The First “Co-Working” Hospital For Plastic Surgeons And Patients

Today, the sharing economy is not a strange concept. We have Uber as a ride-sharing platform, co-working spaces to share office spaces. Even more, there are beauty or nail salons following this model also allow nail technicians and customers to go there after they discuss with each other online. If you live in China right now, you can experience a stranger service. It is a co-working hospital where doctors can go there, book a room and do surgery on their patients.

So-Young International, an online platform for medical aesthetic information, just opened such a hospital right in Beijing. This marks the first time that a sharing platform is established for the field of plastic surgery.

According to Jin Xing, CEO and managing director of So-Young International said in a press release, the co-working hospital allows doctors to put all their time and efforts into surgeries. Moreover, it also helps doctors who want to open their own clinics save some of the costs.

So-Young International opened this co-working hospital as cooperation with BeauCare Clinic. The company, listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, said its six-floor "co-working" space is located north of Beijing's Ring Road 4. At the hospital, there is no full-time doctor. So-Young International will not welcome patients without an appointment. Eight surgery rooms, as well as consulting rooms, patient rooms, labs, nurses, and doctors all, operate via “co-working.” Doctors will have to make a reservation and pay the reservation fee.

Patients will go on the So-Young app to look for their suitable doctors. After that, the doctor and the patients will discuss the price. Normally, the price will be cheaper than that of a conventional plastic surgery clinic.

If the doctor doesn’t have his own clinic can reserve a room at So-Young’s co-working hospital. Fees will be charged by the hour. So-Young will not receive any commission fee from the surgery price agreed upon by the doctor and the patient.

So-Young claimed that all doctors that were on their app had been evaluated carefully. The doctors are all reputable and qualified.

With the booming of the beauty industry in China, plastic surgery has quickly become a money-making field.

The 2017 National Health and Family Planning Commission’s guidelines have allowed plastic surgeons to work outside their main working place. This action belongs to the country’s effort to distribute healthcare resources more widely while providing doctors with a means to increase their income, which is very modest.

For a plastic surgeon who wants to open his own clinic, the cost of renting and maintain a facility can be costly. More often than not, small and medium private clinics don’t have enough money to buy top-notch medical equipment, leading to their capacity being limited.

This “co-working” hospital of So-Young International in Beijing started operating in November.

While So-Young hasn’t disclosed the number of surgeries at their hospital, they revealed that there had been over 100 surgeons using this platform. Within 5 to 10 years, “co-working” hospitals could replace almost all small and medium clinics in China.

Driven by the middle class and the growing number of young customers, China’s plastic surgery industry reached a value of $28 billion in 2017 and is expected to hit $68 billion by next year with an average annual growth rate of 20%, as stated in a report from Deloitte.

In recent years, more and more plastic surgery clinics and hospitals were opened in China, ranging from small to big ones. In addition, there are online platforms to connect doctors and patients like So-Young. All to boost the growth of the plastic surgery industry.

The sharing economy of China has included almost everything, from sharing bikes, smartphone chargers, to wheelchairs and parachutes. This industry is set to reach 9,000 billion yuan next year.

In a report from the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s leading economic planning agency shared healthcare platforms will play an important role in dealing with the shortage of healthcare resources.

In August 2017, Zhejian Province approved its first sharing hospital in Hangzhou, allowing doctors to share equipment, operating rooms, labs, pharmacies, and other necessary resources.

Such hospitals can get rid of persisting problems in China’s healthcare system. But Eric Chong, managing director of Guangzhou Asclepius Management Consulting also voiced his worries about the risks of “co-working” hospitals.

If a medical incident happened, it is difficult to say whether a third-party like So-Young would take responsibility.

Meanwhile, Jin said that So-Young had proved its popularity and based on this, the company would consider open more facilities like this in other cities around the country.