Recap | Case Studies in Cross-Border Care — From Global Inbound to Outbound Excellence

On 8 September 2026, the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai (BritCham Shanghai) hosted an evening session titled “Case Studies in Cross-Border Care: From Global Inbound to Outbound Excellence.” The event brought together hospital leaders, referral specialists and insurance representatives for two case-study presentations and a panel discussion on the practical realities of moving patients across borders — both into China (inbound medical tourism) and out of China (outbound referrals to overseas centres of excellence).

The evening was moderated throughout by Maxwell J Kirkby, CEO of Huang & Kirkby Medical Consulting Co., and Vice Chair of BritCham Advanced Engineering Manufacturing & Life Sciences Committee, who introduced each speaker, guided the panel discussion, and closed the session.

Keynote Session 1:
Inbound Care — Jiahui International Cancer Center (JICC)

Dr. Linli Xuan, Chief of Medical Oncology at Jiahui International Cancer Center (JICC), presented JICC’s experience welcoming international patients to China for advanced cancer care. JICC, part of Jiahui International Hospital and a strategic partner of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, has treated patients from 74 countries since 2025 (about 20% of total patient volume), supported by physicians from 20+ countries and care in 12 languages, and points to speed, affordability, cutting-edge therapies (including the world’s first CAR-T therapy for a solid tumour) and access to China-originated drugs such as ivonescimab as its core advantages.

She illustrated this with patient stories including Daniel (US, advanced NSCLC treated with ivonescimab), Josh (New Zealand, gastroduodenal adenocarcinoma treated with the CAR-T therapy Satri-cel), Rebecca (US, biliary cancer requiring coordinated transfer of ongoing chemo back to the US), Charles (Gibraltar, a complex undiagnosed lung lesion), a breast cancer patient who began chemotherapy within three days of arrival, and a long-term metastatic breast cancer patient for whom the team arranged end-of-life travel home to Poland — with audience feedback highlighting the value of access to China-developed medicines and the speed of multidisciplinary

Keynote Session 2: Outbound Care — Mayo Clinic China Representative Office

Rebecca Gu, China Representative at the Mayo Clinic China Representative Office, shared lessons from Mayo Clinic’s first months facilitating outbound referrals from China. Mayo Clinic — ranked #1 in the US for eight consecutive years, with 12 top-ranked specialties, 600+ corporate health clients and 23 international offices — opened its Shanghai office in June 2024 as the first such office on the Chinese mainland, acting purely as a bridge to its US-based resources rather than providing local treatment. Ms. Gu outlined five key lessons from the office’s first months: patient readiness (not physician interest) is the biggest bottleneck; trust is built through a rigorous pre-review process; referral channels perform very differently and mature on different timelines; compliance must be built in from the outset rather than retrofitted; and comprehensive coordination — including continuity of care back in China via a partnership with United Family Healthcare — is a two-way opportunity that builds trust and repeat referrals. She also noted that a typical US second-opinion consultation takes about seven days and costs roughly USD 10,000–20,000, making it accessible to a broader range of families than commonly assumed.

Panel Discussion & Open Dialogue

The panel was moderated by Maxwell J Kirkby (CEO, Huang & Kirkby Medical Consulting Co.) and included:

• Wang Chunming (Michael) — Professor and Director, Smart Hospital Development Department, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
• Alexander Larcher — Director, International Strategy & Market Development, Shanghai Jiahui International Hospital
• Leo Chen — Director of Business, Abacare Shanghai Office
• Beibei Jiang — Head of International Healthcare Platform, United Family Healthcare; Vice President, New Frontier Group
• Hui Wang — Deputy Chief Urologist, Shanghai Suntec Hospital

Typical Patient Journeys

Asked to describe typical patient journeys, Alexander Larcher noted there is no single standard journey, but broadly three types of medical traveller:

• Treatment-driven travellers — patients who come specifically for a therapy or drug that is only available in China.
• Planned medical travellers — patients considering a health check or similar service who compare China against other possible destinations.
• Leisure/business travellers — patients whose primary purpose is travel or business, who combine their trip with a healthcare service.

China / Shanghai as an Inbound Destination

Michael Wang (Renji Hospital) reflected on Shanghai’s strengths and constraints as an inbound destination:

• Renji is one of 38 tertiary hospitals in Shanghai and has strong specialty depth — for example, over 9,000 liver transplants performed to date — that can be shared globally as China’s high-end medical technology matures.
• Shanghai’s location is less naturally advantaged for medical tourism than hub cities such as Singapore, given the surrounding geography; attracting inbound patients therefore requires pairing high-end specialties (cardiac, urology, gastroenterology, OBGYN/IVF, etc.) with consistently high-quality service.
• Patients who travel internationally for care tend to be highly informed — they have often exhausted options at home and researched specific treatments in depth before choosing where to go, so in many cases “patients find the hospital” rather than the reverse.

The Outbound Patient Journey and the Role of Insurance

Leo Chen (Abacare) shared perspective from the insurance side of outbound referrals:

• Even with a declining domestic population, demand for referrals to advanced overseas treatment (e.g. the UK) for complex cases remains significant, as patients continue to seek the best available global practice.
• A typical outbound journey involves: identifying a trustworthy public, professional or third-party partner; weighing the cost-benefit of travelling for treatment; engaging the receiving hospital and specialists; managing visa and logistics; in-country coordination (transport, hospital liaison, language support); arranging insurance; and post-treatment follow-up care.

Considerations for Patients, Doctors and Hospital Management

Panellists highlighted considerations across three groups involved in cross-border care:

• For patients: trust in the receiving doctor/institution, and the overall cost of the care journey — supportive visa policies were noted as helping more international visitors feel confident choosing China.
• For doctors: complete and detailed medical history/records are essential for accurate treatment planning, and native-language support materially improves the patient experience.
• For hospital management: clear legal and compliance frameworks, and explicit guidelines for working with third-party referral partners, are needed to safeguard patient interests when a hospital does not have a direct relationship with the referring party.

Key Takeaways

• China’s cross-border healthcare ecosystem spans both directions: inbound, where international patients access cutting-edge treatments and China-originated medicines not yet available elsewhere, and outbound, where Chinese patients are referred to overseas centres of excellence for specialist care.
• Across both directions, the common bottlenecks are the same: complete and trustworthy medical records, rigorous pre-review/coordination, and continuity of care once treatment is complete.
• Third-party referral platforms and international representative offices play a critical bridging role — particularly for public hospitals that lack dedicated international marketing capacity.
• China’s combination of affordability and an increasingly innovative treatment landscape (e.g. first-in-world CAR-T therapy, novel domestically developed drugs) is a genuine competitive advantage for inbound medical tourism, including in the underserved middle-market segment.
• Sustainable, larger-scale growth in cross-border care will likely require greater national-level coordination and strategy, similar to established medical tourism destinations such as Thailand and Turkey.

Closing Remarks

Maxwell J Kirkby closed the session by thanking Dr. Xuan and Ms. Gu for their case study presentations, and the panellists for an open and candid discussion. He noted his hope that China’s cross-border healthcare providers — public and private — could one day be represented together under a more coordinated national strategy, raising international awareness of the quality of care available in China.

BritCham Shanghai thanked all speakers, panellists and attendees for their time and contributions, and looks forward to continuing to convene conversations that connect Shanghai’s international healthcare community.