2020 medical industry development status trend and prospect analysis

At present, China’s public medical management system is imperfect. The people’s livelihood plagues problems such as high medical costs, few channels, and low coverage. Medical issues represented by “low-efficiency medical systems, poor-quality medical services, and difficult and expensive medical treatment” are the main focus of social concern. Large hospitals are overcrowded, community hospitals are unattended, and patients have cumbersome medical procedures. These problems are caused by low medical information, medical resources’ polarization, and incomplete medical supervision mechanisms. These problems have become essential factors affecting the harmonious development of society.

It is reported that China’s current medical and health care accounts for about 5% of GDP, compared with 17% in the United States, China’s medical consumption level is still in its infancy. With the continuous development of the economy, per capita disposable income and health concepts will continue to improve. Medical and health consumption will usher in a long-term steady development stage. With the intensification of aging, the strengthening of national health awareness, the renewal and development of medical technology, and the deepening of the medical and health system’s reform, the hospital medical industry has ushered in a good opportunity for rapid growth.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, as of the end of 2019, there were 1.014 million medical and health institutions nationwide, including 34,000 hospitals, 12,000 public hospitals, 22,000 private hospitals, and 96,000 primary medical and health institutions. There are 36,000 township health centers, 35,000 community health service centers (stations), 267,000 clinics (stations), 621,000 village clinics; 17,000 professional public health institutions, including 3456 centers for disease prevention and control. There are 3,106 health inspection centers (centers). At the end of the year, there were 10.1 million health technicians, including 3.82 million practicing physicians and assistant practicing physicians, and 4.43 million registered nurses. There were 8.92 million beds in medical and health institutions, including 6.97 million in hospitals and 1.38 million in township health centers. The total number of consultations was 8.52 billion in the whole year, and the number of discharged patients was 270 million.

According to the research report of the China Research Institute of Industry, “In-depth analysis of the medical and pharmaceutical industry market in 2020-2025 and development strategy research report” analysis

2020 Overview of China’s Medical Industry Development. The development trend of China’s medical industry

Demand from the medical industry is rising steadily

The upgrading of medical consumption and the aging of the population stimulate industry demand. China’s current medical and health care accounts for about 5% of GDP, compared with 17% in the United States, and the level of medical consumption is still in its infancy. With the continuous development of the economy, per capita disposable income and health concepts will continue to improve. Medical and health consumption will usher in a long-term steady development stage. Also, the prevalence of chronic diseases in China continues to rise, and the aging population will continue to promote medical services consumption. Since 2016, the cost of inspection and surgery in public hospitals has continued to be faster than the cost of medicines, and industry demand has become increasingly vital.

There is still much room for development in the medical market

In the past ten years, the average annual growth rate of per capita medical and health expenditure has exceeded 14%; the proportion of health expenditure in GDP has increased year by year, reaching 6.39% in 2018. Compared with developed countries (accounting for more than 10%), there is still a big gap. With the growth of people’s economic income, the intensification of aging, the strengthening of national health awareness, the renewal and development of medical technology, and the deepening of the reform of the medical and health system, the hospital medical industry has ushered in a good opportunity for rapid development.

Medical needs have been growing

In 2018, the total number of patients diagnosed and treated nationwide was 8.31 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.6%; the number of patients diagnosed and treated in hospitals was 3.58 billion, an increase of 4.1%. The demand for medical services in my country has been increasing. The rise in demand mainly comes from the aging of the population, population prevalence (increased health awareness), and medical insurance coverage improvement.

The supply of medical services is mainly public hospitals and tertiary hospitals

According to the 2018 data, the number of public hospitals accounted for 36.45%. The number of beds accounted for 73.66%; the number of tertiary hospitals accounted for only 7.7%, and the number of beds accounted for 39.37%. The supply side of medical services presents a pattern dominated by public hospitals and tertiary hospitals. At present, the overall hospital bed utilization rate has exceeded 84%, among which the utilization rate of tertiary hospitals, which undertakes the most critical medical tasks, is as high as 97.5%. The average doctor bears 7.0 visits per day, basically in a state of full or even overload operation. Simultaneously, the number of physicians per 10,000 population is 18, and the number of nurses per 10,000 people is 23, which is much lower than developed countries such as Germany and Australia.

The medical insurance payment structure is optimized, and the medical service industry is expected to benefit deeply. Since December 2018, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing and other places have introduced policies that require public hospitals to fully use consumables and adjust the price of medical services to compensate them. The cost of pathological diagnosis projects has generally increased.

In 2019, industry support policies were intensively promulgated, and the field of private specialties was booming. In the past ten years, specialty hospitals’ compound income growth rate has reached 19%, which exceeds that of public hospitals. Also, in 2019, the Health and Health Commission, the National Development and Reform Commission, and other departments continue to introduce policies to encourage society to run medical services and deepen the medical service supply reform. We judge that the private specialized track with high barriers and expansion such as ophthalmology, physical examination, and assisted reproduction is expected to benefit profoundly.

Source: OFweek, China