Private healthcare to receive a boost from medical malls – China’s latest business and technology news

Caixin reports that medical malls — the idea for which originated in the U.S. in the 1980s as a way to cluster private medical clinics together to reduce equipment costs and regulatory burdens — have finally arrived in China.

The Health and Family Planning Commission of Zhejiang Province gave permission to Hangzhou to build a $15 million medical complex, backed by Hangzhou Jiebai Group, Baida Group, and Zhejiang Dian Diagnostics. It will be the first of its kind in the country, with the unusual capability among private clinics to offer surgeries, because of a partnership with the Sir Run Ru Shaw Hospital of the Zhejiang University School of Medicine.

Currently, only 12.8 percent of patient visits in China happen at a private clinic, despite the number of private facilities (16,000) outnumbering public hospitals (12,000). But recently, Caixin notes that “Beijing has been encouraging private-sector involvement in the healthcare industry,” so this trend may change.

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