The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 294

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 294

I called the Korean medicine doctor that Jang Jungjae had introduced me to.

Since we had been exchanging text messages, the other person answered the phone right away.

– Hello, Clinic Director. Thank you for making time for me. I’m Yun Heeyoung, running Yun Heeyoung Korean Medicine Clinic in Incheon.

A gentle Seoul accent came through the phone.

“Hello, I’m Hanyewon. You’re Clinic Director Jang’s coworker?”

– Yes, one of the few friends I’ve kept in touch with consistently since graduation. I was so surprised when Jungjae said he had met you!

They seemed to be closer than I thought.

Yun Heeyoung politely greeted me, then briefly introduced her career.

Right after graduation, she worked as a vice director at a Korean medicine clinic for 2 years, then opened her own practice in the countryside at twenty-eight.

It had been quite successful, but when she married a husband who worked at a company in the metropolitan area, she moved her clinic to Incheon.

– Since I worked as a vice director under an elderly clinic director, I guess my style is a bit old-fashioned. You know, the low-margin high-volume approach… market district clinic style. The elderly patients seem to like me, so I deliberately sought out a place that would suit that.

“I wouldn’t say it’s old-fashioned. Is your acupuncture technique particularly unique?”

– I mainly use Saam acupuncture. That doesn’t mean I don’t do anatomy-based musculoskeletal treatment though. When someone comes with shoulder pain, I have them lie face down and treat the shoulder, then after removing those needles, I have them lie on their back and treat them again with Saam acupuncture.

Saam acupuncture is a technique that uses the five transport points of the twelve meridians, created by a person called Saam Doin during the mid-Joseon period based on the principles of yin-yang and the five elements.

Since it’s a uniquely Korean acupuncture method, I wasn’t very familiar with it and had only used it as a supplementary technique.

However, it was once more widely used in Korea than anatomy-based acupuncture, so it couldn’t really be called unusual.

‘It’s troublesome, but elderly patients like getting treated twice…’

Moreover, if someone comes with shoulder pain and you only put needles in their legs, they might think it’s strange, but if you put needles in both the shoulder and legs, they generally like it.

Especially elderly patients – unlike young people who want to finish quickly with the minimum number of needles, many elderly patients want to receive as many needles as possible.

Their shoulders hurt, their backs hurt, their knees, elbows, head, etc… Since you can’t treat everything in one position, you need to do two treatments.

But insurance-covered acupuncture has fixed fees, so you can’t charge double for doing two treatments.

Moreover, busy clinics need to rotate beds to accommodate waiting patients, so most places can’t afford to provide this level of service.

Of course, depending on the commercial area, if all the nearby Korean medicine clinics provide double acupuncture treatments when patients want it, they might reluctantly do the same.

From what I heard, Yun Heeyoung seemed to have her own conviction about regulating the fundamental meridians that cause problems using Saam acupuncture.

It was somewhat different from my approach, but definitely a style with a clear target demographic.

“That sounds good. Have things been continuously difficult since you moved to Incheon?”

Is the ‘high volume’ part of low-margin high-volume not working?

Maybe it’s a location or competition issue.

– Not continuously. When I first came, it went well. It’s a good location on a main road near the market, and I paid 100 million won in key money and recovered it in 3 months. On average, I was taking home 20 million won per month, and until 4 years ago, even during slow seasons, I never made less than 15 million.

“You’re talking about net profit after taxes, right?”

– Oh my, if that were gross revenue, I should have closed long ago.

“At that level, you must have had quite a bit of herbal medicine business too?”

– Yes. Maybe because of the good location, even now I get one or two walk-in herbal medicine consultations per week. Some patients who came for acupuncture also took herbs, so during peak times I was prescribing 10-20 cases per month. Until 4 years ago… no, even 3 years ago I somehow maintained 10 million per month, but since last year it’s been too desperate.

With that level of experience, she probably wouldn’t have much difficulty with herbal prescriptions.

With thousands of her own cases, she wouldn’t be scared like Chu Miyoung was initially.

“Do you have any idea what the problem might be?”

– I really have no clue.

“Have both new and returning patients decreased? And you’ve tried advertising?”

– Yes, both. I’ve tried various types of advertising. I’ve hung banners and distributed flyers. You advised Jungjae to use pharmacopuncture, right? I originally only had bamboo salt pharmacopuncture and didn’t use it often, but I expanded to 4 types and started recommending them. But the return rate dropped even more. I thought about developing a semi-specialized area, so I tried in-clinic advertising and internet advertising for certain conditions…

“But there were no results.”

– Total patient numbers, return rates, revenue – everything just keeps decreasing. Really, I’m so desperate that I’m asking a clinic director I’ve never even met like this.

Yun Heeyoung spoke in a dejected voice.

It seemed she had tried all the methods one could think of within normal bounds.

At this point, even I’m curious about what the situation is.

“Have you looked at return rate statistics? How many patients are you seeing per day on average now?”

– I haven’t compiled statistics, but lately it seems like… almost half the new patients don’t come back. My daily patient count used to be 60 at peak, but last month and the month before, it was around fifteen.

Reduced to a quarter?

Fifteen patients per day. Actually, that’s not impossible to operate on in a new city district clinic with high revenue per patient.

If you do pharmacopuncture and chuna therapy and charge around 100,000 won combining insurance claims and patient copayments.

But that’s an impossible setup for a clinic focused on elderly patients.

