Hope Noah: Is All-Inclusive Pricing an Effective Strategy for the Medical Tourism Industry?

Hope Noah Health Management (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (hereafter Hope Noah) was one of China's earliest providers of medical tourism services. The company built a sterling reputation among customers, and demand for its services grew quickly. However, CEO Wang Gang wanted to achieve more than just handsome sales figures and hoped to provide customers with more effective, efficient, and affordable medical tourism services. He believed that the industry’s prevailing pricing model, whereby customers were charged according to the amount, duration, and frequency of services ran counter to patients' interests, as less effective and longer treatments resulted in higher bills. To address this issue, Wang considered switching to an "all-inclusive" pricing model covering medical costs, service charges, and all other non-medical expenses arising from treatment. In addition to addressing patients' concerns about unpredictable expenses, this model would also force the company to increase efficiency, aligning the interest of patients with those of the company. However, Wang's proposal was unanimously opposed by other executives due to the financial risks associated with the inherent uncertainties of medical treatment. This case looks into a thought-provoking topic as it concerns China's inadequate medical resources, deficient healthcare system, rapidly aging society, and consumption upgrading trends. The case study will cover topics like basic pricing theories and innovative pricing methods while showing students how to formulate marketing strategies for companies by applying theoretical frameworks such as the marketing mix.