Treating a pet How to make it clear
It is expected to improve the pet diagnosis and treatment price management system with scientific pricing and clear pricing
"Qiu Qiu" is a two-and-a-half-year-old silver gradation pet cat who began to experience frequent coughing symptoms last week. The owner of the post-90s generation, Xu Jian, didn't care at first, but he didn't expect that the kitten still coughed a week later, and the frequency was even higher. This made Xu Jian nervous, because it was "very much like asthma as said on the Internet". So he took "Qiuqiu" to a pet hospital in Beijing's Chaoyang District, and under the advice of pet doctors and nurses, Xu Jian decided to do an examination for "Qiuqiu", including cat respiratory virus PCR test, blood routine test, cardiac ultrasound, and took two X-rays.
After a check, Xu Jian spent more than 3000,<> yuan. The doctor said, "At present, there is no problem in sight, asthma is more likely; If it continues to deteriorate, hormones will be needed for lifelong intervention, and the cost may be tens of thousands of yuan. ”
"When my colleagues found out, they all said I was crazy. Because I haven't spent so much money on my own medical treatment. Xu Jian said that although the price made him distressed, "but in order to reduce Qiuqiu's illness in the future, I still gritted my teeth and paid."
High fees for examination and treatment often overwhelm pet owners
While the pet medical market is growing, undesirable phenomena such as excessive examination and minor treatment appear from time to time.
Zhou Lei, who is engaged in the design industry, took her cat to the hospital not long ago to see a cold, but she didn't expect to prescribe nearly 1000,150 yuan of medicine. "I was very worried about the kitten, the doctor asked me to pay the fee, and when I came back to see the list, cold medicine 100 yuan, anti-inflammatory drugs 200 yuan, ear anti-inflammatory drugs 150 yuan, blood test 300 yuan, and a box of more than <> yuan of nutritional supplements."
Liu Yu, who is taking a pet to see a doctor in a pet hospital, also told reporters that he spent more than 10,1 yuan in <> days to treat his kitten.
The high cost of pet medical treatment has also led to some pet owners who have just joined the work or are still studying to abandon their pets. "When I just graduated, I saved money to buy a cat, but I didn't expect to get cat plague, the doctor said that the treatment fee would be at least thousands of yuan, and the family felt that it was not worth it for a cat, and forced me to send the cat away." Wu Kai said that he could not afford the diagnosis fee alone, and the sending of the cat made him feel distressed and guilty.
According to the "2022 China Pet Medical Industry White Paper", the fastest growing in the pet industry is medical consumption, an increase of 2021.10% over the same period in 7, and currently accounts for second only to food.
In the pet medical industry, there is an asymmetry of information between doctors and patients. Because animals cannot speak and cannot be consulted, the exclusion method is often used to see a doctor, that is, laboratory tests are used to check one by one, and the high cost of examination and treatment often overwhelms pet owners.
Liu Yu said that when he took his pet to the hospital for examination, the doctor asked him to do what the examination was, that is, he kept paying money, "I didn't think that it would cost so much money before, and I thought that paying a few thousand yuan could cure it, but I didn't expect to spend more than 1,<>." I don't know exactly where the money is spent."
Sometimes, it is common to do a few more physical examinations and buy more food or supplies during the course of treatment. According to the data of the "2022 China Pet Medical Industry White Paper", among the categories consumed by pet hospitals, the categories that account for the largest proportion are three aspects: "treating pets", "buying pet medicines" and "beauty and care". Pet medical care and beauty care are the mainstream items of pet hospital consumption.
The reporter found on social platforms such as Xiaohongshu that there are many people who are troubled by the "expensive medical treatment" of pets. Many netizens posted pet hospital bills, "After the dog has undergone surgery, the hospital's bill feels two meters long" and "an imported anti-inflammatory drug costs 35 yuan"...
Pets are expensive, in the eyes of some consumers, because some pet hospitals charge indiscriminately and over-treat. However, the "2022 China Pet Medical Industry White Paper" shows that nearly 2022% of pet hospitals in 45 have profit margins of more than 10%; At the same time, one in five pet hospitals is losing money. The profits of a considerable number of pet hospitals are not as high as people think, and even many are living beyond their means.
Industry insiders: pet hospital profits "not as high as imagined"
The "shovel officers" shouted that the fees were high, and the pet hospitals were also crying about low profits. Wang Wenli, a pet professional teacher at Beijing Agricultural Vocational College, told the China Youth Daily that it is an indisputable fact that treating pets is expensive, but due to the high rent, expensive equipment, expensive drug purchase price, high investment and high cost of pet hospitals, the current profits of pet hospitals are "not as high as imagined."
