DianDian Doctor IPO Prospectus: Addressing Physicians' Challenges and Needs in Multi-Point Practice

This article is compiled from an interview with Shi Bing, founder of Diandian Doctor, in the VB group.

Shi Bing: With 10 years of experience in marketing, public relations, and China’s medical internet industry, Shi Bing previously worked at 365 Cardiovascular Network and Hao Yisheng Online. In 2011, he embarked on an entrepreneurial venture, providing “clinical medical research management services” to medical experts, thereby laying the groundwork for expert brokerage services. In February 2015, as China’s first professional agency entrusted with facilitating physicians’ multi-site practice, he launched services supporting experts in practicing at multiple institutions. The “Diandian Doctor” project won fourth place in the “2015 China Medical Internet Entrepreneurship Competition.” Diandian Doctor has been hailed by many industry leaders as a practical and grounded practitioner of the multi-site practice model.

Shi Bing, Founder of Diandian Doctor:

Since its establishment in 2011, Diandian Doctor has been dedicated to providing services for expert-related projects. In February 2015, as China’s first professional agency entrusted with facilitating multi-site practice for physicians, it launched multi-site practice services for specialists in cardiology, neurology, and ophthalmology.

Most of the currently announced physician groups are established by individual physicians or teams, which makes initial setup relatively easy. However, how can they achieve effective and sustainable operations, and address the various practical challenges that fall outside physicians’ professional expertise and competencies?

Third-party operating agencies for multi-site practice were overlooked during the early boom of physician groups. Through nearly half a year of diligent, on-the-ground work, Diandian Doctor has gained a certain understanding of physicians’ concerns and demands, as detailed below:

1. Physician Frustrations (Explicit): Hospital Retention Policies, Professional Title Promotion, Surgical Scheduling, Routine Outpatient Clinics, On-Call Ward Rounds, and Academic Research.
2. Doctors’ Dilemma (Implicit): When glaring terms such as “fly-in surgeries,” “moonlighting at other hospitals,” “red envelopes,” and “tax evasion” come under the sharp blade of anti-corruption campaigns, many courageous figures in the healthcare industry have chosen to step back proactively to avoid becoming martyrs. Yet the question remains: how can they legally secure reasonable income in the future?
3. Core Demands: Legitimacy, Branding, Valuation, Legal Compliance, Insurance, etc.

Interpretation of the DianDian Doctor Model:

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1. Does Diandian Doctor only develop three departments? What was the rationale behind this decision?
A: To date, our focus has been primarily on these three departments. This is mainly because our core team’s prior work experience is closely aligned with these specialties, allowing us to leverage industry insights and expert networks more effectively. Moving forward, we plan to expand into approximately three to four additional suitable departments, as we do not intend to cover every medical specialty.

2. What patient issues are addressed?
A: Issues with surgical scheduling. As bed capacity is currently insufficient in large hospitals, patients face long waiting times to secure a bed for surgery. Therefore, in accordance with the policy allowing physicians to practice at multiple institutions, we are implementing a rational triage of patients to other hospitals to optimize resource allocation.

3. Which cities does Diandian Doctor currently primarily cover?
A: We are currently conducting pilot programs in various cities. We have signed a relatively large number of cardiologists, with coverage in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Northeast China, Xi’an, Wuhan, and other regions. For other specialties, such as neurology and ophthalmology, our network primarily consists of experts based in Beijing.

4. Is patient information under your control, or is it held by the hospital?
A: We operate our own platform, which includes a mobile app for appointment scheduling, primarily used for surgical bookings. Therefore, basic patient information needs to be displayed on our platform. We do not create medical records; instead, we encourage patients to fill out their own medical histories, thereby facilitating physicians’ understanding of the patients’ conditions.

5. Are all the partner hospitals of Diandian Doctor tertiary (Grade 3A) hospitals?
A: The hospitals we collaborate with fall into two main categories: first, the primary practice sites are exclusively Grade 3A hospitals; second, the hospitals for multi-site practice are predominantly private and non-public institutions.

6. Is the number of available beds monitored in real time by the integrated system, or are hospitals contacted only when there is a surgical demand? Are there priority tiers for hospitals during the coordination process?
A: In the early stage, we communicated and coordinated with hospitals that support multi-site practice to determine the number of beds available for sharing. When there is a surgical need, patients can view bed availability at these hospitals through our platform. There is no priority ranking among the partnered hospitals; patients make their own choices based on their individual circumstances, considering various factors such as insurance coverage. We do not provide any recommendations.

7. How can the issue of patients' trust in physicians be addressed? Have county-level hospitals implemented such measures?
A: This is an issue that requires long-term efforts to resolve. In the initial phase, we primarily engage with experts through collaborative projects, and then gradually deepen our work to cultivate brand perception and enhance physician trust. Additionally, Diandian Doctor has not yet expanded to county-level hospitals; its current focus remains on hospitals in major cities.

8. Is Diandian Doctor primarily focused on the optimized allocation of resources?
A: In terms of its business model, Diandian Doctor resembles the Ctrip of the healthcare industry. As we understand it, many lesser-known hospitals currently have vacant beds in certain departments. These institutions often attribute their lack of patients to the absence of expert physicians on site. Therefore, we have introduced a platform-based approach that leverages multi-site physician practice to facilitate rational patient triage and optimize the allocation of medical resources.

