MBA Students Visit Beijing United Family Hospital
May 22-2014
In order to allow BiMBA students to get a deeper understanding of China and Chinese management practice, Professor Xie Xuanli led over twenty full-time and part-time MBA students to Beijing United Family Hospital on May 15, 2014. Through on-site explanation, Q&A sessions and field visit, the students learned how international enterprises establish, develop and operate in China.
Beijing United Family Hospital is the first general medical institution established based on the international medical service concepts and standards as well as the only medical institution certified by Joint Commission International (JCI) and College of American Pathologists (CAP) in China. The theme of this forum mainly focused on its distinctive business model.
United Family Hospital: Service Centered
Alan, the Chief Cultural Officer of Beijing United Family Hospital, firstly introduced the history of United Family Hospital and its development in China. At the end of 1970s, when China just started its reform and opening, Roberta, the founder of United Family Hospital, came to China and worked on importing medical equipment and devices to China. Later, Roberta developed an idea of bringing the private hospital in the USA to China and established United Family Hospital. Different from public hospitals in China, United Family Hospital employs general practitioners, and the diagnosis and treatment process centers on patients. The average consultation time of each doctor for each patient is 20 minutes. In fact, United Family Hospital is not differentiated from others by their first class facilities, but by their humanized medical environment and care for patients. Through years of development, United Family Hospital has become a general hospital, and now over half of its patients are Chinese compared with mainly foreigners at the very beginning. United Family Hospital has established branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuxi, etc., and tied many innovative medical services, such as oncology center, rehabilitation center and other institutions.
United Family Hospital has summarized a set of business management experiences from three decades’ development in China. First is positioning. It means finding target population, providing suitable products for their needs and trying to improve the quality of products and services to get customer recognition. For example, in United Family Hospital, the quality of all medical equipment & devices is of the top priority. As long as treatment requires, the Hospital will try to obtain the corresponding products regardless of price. The sincere and customer-oriented service makes the hospital win trust and favor from patients. Secondly, both the foreign institutions and domestic enterprises shall properly handle the relationship with government departments, observe laws and regulations and operate honestly. Since its establishment in China, United Family Hospital has been making unremitting efforts, developing new technologies and services, thus winning good reputation and obtaining trust from the government, which is extremely difficult for a foreign institution. Now, many municipal governments actively contact and invite United Family Hospital to establish new hospitals in their cities.
United Family Hospital: Harmonious Family
The managers of the Hospital guided students to visit all areas of the Hospital, including the emergency department, outpatient department, inpatient department and children area. The internal design of the whole hospital is bright yet relaxed. And the one ward for one person design makes people feels comfortable and welcoming. Magazines and books, and sofa and chairs for rest are put in each corner. The doctors, receptionists and even the security personnel passing by can speak fluent English. And all slogans are presented in Chinese, English, French, Japanese and other languages, which showing United Family Hospital is truly an international hospital.
The field visit provided BiMBA students with the opportunity to closely observe and learn management practices. In the future, National School of Development of Peking University will provide more field visits for BiMBA students to expand their horizon and grasp management theory in a more “local” manner.
