Boao Super Hospital brings a new model of shared healthcare

For the past few months, Lanjuan Li, epidemiologist and academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering(CAE), went to BO’AO nearly every week. As the president of BO’AO Super Hospital，she is full of expectation of its operation model created by Hainan Provincial Government, and hopes to explore a sample of “super hospital”.

On March 31, the hospital opened as planned. In her speech, Lanjuan Li said making the hospital a mixed ownership one with world-class infrastructure, disciplines, and management was an innovation in running healthcare organization as well as hospital management. “This hospital will bring advanced international medical services to Chinese patients.”

Run by Hainan BO’AO Lecheng International Medical Tourism Investment Co.Ltd., set by Qionghai Government, and social capitals, BO’AO Super Hospital is a mixed ownership organization. As Lanjuan Li disclosed, Shulan Health won the bidding and is in charge of the hospital’s operation.

“Shulan Health has many experts and hospital operation experience, all of which will help it cooperate with academicians to develop new technology and programs, making the hospital a real shared platform.” Jie Zheng, president of Shulan Health told CN-Healthcare.

The idea of building a super hospital in BO’AO stemmed from the conference about “Healthcare Academicians’ Trip to Hainan” held by Hainan Provincial Government on November 22, 2017. It only took 130 days to make this idea into a real hospital.

Xiaoming Shen, the governor of Hainan Province, imagined that academicians form CAE and leading experts can have their own clinical centers in the super hospital, and the clinical centers can combine resources from nationwide to do research, while the hospital provides services like image, pharmacy, outpatients, management etc.

Reaching agreements, Hainan Government and CAE took actions immediately. A month later, Xiaoming Shen gathered 9 CAE academicians and 7 leading medical experts to discuss the viability and construction plan about the super hospital. He hoped the super hospital to be open by the end of March 2018.

As planned, BO’AO Super Hospital phase I has 150 beds, 5 ORs, 7 ICU beds as well as medical image center, regional medical laboratories, regional pathology center, regional endoscopy center, regional PIVA and regional CSSD.

Notably, BO’AO Super Hospital will be guided by government, run by market，aiming to become an international medical center. “We hope to attract those who are looking for medical services overseas and meet the needs of overseas travelers.” Lanjuan Li said, “Hopefully, it will play a role in the medical reform.”

BO’AO Super Hospital pioneers a new model of “1+X”, which is “one hospital platform + several clinical centers run by leading medical teams”.

Guoping Sheng, vice president of BO’AO Super Hospital, compared it as an airport. “The medical teams are like airline companies. Patients, hospital, and medical teams rely on each other and buy service from each other.”

Just like airport and airline companies, the super hospital and medical teams cooperate in a market-based fashion and have a clear settlement system. “Clinical centers make payments to use the image center, OR center, pharmacy center in the hospital; patients pay clinical centers for their services,” said Guoping Sheng. As Guoping Sheng mentioned, the super hospital will mainly receive referral patients, especially those need latest medicines from overseas.

Right now, there are 17 clinical centers in this hospital, and experts of infectious diseases, urology surgery, hepatobiliary surgery, respiratory diseases, endocrine metabolic diseases, ENT, plastic surgery, cardiology can also be found in the hospital’s display cabinet.

As the operation platform, Shulan Health will negotiate with every clinical center and sign agreements. “Both the experts involved and programs of the clinical centers should be verified,” Lanjuan Li said, “we must make sure all programs can bring benefits to citizens.”

Enjoying government’s special policies, abundant academicians and leading experts, and the new model of mixed ownership pattern, BO’AO Super Hospital has established the foundation to provide quality medical services.

“There is a lot work to do,” said Lanjuan Li. She plans to talk with other presidents and make detailed plans.