9. Will you collaborate with pharmaceutical companies or medical device manufacturers?
A: For the pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical manufacturers and medical device manufacturers have played a significant driving role. Therefore, we will consider collaborating with them on related activities in the future, including academic and evidence-based initiatives.

10. Do patients have the freedom to choose their doctors, or is a dispatch system implemented?
A: Patients can choose their doctors.

11. What are the core advantages of Diandian Doctor? Haodf and DXY are also engaged in similar services; what are Diandian Doctor’s core advantages relative to them?
A: There are fundamental differences in two aspects. First is the number of covered physicians. They may include hundreds of thousands of doctors, whereas our network comprises fewer than 1,000, which translates into a difference in service quality and focus. Second is the scope of services. Due to their large physician base, they offer a wide variety of services, while we specialize solely in the allocation of surgical resources, maintaining a more focused niche. Regarding the development of physicians’ personal brands, I believe this requires a professional team; broad, all-encompassing internet platforms are not necessarily well-suited for this task.

Clarifying Hot Topics on Multi-Site Practice:

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1. Does multi-site practice require the consent of the primary practicing institution?
A: From a policy perspective, approval from the physician’s primary practice hospital is not required. Unlike in the past, when complex procedures were necessary, some hospitals may still require acknowledgment, such as informal notification or filing for record. Specifically, practices vary among hospitals.

2. Are there any contracted physicians from the public healthcare system? How can hospital brands and individual physician brands be balanced?
A: All of our contracted physicians are currently employed within the public healthcare system. For patients, the hospital’s brand is undoubtedly significant. While some physicians have successfully built strong personal brands—such as Dr. Zhang Qiang—the majority have not. Therefore, developing physicians’ personal brands will be a key focus for us in the future.

3. How to Address the Challenges Faced by Senior Experts in Using Mobile Apps?
A: In the short term, the mobile-based client will not transition to a dedicated app, as most needs can be adequately addressed through WeChat. Furthermore, the physicians we have contracted are generally not of advanced age, typically ranging from 40 to 50 years old, so they are largely capable of operating basic mobile functions.

4. What to Do in the Event of a Medical Malpractice Incident?
A: First, we establish specific clauses to mitigate risks. In terms of national policy, there is a contractual relationship between hospitals that permit multi-site practice and physicians who engage in it. These hospitals also purchase corresponding insurance coverage for the physicians. The physicians we currently collaborate with also manage risk mitigation through such contractual clauses and insurance policies.

5. Who should purchase insurance for physicians? Will the insurance costs be prohibitively high? Are healthcare institutions willing to do so?
A: Currently, medical malpractice insurance for physicians is still imperfect, with institutions primarily providing coverage. Hospitals purchase insurance for doctors. Since we did not have many clients in the early stage, hospital-purchased insurance remained the norm for contracted physicians initially; we will consider having the company cover this cost in the future. Regarding insurance costs, hospitals already provide appropriate insurance coverage for their medical staff, so covering additional policies for physicians practicing at multiple sites does not currently pose any significant issues.

6. How to build a physician’s personal brand: Is there a comprehensive branding and promotion strategy? How should legal counsel and agent teams be structured?
A: Building a personal brand for physicians is indeed crucial, and our core team has relevant experience in this area. For legal matters, we have retained counsel, and our lawyers have backgrounds in clinical medicine. We have identified approximately 12 service categories tailored to physicians, including integrated management, research management, personal assistance, legal and insurance services, operational management, academic affairs management, media relations, data management, human resources, public relations, business management, and financial management.

7. Can the multi-site employment model be rapidly replicated?
A: From the perspective of multi-site practice alone, it is replicable. However, as indicated by the 12 points mentioned earlier, services provided to physicians are not singular, and those 12 points may not be exhaustive; there could be more. Delivering high-quality, professional services is no simple task. Moreover, there is a relative shortage of managerial talent capable of overseeing the service domains for physicians engaged in multi-site practice. While there is no lack of professionals with clinical expertise, individuals capable of horizontal coordination and management are scarce.

8. How to Resolve the Issue of Multi-Site Practice Across Different Regions?
A: This depends on the specific region. In most areas, it is implemented in the form of consultations, while some regions also allow multi-site practice across different geographic locations.

9. In terms of professional rank, what is the current composition of physicians engaged in multi-site practice? Which tiers of physicians do you perceive as having greater potential for development, and which are the most challenging to manage? What are their respective demand characteristics? To date, what are the core needs of physicians? Is it income, brand reputation, or personal safety?
Answer: The physicians currently under discussion are primarily associate chief and chief physicians at Grade 3A hospitals. The most challenging groups to address are those one tier above this level—namely, nationally renowned physicians—and those one tier below. Our work has revealed that the core aspiration of medical experts is to build their personal brand, particularly among patients. Many doctors are reluctant to acknowledge the fact that patients seek their consultations primarily due to the reputation of their affiliated hospital rather than the doctors’ own personal brands. This is because physicians often lack solid, patient-facing brand marketing; their reputations are typically built on academic achievements and remain largely unrecognized by the general public. Consequently, while many patients appear to be seeking out specific experts, they are actually drawn by the brand equity of the hospital behind these experts—a concern we find troubling. For instance, physicians holding senior positions at prestigious hospitals may find themselves without patients after engaging in multi-site practice if they no longer benefit from the endorsement of their original hospital’s brand.