I Can Talk to the Internal Organs

Chapter 359 - 325: Going All In

Lu Jiu arrived at Wei Zhengxian’s office.

He was quite eager to see this traditional Chinese doctor who could heal through fortune-telling.

Unfortunately, these days, he hadn’t seen Wei Zhengxian sitting for a consultation.

"Elder Wei," Lu Jiu greeted upon entering the room.

"Have a seat," Wei Zhengxian smiled when he saw Lu Jiu come in. "How have you found the consultations these past few days?"

Lu Jiu replied, "Not bad, not much different from Jianghan, except the medicinal herbs here are significantly more expensive."

Wei Zhengxian laughed heartily, "Of course, it can’t be the same as Jianghan. Most patients who come to Wei Medical Hall are not short on money. For the survival of Wei Medical Hall, naturally, we need to increase the price of herbs. Otherwise, we doctors can’t survive in a place like Jinling."

Lu Jiu nodded, "I understand, the foremost thing for a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine is to survive."

With Wei Medical Hall’s model, raising prices is essential. Because many patients who fall ill and come there can generally have their issues resolved. For their next ailment, it might be ages before they return. If you only earn tens or hundreds of yuan from a patient, there’s no way you could keep going in a place like Jinling.

Simply put, although Wei Medical Hall is traditional Chinese medicine, the system still follows the Western Hospital’s model of sustaining medicine through medical treatment.

This model, how should I put it, naturally conflicts with the healing philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine.

Traditional Chinese medicine uses minimal herbs. In classic prescriptions, one more or one less herb won’t work.

This model can only lead traditional Chinese medicine towards the Warm Disease School because, anyway, one more or less herb won’t kill the patient.

Therefore, unless this model undergoes reform, traditional Chinese medicine struggles to go further.

Because when you are always playing a game according to rules set by others, how can you possibly beat an opponent who is also the referee?

Wei Zhengxian chuckled, "But your model seems to allow traditional Chinese medicine to thrive better!"

Lu Jiu replied, "You know about it?"

Wei Zhengxian chuckled, "You told Shang Yehua about it, didn’t you want me to know?"

Lu Jiu laughed, "Then in your opinion, can traditional Chinese medicine move in this direction?"

Wei Zhengxian did not directly answer Lu Jiu’s question. "Before answering you, I want to know what your system is based on. These ideas, you didn’t just come up with them out of thin air, did you?"

Whether it’s the evaluation system for disease cure rates, the salary system for doctors, or the prevention system centered on pulse examination, all challenge the existing medical system.

It seems like a reform within traditional Chinese medicine, but it could actually impact the entire medical world.

I ask this: When a hospital makes curing illness its ultimate goal and offers refunds if it fails, how many of today’s hospitals dare to follow suit?

Very few indeed!

Not to mention Western Hospitals, even many Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospitals dare not do this.

Hearing Wei Zhengxian’s question, Lu Jiu thought of when he was consulting at Jinling Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. An old traditional Chinese doctor prescribed 10 grams of Chuanqiong for a patient.

The patient’s illness was cured in just two weeks.

But more than half a year later, the patient suddenly presented the prescription from the old doctor and a certificate from the hospital, claiming an allergy to Chuanqiong. The patient also argued that the old doctor exceeded the dosage prescribed in medical texts, and thus sued the doctor.

In the end, the old doctor had to pay more than three hundred thousand yuan, and the matter was settled.

Such cases are not many, but even one has a huge impact.

Because no one can guarantee that a patient won’t sue them, and if a prescription is made beyond the recommended dosage to cure a disease, years or even decades of savings could be wiped out overnight.

Patients don’t understand the use of formula compatibility to correct the biases of herbs.

Anyway, in the common perception of most people, if a medicine is proven toxic, overdosing would certainly be harmful.

Yet, many times, even if something is non-toxic, overdosing is still harmful, like sugar.

So, crudely measuring the toxicity of herbs by grams rather than by compatibility is to choke the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine by the rules.

But rules are rules, and individuals are powerless to change them.

