Taiwan were mom-and-pop retail stores alongside chain stores and convenience stores; twenty years later, all he sees are chain supermarkets. The same trend applies to clinics. So, how can we create a primary care model that meets the needs of modern society and the public?
In essence, operating a clinic is akin to running a 7-Eleven convenience store; the only difference lies in the categories of consumption. While 7-Eleven sells retail products, clinics provide medical services. Currently, there are 5,000 7-Eleven stores in Taiwan, with annual sales exceeding NT$130 billion, demonstrating significant brand equity.
For example, 7-Eleven’s City Café single product line began selling freshly brewed coffee ten years ago. A decade later, it sells 280 million cups annually in Taiwan, with revenue from this single item exceeding NT$10 billion. By analogy, in the healthcare sector, beyond the physical infrastructure of clinics, there are SaaS platforms and logistics systems. When these primary care resources are integrated, they similarly generate strong brand value.
“How Can Chain Clinics Succeed? Lian An Answered My Questions.” This is the assessment of Lian An Clinic by Cai Yaotang, Director at CID Huawei International Investment, Taiwan’s largest venture capital firm. In his view, adopting Lian An’s model for clinic operations can lead to success in Taiwan.
“From an investment perspective, ‘what we are investing in is the company’s valuation; even if the company is profitable, we investors may not necessarily make a profit,’” he added. Nevertheless, the market prospects for the healthcare industry are highly attractive. With the improvement of the healthcare system and rising living standards, residents’ consumer demand will be further unleashed. China’s GDP growth rate has remained above 10% for five consecutive years, showing an accelerating trend year by year.
From Cai Yaotang’s perspective, before launching a clinic, every entrepreneur must first determine its positioning: will it be a general practice clinic or a specialized one? Your primary goal should be to help patients resolve their health issues, not to make money off them. If you provide excellent care, the revenue will naturally follow.
Secondly, a clinic is not just about doctors; it involves an entire team. Treat your staff well so that they will consistently support you. As the Chinese saying goes, “Hoarding wealth disperses people, while distributing wealth gathers them.” Therefore, treat your colleagues with kindness and respect.
At the same time, it is essential to continuously enhance management capabilities. You must determine how to effectively manage the clinic, treat employees well, and ensure that patients receive the best possible care. For instance, this involves improving clinical expertise; learning to say the right things to the right people at the right time; emphasizing a team-oriented mindset rather than viewing individuals merely as employees; and committing to continuous learning. Consistently engage physicians in discussions on optimizing patient care to progressively alleviate patients’ concerns.
“I believe that whether in clinics or hospitals, the ultimate goal of medical practice is not to increase the number of patients, but to reduce it.”
Furthermore, founders selecting investment funds must clearly determine whether they need “fast money” or “slow money.” Some funds are backed by family capital, while others operate with a ten-year investment horizon. Therefore, if you are an idealistic entrepreneur, you should seek long-term capital. Opting for short-term funding to alleviate financial pressure will inevitably lead to conflicts with shareholders, which is detrimental to the clinic’s operations.
In addition to the internet healthcare companies that have already completed their clinic layouts, Anxin Doctor and renowned influencer Dr. Duan Tao are collaborating to launch a chain of women’s and children’s clinics. The first clinic is expected to open in Hangzhou, with an area not exceeding 500 square meters, aiming to create a “Starbucks-style” premium healthcare brand for women and children in China’s mid-to-high-end communities.
According to Ge Xing, CEO of Anxin Doctor, “We are collaborating with Dr. Duan Tao’s Chuntian Hospital Management Co., Ltd. to establish a new joint venture, which will be controlled by Anxin Doctor. Dr. Duan will be responsible for the management and offline operations of all co-branded clinics, while the Anxin team will handle clinic construction, online operations, and fundraising.”
As Anxin Doctor is a professional mobile health platform specializing in women’s and children’s health, it provides obstetricians, gynecologists, and pediatricians with tools to manage patients after consultations, including follow-ups, consultations, and appointments at offline clinics. Patients can establish connections with doctors by following them on WeChat. Duan Tao, the former president of Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, announced his venture into entrepreneurship on June 2. Therefore, the collaboration between Anxin Doctor and Duan Tao represents a case that not only integrates offline and online services but also organically combines traditional healthcare with internet-based medical services.
Anxin Doctor has announced its Series B+ financing round and is accelerating the collaboration and expansion of its offline medical services. The partnership with Duan Tao to establish obstetrics and gynecology and pediatric clinics was a natural fit. The first co-branded clinic, which opened in Hangzhou, covers an area of approximately 500 square meters and is located adjacent to mid-to-high-end residential communities, primarily to facilitate healthcare access for local residents.
This private pediatric clinic specializes in common and frequently occurring conditions among women and children. Featuring a child-friendly decor, it focuses on child healthcare and disease prevention, leveraging medical expertise from public hospitals. Over the next three years, Anxin Doctor and Dr. Duan Tao plan to jointly open an additional 20–30 women’s and children’s clinics across China, making healthcare as accessible as Starbucks.
As more enterprises enter the community-based chain clinic sector, and driven by policies such as tiered diagnosis and treatment, the industry has attracted significant attention from capital markets and industrial players. Community-based chain clinics, serving as one of the primary entry points for primary care, are highly regarded for their attributes of scalability, branding, and standardization. They are viewed as a promising solution to transform the previously unregulated and fragmented landscape of grassroots clinics, becoming a coveted target in the market.