How far is the increasingly popular escort consulting service from specialization?
Accompany the doctor, queue up for registration, pay for medicine ... Since last year, the service of accompanying the doctor has become more and more popular, and Yan Junru's colleagues have become more and more. According to the data, there are more than 500 shops providing consulting services on major e-commerce platforms, which are distributed in cities rich in medical resources such as Beijing, Hangzhou and Xi 'an. In the past year, 26,000 people searched for "consultation" on Taobao.
Behind the rising demand, which groups spend money to buy services? What skills do you need to be an accompanying therapist? How far is this emerging industry from professional development? With these questions, the reporter interviewed several practitioners.
The pain point of seeking medical treatment has given birth to the demand for accompanying consultation.
In his view, what the accompanying doctor has to do is to help the "just-needed population" improve the efficiency of medical treatment. "Paying fees, doing inspections and receiving reports are all divided into floors. Many patients are physically inconvenient or unfamiliar with the process and lose in a few hours. An uncle once waited for a day without seeing a doctor, because he didn't know to have a triage first. Some customers lamented with me that the hospital is like a maze and you are like a tour guide. "
As the founder of "Almond Guard", li jianxin's decision to enter the industry stems from several "lonely moments". An acute duodenal ulcer attack, no family around him, he endured the pain and shuttled back and forth in the hospital. "That moment was hit by loneliness." Later, his wife was pregnant, and he went to the prenatal examination with a big belly. He was busy with his work and didn't feel weak.
Having been deeply involved in the Internet industry for many years, li jianxin is keenly aware that there are not a few people who have the same troubles. At the beginning of last year, the accompanying reading consulting industry began to be concerned by the media, and the "almond gang" was born under this trend. At present, the company has more than 100 accompanying doctors, and the service scope has covered six cities including Hangzhou, Nanjing and Hefei.
Like li jianxin, Liu Shanshan, a native of Shenyang, found opportunities in his daily needs. When she first decided to start a business, she was very optimistic about the aging industry, but she never found an entry point. Once, my cousin, who lives in Fushun, came to see a doctor in Shenyang. She asked Liu Shanshan for help. "After tossing for ten days, my cousin felt embarrassed and gave me a gift."
This experience made her face the pain points of the elderly seeking medical treatment, and also saw the broad market behind it. Soon after, Liu Shanshan founded "An 'an Escort Clinic", which is also the first escort clinic team in Northeast China. Up to now, the company receives about 500 orders every month, and the charging standard is half a day 198 yuan, and the whole day is 298 yuan.
Liu Shanshan found that the acceptance of this price was different between the two generations. "Generally, young people place orders for their parents, and the elderly are reluctant to spend money, but for children, the cost of taking time off is actually higher. Many customers will say hello in advance and let the accompanying doctor claim to be his friend. " Liu Shanshan said with a smile, although he is often worried about revealing the facts, he also has real satisfaction. "A client once reported that her mother would ask,' Can that friend still accompany me?' " "。
The service content is not just running errands.
Liu Shanshan prefers to define his job as "visiting planning" rather than accompanying doctors. "For example, many exams require an appointment. Some patients from different places came to check up, but they couldn't do it that day. Accommodation is very expensive. We will help him plan ahead and take the exam for him. When the patient comes, do it directly, and the doctor can see the results on the same day. "
"Accompanying the doctor is not just running errands. The service starts from the moment the order is received. " Liu Wei said that she would communicate with patients in advance to understand the condition and medical demands, and also let patients in different places prepare documents, nucleic acid certificates and previous inspection reports. "It is necessary to run the hospital well, be familiar with the internal structure, and understand the professional knowledge of doctors to prevent customers from consulting."
The day before the visit, if the patient may need a blood test, she will advise the other person to have an empty stomach and remember to bring mineral water and bread. On the day of the visit, her duty is to help the patient communicate with the doctor and then feed back the doctor's advice to her family. "Many people can't tell the illness or forget the problem when they are nervous." The rest of the time, Liu Shanshan will arrange the most efficient examination order, and then put the patients in the rest area and queue around with a stack of bills. ...
"Helping patients improve their medical experience and reducing the burden of guiding doctors for hospitals is the value of accompanying doctors." Li jianxin told reporters that most of the accompanying doctors of Almond Gang have relevant experience, either part-time doctors or nurses or medical practitioners who are familiar with the hospital. However, in his view, this industry has certain public welfare attributes and the skill threshold is not high. The most important thing is to have love, responsibility and empathy.
Last year, a single mother from Anhui took her children to Zhejiang Children's Health Hospital, and li jianxin accepted them. "When I arrived at the hospital, I found that the experts introduced by local doctors couldn't hang up the number, and the patient's mother was in a hurry to cry. Coincidentally, there are doctors from the provincial hospital of traditional Chinese medicine in the team. After coordination, he added a number to the child, and his mother always said thank you. " Li jianxin said that although registration is not a matter for the platform, "help if you have the ability" should be the attitude of accompanying doctors.
When necessary, the accompanying doctor also acts as an "anchor needle" around the patient. Yan Junru once accompanied a 60-year-old malignant tumor patient. Another person was frightened by the test results and sat in the corridor crying. "I have been with her, comforting her, telling some cases with good prognosis, and my aunt's mood has slowly eased. When he left, he said to me,' My child, thanks to your presence.' "
Standardizing development is the only way.
"As a low-frequency demand, escort consulting service has entered the public's field of vision, but it is not enough." Li jianxin believes that the industry is still in a fairly early stage. "We found that many patients have needs, but they don't understand this industry. Conversely, we can provide services, but we can't find customers. " Yan Junru feels that consumers' habits have not been effectively cultivated. "Many customers will be skeptical and will repeatedly confirm' You are not a liar, are you?' " "
Liu Shanshan found that hospitals and doctors' evaluation of accompanying consultation service was polarized. "Some doctors regard us as helpers, thinking that the accompanying consultation service can alleviate the contradiction between doctors and patients, while some hospitals are cautious and feel that we are coming from the wrong road."
Behind the difficulty in building trust is the mixed market itself. Liu Shanshan said that the charging standard of accompanying consultation service is linked to the income level of different places, and the half-day price ranges from 150 yuan to 400 yuan. However, some merchants maliciously undercut the competition and disrupted the market. Some scalpers, under the banner of accompanying doctors, promised to help patients grab the expert number, take the green channel and block the operation.
"Some people earn money from accompanying doctors, not from users." Li jianxin said that on the short video platform, some people advertised for accompanying doctors and paid for training with the introduction of work as bait, but with the current industry volume, it was impossible to cash in.
The reporter found that what is even more difficult for practitioners is that as a new industry, accompanying doctors have not yet formed a unified standard in terms of access threshold, service process and dispute resolution, and everything must be explored by themselves.
Li jianxin agreed with the team that medical services involve personal privacy, and photos and recordings of patients' illness must be destroyed in time; In order to avoid disputes, it is required to be accompanied by family members when serving disabled or semi-disabled patients. Liu Shan made a "risk notification", clarified the rights and obligations of both parties, and bought accident insurance for each patient.
At the moment when the problem of aging is prominent, accompanying counselors are expected to become an important force to solve the "difficulty in seeing a doctor". "Pan Helin, co-director and researcher of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center of Zhejiang University International Joint Business School, pointed out that relevant departments should promote the establishment of rules and regulations, set reasonable entry thresholds, clarify service and charging standards as soon as possible, and approve or record institutions; In the future, we should also assist in the establishment of industry associations, promote the improvement of service level, and lead the industry on the road of standardized development.