A recent Q&A from PYA, “Physicians Bridge Pacific: SCAPE Aims to Effect Quality Reform in China,” features Dr. Xiang Qian and Dr. Gang Li, co-founders of the Society of Chinese American Physician Entrepreneurs (SCAPE). The two-part series explores hurdles in China’s healthcare delivery system and how a group of Chinese American physicians are looking to America to collaborate through physician training and education and sharing of patient-centered initiatives to help in restructuring China’s approach to healthcare.

Over the last three to four decades, China’s economy has burgeoned into the second largest gross domestic product in the world. Unfortunately, that growth has not extended to the country’s healthcare system, where physician resources remain concentrated in major cities and the aging population in China will almost equal the entire U.S. population over the next decade. China has recognized that reform is needed and is expected to double its expenditure on healthcare in the next five years.

Realizing these needs and the enormous opportunity for effecting reform while improving quality, Drs. Qian and Li were among eight physicians who founded SCAPE in 2014 to connect Chinese American physicians, enhance academic medical institution collaboration between the U.S. and China, and promote the evolution of healthcare in China.

According to Dr. Qian, “The healthcare system in China cannot meet the growing demand of the economy. Basically, there is no primary care system in China. The trust in doctors is at a historically low point because of overdiagnosis and overtreatment as well as unmatched physician resources over such a large patient population load [not much time spent with patients due to overwhelming patient volume]. Essentially, there is very little patient-centered medical services or healthcare culture in China.” 
With the Chinese government preparing to greatly expand healthcare spending and implement reform, SCAPE aims to leverage opportunities for innovation and collaboration to help with overall reform design and improvements in the quality of care.

PYA’s U.S.-China Business Advisory Services team provides international advisory services for companies that are working to enter or expand business into U.S. or China markets. Our team possesses a unique bi-cultural and bi-lingual background that allows it to effectively manage the political, legal, cultural, regulatory, and economic issues inherent to businesses in both America and China. This familiarity provides the ability to broker effective communication between firms, clients, customers, and companies, as well as government agencies. PYA offers market entry strategy, location studies, investment and holding structuring, tax planning and compliance, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory, and post-deal integration for industries that include healthcare, consumer markets, financial services, government, industrial markets, infrastructure, manufacturing and technology, media and telecommunications, and private equity.

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