According to Wang Wenli, the cost of pet medical institutions mainly comes from three aspects: first, the cost of pet doctors, in China, to become a qualified veterinarian, at least 5 years of practical experience, during which to continue to participate in various training and learning at home and abroad, a doctor's annual training fee ranges from 5,<> to <>,<> yuan; The second is the cost of drugs, such as the same antibiotics, human medicine is a few yuan a bottle, but pet medicine is a few yuan a piece, this is because the production of pet drugs is less than that of people, and the unit price is higher; The third is the cost of equipment, animals can not speak, accurate instruments can help doctors accurately find the cause, reduce the pain of pets, the more accurate the instrument cost.
However, the high capital investment may not be able to return high revenue. The MRI and CT of pet inspection, a piece of equipment costs 300 million yuan, the annual maintenance fee is about 30,3 yuan, and 30 staff members are required to cooperate at the same time. Wang Wenli said, "In the case of 6% of the net profit, it takes 8-5 years to return the capital, but in fact, it will be depreciated and eliminated in 10 to <> years, and the cost of introducing a nuclear magnetic equipment can be the same as the income, which is already the most ideal state." ”
In ordinary hospitals, a machine can check about hundreds of people a day, but in animal hospitals, there are generally only 3-5 cases of pets that need CT per day. In addition, "the entry threshold for veterinary drugs is not lower than that for human drugs, and new drugs need many links from research and development, testing, etc. to entering the market through approval." Wang Wenli explained, "The sharing of many costs such as drug purchase price, equipment loss and labor cost leads to a higher unit price of drugs and inspections." ”
Wu Sai, who runs a pet hospital in Beijing, said that the hospital where he works has invested three to four million yuan in equipment alone. He believes that good equipment can help doctors understand the condition more accurately, so it is necessary.
In addition, at present, domestic pet medical clinical drugs still rely on a large number of imports, and the price is high. According to CITIC Construction data, 70% of domestic pet drugs come from abroad; The market share of foreign brands of pet vaccines is as high as 90%.
"People always think that pet hospitals make a lot of money, but in fact, a pet hospital only makes a profit of 5% to 8%, which is still when it does a good job." Wu Sai learned after training with his colleagues a few days ago that "as far as the Beijing market is concerned, fifty or sixty pet hospitals have been closed last year."
"The peers I contact are usually pet chain clinics or hospitals, and most of the individual stores are difficult to maintain." Wu Sai said.
The "2022 China Pet Medical Industry White Paper" also shows that as of October 2022, the number of pet diagnosis and treatment institutions in the country reached 10,19930, and nearly 40% of the hospitals had a year-on-year increase in annual turnover, with a growth rate mainly within 10%, and 28.1% of hospitals experienced negative annual turnover.
How to crack the expensive pet doctor
High prices of drugs and tests, a privately funded hospital system, a shortage of veterinary doctors, and psychological acceptance of animal medical costs have made it inevitable that pet medical treatment is expensive.
On the one hand, there is demand, on the other hand, helplessness. To promote the solution of the problem of expensive pet treatment, many practitioners believe that the establishment of pet medical associations can be used to supervise and regulate each other in the industry, create a good industry atmosphere, and promote the healthy development of the industry.
In recent years, with the introduction of various pet medical related policies successively, the state has continuously improved the market norms and legal system specifically for the pet economy, so that the standardized development of the pet consumer market has a basis and guarantee.
In August 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the Measures for the Management of Animal Diagnosis and Treatment Institutions to further strengthen the management of animal diagnosis and treatment institutions and standardize animal diagnosis and treatment behavior. Since October 8, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the State Administration for Market Regulation have jointly issued the Notice on Carrying out Special Rectification Actions to Standardize the Order of Pet Diagnosis and Treatment in Some Cities, establishing a coordination mechanism for pet diagnosis and treatment supervision of agricultural and rural areas and market supervision departments through carrying out special rectification actions, improving the level of standardization of pet diagnosis and treatment, promoting the high-quality development of the industry, building a dynamic supervision model that effectively prevents risks and effectively maintains market order, and improves the price management system of scientific pricing, reasonable prices and clear prices.
Wang Wenli said that in the face of frequent consumer doubts about the pet diagnosis and treatment market, it is the general trend to strengthen the supervision of the pet medical market. On the one hand, it is necessary to strictly abide by the relevant regulations such as the Measures for the Management of Animal Diagnosis and Treatment Structure, and practitioners should cultivate a strong awareness of engaging in pet diagnosis and treatment in accordance with the law; On the other hand, administrative supervision and industry self-discipline should keep up, increase the transparency and openness of the whole process of pet diagnosis and treatment, and let doctors return to the original intention of doctors when operating, examining and administering medicines.
Nowadays, there are also matching pet medical insurance on the market, and pets can be reimbursed for medical treatment; Some pet hospitals are also expanding the online consultation business of "Internet + pet medical care". As the industry gradually becomes standardized, the problem of expensive pet treatment will also improve.
China Youth Daily / China Youth Network Reporter Mou Haokun Intern Han Wenyi Source: China Youth Daily