The increasingly popular escort service, how far is it from professionalization?
"I have a map of 22 major hospitals in Beijing in my mind." Two years ago, Yan Junru was still working in human resources in a company and volunteered in a tertiary hospital in his spare time.
"Departments are becoming more and more subdivided, and there are smart devices everywhere. The patients who seek help are confused and anxious." Having deeply experienced the difficulty of seeking medical treatment, he resigned and founded a platform for accompanying clinicians, turning public service into his own business.
Accompanying the doctor throughout the whole process, queuing for registration, paying for medicines, and planning for the patient's medical treatment... Since last year, the popularity of escort services has gradually increased, and Yan Junru has more and more colleagues.
The reporter found that there are more than 500 stores providing escort services on major e-commerce platforms, located in cities with abundant medical resources such as Beijing, Hangzhou, and Xi'an. In the past year, 26,000 people searched for "accompanying doctors" on Taobao.
Behind the rising demand, which groups are spending money on services?
What skills do you need to have to become a medical escort?
How far is this nascent industry from professional development?
With these questions, the reporter interviewed several practitioners.
Pain points in medical treatment give rise to the need for accompanying consultation
According to Yan Junru's observation, there are mainly several types of customer groups: empty-nest elderly people who are not around their children, single young people who work hard in the city alone, precious mothers who take their children to see a doctor and lack of skills, and acute and critically ill patients who seek medical treatment in other places.
In his view, what the escort should do is to help the "people in need" to improve the efficiency of medical treatment.
"Paying bills, doing examinations, and receiving reports are located on different floors. Many patients are inconvenient or unfamiliar with the procedures, so they get in within a few hours. An uncle once did not know what to do first because he did not know how to triage first, and he didn't like it after a day of waiting. sick."
Li Jianxin, who also founded a medical escort service company, decided to enter the industry from several "lonely moments".
He suffered an acute duodenal ulcer attack and no family was around. He endured the pain and shuttled back and forth in the hospital. "At that moment, he was hit by loneliness."
Later, his wife became pregnant, and he was not feeling well, but he had to go to check himself. He felt powerless because of his busy work.
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.
Like Li Jianxin, Liu Shanshan from Shenyang also discovered a demand market in her daily medical treatment.
When she first decided to start her own business, she was very optimistic about the aging industry, but she never found an entry point.
By chance, an aunt who lives in Fushun, Liaoning, came to Shenyang to see a doctor, and her cousin in Shanghai asked Liu Shanshan to take care of her.
"After more than ten days of tossing around, if I wasn't there, my aunt wouldn't be able to use or find it, such as operating a smart device to get a number, pay for it, make an appointment for an inspection, and it would definitely take longer."
This experience made her face the pain points of the elderly in medical treatment, and also allowed her to see the market behind it.
Soon after, Liu Shanshan established a team of escort clinics to carry out escort clinic services.
Today, the company receives an average of about 500 orders per month, and the charging standard is 198 yuan for a half day and 298 yuan for a full day.
Liu Shanshan found that two generations have different levels of acceptance for this price.
"Usually young people place orders for their parents, and the elderly are reluctant to spend money, but for children, the cost of asking for leave is actually higher. Many customers will say hello in advance and let the escort call themselves his friend." Liu Shanshan said with a smile , Although I am often worried about revealing the stuffing, I also have a real sense of satisfaction in my heart. "A customer once reported that her mother would ask, 'Can that friend still accompany me' before going to the doctor every time."
Service content is more than just errands
Liu Shanshan is more willing to define her work as a "visit planner" than an escort.
"For example, many examinations require appointments. Some patients from other places come, but they can't do the examinations on the same day. The cost of food and lodging is very high. We will help him plan in advance and prescribe examinations on their behalf. The results can be seen on the same day.”
"Accompanying the clinic is not just running errands, the service starts from the moment the order is received." Liu Shanshan said that she will communicate with patients in advance to understand the condition and medical demands.
"We must familiarize ourselves with the internal structure of the hospital, and at the same time understand the expertise of doctors and make choices for customers."
The day before the visit, if the patient may need a blood test, she will advise the patient on an empty stomach and prepare some breakfast for the patient.
On the day of the consultation, her duty is to help the patient communicate with the doctor, and then feed back the doctor's advice to the family. "Many people can't explain their condition or forget the problem when they are nervous." During the rest of the time, Liu Shanshan will arrange the most efficient examination sequence. Then place the patient in the rest area and start queuing around with a stack of lists.
"To help patients improve their medical experience and reduce the burden of medical guidance for hospitals, this is the value of escorts." Li Jianxin told reporters that this industry has certain public welfare attributes, and the skill threshold is not high. The most important thing is to have love and responsibility heart and empathy.
When necessary, the escort also acts as the "Dinghai Shenzhen" around the patient.
Yan Junru once accompanied a 60-year-old malignant tumor patient. The other party was frightened by the examination results and sat in the corridor crying.
"I have been accompanying her, comforting her, and telling some cases with better prognosis. My aunt's mood was gradually relieved. When she parted, she said to me, 'child, thanks to having you by my side'."
Standardized development is the only way
"As a low-frequency demand, although the escort service has entered the public eye, the reach is not enough." Li Jianxin believes that the industry is still in the early stage of development.
"We have not yet formed an effective supply and demand connection with patients." Yan Junru feels that consumers' usage habits have not been effectively established. "Many customers will be skeptical and will repeatedly confirm 'you are not liars' before placing an order."
Behind the difficulty of establishing trust is the confusion of the market itself.
Liu Shanshan said that the charging standard of the escort service is linked to the income level of each place. The price for half a day ranges from 150 yuan to 400 yuan. However, some merchants maliciously compete with prices and disrupt the market. There are also scalpers who promise to accompany the doctor under the banner of escorting doctors. It can help patients to grab an expert number, take the green channel, and perform surgeries.
"Some people make money from laborers." Li Jianxin said that on the short video platform, some people put out attractive advertisements to recruit escorts, but used job introductions as bait for paid training.
The reporter found that what makes it even more difficult for practitioners is that, as an emerging industry, escort clinicians have not yet formed a unified standard in terms of access threshold, service process, dispute resolution, etc., and everything has to be explored by themselves.
Li Jianxin agreed with the team that medical services involve personal privacy, and photos and recordings of patients' conditions must be destroyed in time; in order to avoid disputes, family members should be accompanied when serving disabled or semi-disabled patients.
Liu Shanshan formulated a "risk notice", which clearly defined the rights and obligations of both parties, and also purchased accidental injury insurance for each patient.
"Under the background of aging, medical escorts are expected to become an important force in resolving 'difficulties in seeking medical treatment'." Pan Helin, co-director and researcher of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center of Zhejiang University International Business School, pointed out that relevant departments should promote the establishment of chapters Establish a system, set a reasonable entry threshold, clarify the service and charging standards as soon as possible, and conduct approval or record-keeping management for practitioners.
In the future, it should also assist in the formation of industry associations, promote the improvement of service levels, and lead the industry on a standardized development path.
Chen Xi