Where Do Patients and Doctors Come From? Insights from China's Private Hospitals – Medical Circle Weekly (WeChat Group) No.4

Topic: In the collaboration between physician groups and United Family Healthcare, is it mandatory for physicians to bring their own patients?

Location: United Family HealthcareTeacher Pan Zhongying's Sharing Group

Contributor: Pan Zhongying

A friend asked whether the doctors we collaborate with are required to bring their own patients. I believe this needs clarification: we never require doctors to bring their own patients. However, I firmly believe that a good doctor is certainly capable of attracting patients independently. In other words, while we do not impose such a requirement, they can leverage their personal efforts to attract more patients to our platform.

Topic: Where Do Medical Experts Come From? How Can We Retain Them?

Location: United Family HealthcarePan Zhongying's Sharing Group

Contributor: Pan Zhongying

Many people are concerned about the origins of United Family Healthcare’s physicians. Discussing this topic inevitably brings up the issue of the value of medical labor. Under the current public healthcare system, the value of medical and nursing labor is undervalued. However, at United Family Healthcare, revenue from pharmaceuticals accounts for only 12%–13% of total income, while revenue from laboratory tests and radiology constitutes approximately 30%. This means that more than 60% of our revenue is derived from the labor value provided by medical and nursing staff. The proportion of employee compensation in our overall expenses is relatively high, which presents a significant management challenge but also offers a distinct advantage: it enables us to attract talent with comparatively competitive salaries.

However, as market competition intensifies, relying solely on high salaries to retain employees has become increasingly difficult. We rarely attempt to retain those who are motivated purely by financial gain. Instead, we seek to understand what physicians truly desire and strive to provide them with robust career development plans to help achieve their goals. Additionally, we have established our own training and talent development system.

Topic: Where do the doctors at Shulan Healthcare’s Zhejiang University International Hospital come from? Where do the patients come from? What are the sources of payment? Is integration with the national health insurance system being considered?

Location: Unicorn WeChat Group

Participants: Zheng Jie, Da Guai

Where do our doctors come from? Our venture was founded by a team of physicians, led by an academician. Physicians are integral to our founding team. Furthermore, we have placed physician recruitment advertisements on major public platforms, such as DXY. As a result, our physician recruitment efforts have been proceeding very smoothly to date.

In a sense, the lifetime membership model oriented toward patients has become akin to medical insurance. Patients will follow their doctors; with competent physicians, we are confident that there will be no shortage of patients. Additionally, success hinges on our hospital’s overall service philosophy and external promotional efforts.

Regarding payment, we will first integrate with various high-quality payment platforms, including mobile and self-service terminals. We are currently in the process of integrating with medical insurance systems. Historically, this has been a highly challenging task, typically requiring at least one year to complete. However, we aim to finalize this integration within one year.

Topic: Malicious Publicity Deducts Points from Private Medical Institutions.

Location: China Non-Public Medical Institutions Association

Participant: Jeff

Private practitioners are having a tough time, so it is understandable that they resort to self-promotion. Even limited instances of exaggerated marketing—such as claims to treat ugliness, mammary gland hyperplasia, or smog-induced blindness—can be dismissed with a laugh. However, egregious and deceptive advertising is disgusting, such as claims to cure tumors or kidney failure. Many "miracle drugs" prescribed by private hospitals today are ineffective. Some institutions even exploit the lack of standardization in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to aggressively promote TCM as a panacea for cancer. This not only tarnishes the reputation of TCM but also delays proper treatment for patients, rightly arousing public outrage. For entrepreneurs, rather than developing so-called natural therapies like homeopathy, it would be better to focus on palliative care for end-stage diseases, where there is also significant market potential.

Topic: The Domestic Health Checkup Industry Is an Aberration.

Location: China Non-Public Medical Institutions Association

Participant: Pan Chaofeng

“A nationally recognized expert in Western cardiovascular medicine once remarked: ‘How many cardiologists today can still make a basic diagnosis of heart disease through auscultation and percussion without relying on auxiliary tests? And how many physicians, when ordering echocardiograms, simply fill in the symptom descriptions with their own auscultatory findings?’”

