YueMei's Self-Built Medical Center 'YueMei HaoYi' Sets a New Benchmark in China's Aesthetic Medicine Industry

As the policy on “multi-site practice” continues to be liberalized, the personal brand value of physicians is becoming increasingly prominent, and the need for physicians to build their personal brands is growing more urgent. Helping physicians establish their brands, facilitating the monetization of their brand value, and better meeting consumers’ demand for high-quality medical care have become the mission and development opportunity for internet healthcare platforms. The same holds true for the medical aesthetics industry.

In 2016, the collective surge of “Internet Hospitals” in the mobile health sector offered new insights for the medical aesthetics industry. Leveraging policy support for physicians’ “multi-site practice,” Internet hospitals not only helped physicians build their reputation and establish personal brands online, but also provided offline service platforms that enabled them to generate tangible income, ultimately addressing consumer needs.

Against this industry backdrop, YueMei, an O2O platform for medical aesthetics, has intensified its efforts to establish offline medical centers, providing physicians with a dedicated offline service platform. This strategy aims to maximize the brand service value of high-quality physicians and meet the growing demand among beauty seekers for premium medical aesthetic services.

In a sense, Yuemei’s establishment of its own medical centers aligns perfectly with the rise of internet hospitals. Moreover, Yuemei recognizes that providing a service platform for physicians must begin with transforming the supply side.

Physicians are the providers of medical aesthetic services and the guarantors of treatment outcomes. Xiang Xiaoqin, CEO of Yuemei, introduced that since the second half of 2015, Yuemei has focused on upgrading services on the supply side. The company selected a group of well-regarded and highly active physicians from its community and provided them with comprehensive support, including personal brand promotion, pre-consultation assistance, in-clinic customer service support, and post-treatment patient care. This initiative aims to build the professional advantages and public influence of “IP physicians,” thereby highlighting their personal brand value. Through end-to-end quality control, Yuemei has improved consultation efficiency and service quality, significantly enhancing consumer satisfaction and repeat purchase rates.

On December 22, Yuemei’s self-built offline medical center, “Yuemei Haoyi,” officially opened. Yuemei Haoyi represents a novel hospital model that aligns with the trend of physicians practicing at multiple locations and integrates and unleashes high-quality medical resources. It provides reliable surgical facilities for plastic surgeons carefully selected on Yuemei’s online platform. With its platform-oriented attributes, the 1,500-square-meter facility can serve hundreds of physicians. Yuemei Haoyi leverages online internet resources for patient acquisition and coordinates schedules between doctors and patients to deliver diagnostic and treatment services. Its efficiency in integrating and operating medical resources is dozens of times higher than that of traditional institutions.

Furthermore, the establishment of its own medical centers marks Yuemei’s robust integration of the entire aesthetic medicine O2O closed loop, combining “community e-commerce” with “offline experiences,” thereby better providing consumers with a seamless, one-stop online-to-offline service.

Yue Mei Hao Yi’s first medical center is located in Haidian District, Beijing. Classified as an outpatient clinic, it offers a comprehensive range of diagnostic and therapeutic services and is authorized to perform Level I and Level II plastic surgery procedures under the National Health Commission’s classification system for medical aesthetic projects, including surgeries under general anesthesia.

For an internet professional with no prior experience, establishing a medical center is by no means an easy task. Xiang Xiaoqin explained that the blueprints underwent numerous revisions to meet the requirements of fire safety, environmental protection, and other regulatory authorities. To minimize surgical risks, Yuemei Haoyi adhered to the high standards of Grade A tertiary hospitals in the construction of its medical facilities.

Yuemei Medical implements effective prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections by strictly adhering to the three-channel principle in operating rooms, which ensures the physical separation of staff pathways, patient pathways, and waste disposal routes to prevent cross-contamination. The institution has also established rigorous standards for medical instrument sterilization, air disinfection, and wastewater treatment.

Introducing Xiao Qin to the process, it is crucial to be very cautious when selecting equipment because the quality of the device directly impacts the safety and effectiveness of surgical procedures. For instance, in laser-based aesthetic treatments, if there are issues with the equipment, it could lead to suboptimal post-operative results or even cause harm to the body. Yue Mei Hao Medical has compared several globally renowned laser companies with long histories and ultimately chose high-standard military-grade laser equipment, which not only ensures skin safety but also facilitates better therapeutic outcomes.

Yuemei Haoyi’s target consumer base exhibits dual characteristics, representing the intersection of internet users and mid-to-high-end female consumers. This demographic demands higher service quality while remaining price-sensitive. To meet consumer needs, Yuemei Haoyi is committed to providing medical aesthetic services that are both high-quality and affordably priced.

The Dean and Head Nurse of Yue Mei Hao Yi both hail from the Ba Da Chu Hospital (i.e., the Plastic Surgery Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences), with over thirty years of professional experience. The Director of Cosmetic Surgery and the Director of Dermatology come respectively from the General Hospital of the Air Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the Navy General Hospital, each with more than ten years of practice. Physicians registered at Yue Mei Hao Yi under multi-site practice arrangements are all widely recognized as outstanding plastic surgeons and experts in the industry, originating from renowned institutions such as Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking University People’s Hospital, and the Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine.

Furthermore, all service personnel at Yue Mei Hao Yi have undergone professional training in medicine and psychology, providing consumers with comprehensive, nanny-style care throughout the entire process. In addition to offering post-operative health guidance, they provide psychological counseling and encouragement, and gift a medical care package containing common post-operative supplies such as analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-swelling medications, and gauze.

While enhancing service quality, Yue Mei Hao Medical also leverages internet platforms to control various costs. For instance, it has established strategic partnerships with upstream pharmaceutical manufacturers to procure authentic medications at discounted prices, thereby passing the savings on to consumers and ensuring reasonable pricing for its services.

Xiang Xiaoqin, CEO of Yuemei, stated, “We hope that Yuemei Haoyi can establish a truly innovative hospital model in the medical aesthetics sector, one that respects medical practice and prioritizes user interests with a user-centric approach.”

“Regarding Yuemei Haoyi’s future plans, Xiang Xiaoqin stated, ‘Over the next three years, as our physician collaboration network expands, Yuemei aims to establish dozens of offline medical centers across China. In addition to building its own flagship stores, Yuemei plans to partner with other medical aesthetic institutions to provide standardized management solutions and replicate the “Yuemei Haoyi” model.’”

Xiang Xiaoqin further stated that, as one of the medical aesthetics O2O platforms, Yuemei is the first in the industry to establish its own medical centers. However, Yuemei’s development strategy does not aim to build a large number of medical centers or compete directly with traditional medical aesthetics institutions. The original intention and goal of establishing Yuemei is to provide platform services for doctors, institutions, and consumers, thereby promoting the healthy development of the entire industry.