"Elder Wei, you must know the Pharmacopoeia. Since traditional Chinese medicine is restricted by these rules, for it to develop, it must break free from these confines. The Pharmacopoeia’s restrictions on herbal medicines prevent many practitioners from doing their best. In such a case, using a model that sustains itself through medicine alone deprives traditional Chinese medicine of a future."

"So, if we can’t change the Pharmacopoeia, we must change the survival model for traditional Chinese medicine. We can value medical skills over medicine, allowing all doctors to focus on diagnosis. This way, if medication doesn’t work, there’s acupuncture; if acupuncture fails, there’s moxibustion; if moxibustion also doesn’t work, there’s health and rehabilitation exercises. With so many means in traditional Chinese medicine, I don’t believe the state can issue a ’Acupuncture Canon’ or ’Health Canon’ again."

"Moreover, this model could free traditional Chinese medicine from market rules, embracing capital to nurture traditional Chinese doctors. When they mature, there’s no worry about being hijacked by the pharmaceutical market, because improved diagnostic ability allows every practitioner to choose how to treat their patients freely!"

Interesting!

Breaking the rules, using the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine to counter the existing system!

Meanwhile, expanding operations and introducing capital to cultivate the personal capabilities of traditional Chinese doctors, ensuring that even with the rise of traditional Chinese medicine, it doesn’t get encumbered by medical companies as Western medicine does.

This kid...

Wei Zhengxian increasingly found Lu Jiu to be extraordinary!

He knew this would be difficult, harboring much idealism.

Yet it was fascinating!

Through Lu Jiu, he saw glimpses of his father’s generation.

Those people devoted all their efforts for the future of traditional Chinese medicine back then.

What they did was considered overly idealistic at the time.

Without that group, today’s traditional Chinese medicine might have already been crushed by science, relegated to mere feudal superstition.

Wei Zhengxian chuckled, then abruptly addressed the phone on the table, "Chairman Ying, you heard all that, right?"

The next moment, Wei Zhengxian pressed the speakerphone, and a hearty laugh emerged from the other end of the line, "Hahaha, Lu Jiu, isn’t it? I didn’t expect the young generation today to have more drive than we did back then. Elder Wei, count me in. I also want to see just how far this model of traditional Chinese medicine can go."

Lu Jiu was taken aback, "This is..."

Wei Zhengxian explained, "Before you came, I discussed with Chairman Ying about the cooperation. Starting today, Wei Medical Hall and Lu Jiu TCM Hospital, spearheaded by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association, will officially become partner hospitals, allowing talent exchanges, resource sharing, and platform integration. What do you think?"

Partner hospitals!?

Lu Jiu’s eyes widened!

He never anticipated that Wei Zhengxian would invest so heavily!

Lu Jiu knew that the scale of Lu Jiu TCM Hospital was entirely negligible compared to Wei Medical Hall.

This was akin to a nationally renowned hospital establishing a cooperative relationship with a health clinic in a small, obscure city.

Under such a partnership, Lu Jiu TCM Hospital was bound to be the one leeching, unable to provide any help to Wei Medical Hall in the beginning.

Furthermore, the involvement of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association made the nature of the partnership entirely different!

Lu Jiu instantly felt immense pressure!

"Elder Wei, isn’t it too early to talk about partnerships?" Lu Jiu said.

How could Wei Zhengxian not understand what Lu Jiu meant, "Originally, I just intended to offer some resources out of respect for Fu Sheng’s consideration. But if you young people are willing to go all out, how can we old guys stand idly by? In my grandfather’s time, Wei Medical Hall had the duty of contributing to society through medicine. If it can help advance traditional Chinese medicine, even its loss would be worthwhile!"

On the phone, Chairman Ying also spoke at the right moment, "Lu Jiu, in matters like these, we old folks have to take the lead. With us here, it’s not up to you to take the lead. Your idea of combining pulse diagnosis with AI to achieve universal health checks, I will find a way to make contact with the Ministry of Science and Technology. Given Wei Medical Hall’s scale in Jinling, the vast amount of patient data should expedite the development of AI pulse-diagnosis robots."

Oh!?

Lu Jiu’s eyes lit up!

With Chairman Ying involved in this matter and directly engaging with the Ministry of Science and Technology, Lu Jiu felt hopeful!

...