We have become overly reliant on diagnostic tests, to the extent that many people trust medical equipment more than specialists. This has led to the proliferation of health screening centers. However, the current health screening industry in China is distorted; the sheer number of such centers is abnormal. Without follow-up medical support, these centers will inevitably disappear over time, as health screenings are likely to become free in the near future.

Topic: The Core Malady of Private Hospitals Is a Structural Crisis.

Location: Dayi Cloud Valley

Contributor: Liu Muqiao

Private hospitals in China are generally facing a structural crisis. Although market competition is intensifying, the market space is not yet saturated. The extensive management model severely hinders development. To break through this impasse, it is crucial for operators of private hospitals to enhance their management capabilities, particularly their strategic management skills.

Topic: The Key to the Rapid Development of Private Hospitals Lies in Downplaying Utilitarian Motives and Focusing on Building a Strong Reputation.

Location: United Family HealthcarePan Zhongying's Sharing Group

Participants: Liangshan Heroes, An Zhi

The rapid expansion of private hospitals is not clearly correlated with the marketization of the healthcare system. If all medical institutions were fully marketized, private hospitals might be the first to face elimination. The primary driver behind the surge in private hospitals is likely profit-driven entrepreneurs targeting funds from patients and medical insurance pools, while capitalizing on patient resources overlooked by public hospitals. Some operators pursue these profits with confidence and achieve success, while others act impulsively out of greed, ultimately incurring losses. Private hospitals operating at a low-end level are vulnerable to being financially strangled by medical insurance constraints, whereas high-end providers can establish their own insurance systems, as exemplified by United Family Healthcare. When patients perceive that the value of hospital services exceeds the cost, operations proceed smoothly; conversely, if the perceived value falls short of the price, there is a heightened risk of doctor-patient disputes.

Topic: There is little difference in the reasons for poor performance between public and private hospitals.

Location: United Family HealthcarePan Zhongying’s Sharing Group

Participants: Liangshan Heroes, An Zhi

Public hospitals, particularly community health centers, tend to swing between two extremes, a phenomenon I believe stems from the interplay between incentives and oversight. When both incentives and oversight are robust, operations remain positive and healthy; strong incentives coupled with weak oversight lead to aggressive profit-seeking and heightened risks; weak incentives paired with strict oversight result in inertia and inaction; and when both incentives and oversight are inadequate, staff neglect their core duties while engaging in opportunistic, illicit gains.

Statistical results derived from cluster sampling often exhibit bias in management studies, primarily due to left- or right-skewed deviations in subjective identification. A comprehensive population analysis, using stratification, can clearly identify which categories of public hospitals perform well and why, as well as which categories of private hospitals perform well and why. The reasons for poor performance do not differ significantly between underperforming public and private hospitals.

Topic: Universal Education on Healthcare Services Should Be Strengthened.

Location: United Family HealthcareTeacher Pan Zhongying's Sharing Group

Participants: Liangshan Heroes, An Zhi, Wei Wei

Ever since childhood, I have held a psychological belief that the moment I step through the hospital doors when ill, my condition will improve. However, many people now tell me that this perception is not entirely accurate, as I do not suffer from a serious illness.

Chinese residents have long suffered from a severe lack of health literacy and basic medical knowledge. If they were familiar with fundamental procedures and regulations, it would drive improvements in healthcare services; unfortunately, such content is not yet included in China’s national education system.

The public should be permitted and encouraged to wield the yardstick of the law, accurately assessing the standards for allocating liability between healthcare providers and patients. When issues arise, responsibility should be borne by the party at fault. The United States excels in this regard; a single adverse record can lead to financial ruin for physicians, medical teams, or even hospitals. This serves as a powerful impetus for enhancing the quality of healthcare services and establishing rigorous regulatory frameworks.

Regarding health insurance issues, three points are worth noting. First, in principle, health insurance should not dictate medical practice; however, it is currently driving clinical decision-making. Second, as basic medical insurance, it does not cover high-cost medications, and fairness should not be equated with averaging. Third, health insurance should not shift the responsibilities between doctors and patients onto hospitals.

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