2008年11月28日

多年来，外资医疗供应商在中国大陆一直小心行事，主要是向在华外国人和当地富人提供西式医疗服务。不过，现在一些台湾企业却另辟蹊径，向中国普通大众提供低成本、高质量的医疗服务。

此举风险很大。中国的医疗市场集中度很低，而且多为国营，所以基本上与外界批评绝缘。不过，这些进军中国医疗市场的企业都有一个令人玩味的优势：它们都是已在大陆运营低成本工厂多年的台湾制造业巨头。

这些企业称，他们积累的知识，再加上在台湾运营医院的经验，让他们在与中国普通百姓打交道方面有一定的优势。

据估计，中国的医疗市场规模达1,400亿美元。政府数据显示，大陆普通患者每日住院费用为110美元，而台湾只有90美元。所以，这些企业发现他们能以低价和大陆医院竞争，并最终实现盈利。

目前有14家台资医院已经或计划在大陆开业，其中一家由台塑关系企业(Formosa Plastics Group)运营。以生产消费电子产品而知名的明基(BenQ Corp.)最近在南京开了一家医院。

明基副总裁曾文祺(Michael Tseng)说，中国曾经是“世界工厂”，但现在制造业已然过时了。

2002年中国向外国投资者开放医疗市场，不过规定医院中的外资比例不得超过70%。此后，政府已批准了200多项成立合资医院的申请，但大部分都规模较小。

政府运营的中国医院协会(Chinese Hospital Association)高级官员赵淳说，这些医院代表了中国医院改革的一个良好开端。

中国卫生部发布的数据显示，目前中国有九成以上的医院是国营的。在世界卫生组织(World Health Organization)医疗体系公平性的排名中，中国在191个国家中位列倒数第四。中国也承认国内医院有诸多弊病。

政府上个月发表了一份白皮书，呼吁进行医疗体制改革，提供民众更能负担得起的医疗服务。

三十年前，台塑成立了台湾的首家大型私立医院。如今，该公司已经建成了一个规模庞大、盈利丰厚的医疗服务网络，其中包括七家医院（日接诊总量超过1万人次）、一所护士学校和一所医学院。

在大陆，台塑在厦门运营着一家规模2.57亿美元的医院。一位21岁的外地女工说，每次看病只要70多块钱（合10美元），而且大夫会向我详细解释症状。

但是打进大陆市场对台湾企业来说却并非易事。六年前，南京市请明基投资一家医院。但行政流程上的一拖再拖，致使这家造价1.30亿美元的医院直到今年5月才开业。

明基医院的董事长雷辉(Rick Lei)说，我相信其他外国投资者碰到这种情况早就放弃了。

明基医院位于南京市新开发的城区，大楼整洁明亮，与地铁站直接相连。这家综合医院设有40个专科门诊和3,000个床位。医院使用计算机系统管理患者的病历，可以跟踪开过的药方和治疗方案。

36岁的科研人员沈波（音）刚刚当上了爸爸。他说，他和妻子选择明基医院是因为它技术先进、剖腹产的费用低，而且服务好。他妻子的手术花了600美元。国营医院至少要比这高出三分之一。

沈波说，在国营医院里，安排手术要花好几个星期的事件，而这里的医生为安排我妻子的生产加班加点地工作。

但是明基医院每日收治的患者只有600名，而规模相当的国营医院每天却有7,000多个病人。公司说，已经做好等上10年再盈利的准备了。

招聘医生也是项挑战。中国的医生享有公务员的待遇，而且常常能从制药公司等渠道获得收入。明基在大陆招聘的医生在开始工作前，必须把全部其它收入来源列清楚，但是按照规定，一旦开始工作就不能再有“外财”了。明基医院试图保障医生的全部收入。

结果是，明基医院仍从台湾“空运”医生来填补空缺。

不过，一些大陆医生还是迈出了这一大步。明基医院副院长David Fei说，为了这个在一家符合国际标准的现代化医院工作的机会，他放弃了自己的退休金。他曾经是上海新华医院的外科主任。

他说，国营医院的问题是难以改善的，所以我把希望寄托在私立医院上。

Ting-I Tsai

本文涉及股票或公司

佳世达科技股份有限公司
英文名称：Qisda Corp.
总部地点：台湾
上市地点：台湾证交所
股票代码：2352

台湾塑胶工业股份有限公司（简称：台湾塑胶)
英文名称：Formosa Plastics Corp.
总部地点：台湾
上市地点：台湾证交所
股票代码：1301

Taiwan Firms Head for China to Make Money on Hospitals

For years, foreign health-care providers have moved cautiously in China, mainly offering Western-style medicine to expatriates and rich Chinese. But now some Taiwanese companies are taking a radically different tack: selling low-cost quality health care to China’s masses.

The move is risky. China’s health-care market is fragmented and largely insulated from criticism because the state runs most of it. But the companies have an interesting edge: All are Taiwanese manufacturing giants that have been running low-cost factories in China for years.

They say the knowledge they have gained, plus their experience running hospitals in Taiwan, gives them an advantage in dealing with grassroots China.

China’s health-care market is estimated to be worth $140 billion. The average patient pays $110 to stay in the hospital for a day, compared with $90 in Taiwan, according to government figures. As a result, the companies figure they can undercut Chinese hospitals and eventually turn a profit.

Already, 14 Taiwanese hospitals, including one run by the giant conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group, have opened or are scheduled to open. BenQ Corp., which is best known for making consumer electronics, recently opened a hospital in Nanjing.

‘China was the world’s factory, but manufacturing is yesterday’s story now,’ says Michael Tseng, a BenQ vice president.

China opened the hospital market to foreign investors in 2000 but set a ceiling for them of 70% in any one venture. Since then, the government has approved more than 200 applications for joint-venture hospitals, but most have been small operations.

‘These hospitals represent a good beginning for China’s hospital reform,’ says Zhao Chun, a senior official with the government-run Chinese Hospital Association.

Currently, more than 90% of China’s hospitals are state run, according to China’s Health Ministry. The World Health Organization has ranked China fourth from the bottom of 191 countries in terms of the fairness of its medical system, and China acknowledges that its hospitals have problems.

Last month, the government issued a white paper calling for an overhaul of the medical system and more affordable care.

Formosa Plastics founded the first major private hospital in Taiwan three decades ago. It has since built a giant and profitable health-care service network that includes seven hospitals with more than 10,000 patients daily, a nursing school and a medical school.

In China, Formosa Plastics runs a $257 million hospital in Xiamen, a large port city on the Taiwan Straits. ‘It only costs some 70 yuan ($10) for each visit, and doctors explain my symptoms thoroughly,’ a 21-year-old female migrant worker says.

But breaking into the market hasn’t been easy for the Taiwanese companies. The city of Nanjing invited BenQ to invest in a hospital six years ago. Because of bureaucratic delays, the $130 million project didn’t open until this past May.

‘I believe other foreign investors would have left,’ says Rick Lei, chairman of BenQ Hospital.

Located in a newly developed part of the city, the BenQ facility is a clean, bright building connected directly to a subway station. The full-service hospital includes 40 specialty clinics and 3,000 beds. Patients’ records are kept on a computerized system that tracks prescriptions and treatments.

Shen Bo, a 36-year-old scientist and new father, says he and his wife chose BenQ because of its advanced technology, low fee for a Cesarean delivery and its service. The procedure cost the couple $600. State-run hospitals typically charge at least a third more.

And, Mr. Shen says, in ’state-run hospitals, it takes a couple of weeks to arrange a surgery, but doctors here worked extra hours for my wife’s delivery.’

But the BenQ facility has only 600 patients a day, compared with some 7,000 in comparably sized state hospitals. The company says it’s prepared to wait 10 years before seeing a profit.

Recruiting doctors has also been a challenge. Chinese physicians have civil-service status, and they often receive income from drug companies and other sources. BenQ’s local physicians must list all outside sources of income before they start work for the hospital, which tries to cover their total income, but they aren’t supposed to accept any outside pay after they accept employment.

As a result, the hospital still flies doctors over from Taiwan to fill holes.

Some local doctors, though, have made the leap. David Fei, vice superintendent of BenQ Hospital and former chief surgeon at the Xinhua Hospital in Shanghai, says he forfeited his retirement pension for a chance to work at a modern hospital that met international standards.

‘Defects of state-run hospitals have no chance to be improved so I put my hope in private hospitals,’ Mr. Fei says.

Ting-I Tsai