There’s a regulation that patients 65 and older only pay 10% copayment when total treatment costs are under 20,000 won, so most Korean medicine clinics implicitly submit reduced claims.

Even when the actual treatment would cost around 30,000 won and the patient should pay 10,000 won, they input around 19,942 won so the patient pays 1,900 won and the insurance covers 18,042 won.

It’s also a method that reduces expenses for the National Health Insurance Service.

“Hmm… even with some patients getting pharmacopuncture, that’s really precarious. I can’t tell much from a phone conversation either. I’ll come visit you in person.”

How did it decrease this much?

In Korean medicine practitioner communities, they complain every year about bad business and decreased patient numbers… but actually, our clinic has maintained similar levels since we became a three-person operation. Sometimes it even does better.

Moreover, even places that claim to have decreased usually make a fuss about losing 20% – how does one lose 75% even over 3 years?

– Oh, you can come visit? Thank you so much. I’ll pay you a consultation fee!

Ah, right. The consultation fee.

I was going to ask about the fee and then decide, but listening to her situation made me increasingly curious and I almost forgot.

I asked directly.

“What amount were you thinking?”

– Since you’re taking the trouble to come all the way to Incheon, I was thinking of offering about 3 times your daily revenue.

Excuse me? That much?

She probably doesn’t know how much my daily revenue is.

“That’s too much. Three times daily revenue would exceed most vice directors’ monthly salaries…”

– …What? Really?

As expected, she sounded flustered.

I couldn’t see her face, but her voice trembled greatly.

– Th, the more precious the person, the more we should offer. Since we’re hosting such an esteemed guest. I, I was thinking up to ten million won.

…Actually, tripling it would exceed ten million won.

And while I can’t speak for my treatment, the consulting probably isn’t worth that much.

“It’s fine. I’ll just accept the sentiment. I’ll see you in Incheon soon. What are your clinic days?”

Sincerity is what matters, and how could I take tens of millions of won from someone struggling without patients?

Unless it were a prince from an oil-rich country, this would weigh on my conscience.

– Th, then I’ll prepare something modest within reasonable limits…. I’m truly grateful that you’re willing to come. I have clinic hours Thursday mornings, and I’m closed Sundays.

“Understood. Then I’ll visit next Tuesday.”

– Thank you!

After ending the call with Yun Heeyoung, I also coordinated the appointment with Hwangseoyeong.

‘If business has declined that much, there must definitely be some problem….’

What could it be.

Staff issues? Cleanliness? Interior design?

I pondered the possibilities of things I couldn’t determine over the phone, but it was hard to guess.

* * *

One week after the phone call with Yun Heeyoung.

I briefly considered whether to take a day off from clinic this time, but consulting was ultimately a hobby.

I chose to make it another day trip.

Since Yun Heeyoung Korean Medicine Clinic was close to Gimpo Airport, I could observe from morning until slightly past lunch, then meet Hwangseoyeong in the afternoon to complete the schedule in one day.

Twenty minutes before clinic hours started.

I knocked on the door of Yun Heeyoung Korean Medicine Clinic right on time.

“Hello~.”

“Ah! Director Han Yewon! I’ve been waiting for you!”

Yun Heeyoung welcomed me very warmly.

At first glance, there seemed to be no particular problems with her appearance.

She had neatly tied shoulder-length hair, a clean gown, and a mature appearance that conveyed experience.

Someone once said that Korean medicine doctors hit their prime in their forties, and just looking at her face inspired trust.

“You’ve done the interior nicely too.”

“Yes. I wondered if being too old-fashioned was the problem, so I redid it once. It didn’t have much effect though.”

Unlike Jang Jungje Korean Medicine Clinic, the sign was eye-catching, and the interior was clean without being jarring.

Naturally, there were no strange figurines or anything like that.

The waiting room sofa was comfortable, and health-related books were available to pass time.

She had mentioned advertising for incontinence treatment, so there were several posters on the walls for acupuncture treatments and diet programs.

The quality was even quite excellent.

“Which design company do you use for the posters? They’re more stylish than ours.”

“Ah… They’re not from a company, my husband made them. Do they look okay?”

“I see.”

“If you like them, I’ll have him make some for you!”

That won’t be necessary.

I walked through the hallway to tour the treatment room and examination room.

The treatment room interior wasn’t much different from our Oriental Medicine Clinic, and both the bed sheets and curtains were clean.

‘What could it really be? Surely Director Yun doesn’t suddenly curse at patients?’

Maybe she creates a frightening atmosphere like our Master? Without realizing it?

It was hard to imagine someone with such a gentle way of speaking shouting like Kim Chunsik.

As I opened the examination room door while lost in these thoughts.

“Hello.”

A young boy who appeared to be in early elementary school bowed politely.

“Oh.”

I was momentarily flustered.

I had sensed someone’s presence in the examination room, but thought it was a staff member cleaning before clinic hours.

“Hello? What’s your name?”

“Hong Yujun.”

When I bent down to meet his eyes, the child glanced at my hair with curious eyes.

“He’s my son, and since kindergarten is on break, I brought him to the clinic. There’s nowhere suitable to leave him, and I need to help him prepare for tests too. Yujun, go study inside~.”

“Yes.”

So he was a kindergartener, not an elementary student.

Hong Yujun bowed to me and went straight into the room.

How well-behaved for a kindergarten boy.

“Is there a separate space inside?”

“Yes, yes. The previous director used it as storage, but I use it as a break room.”

I didn’t know what it looked like inside, but there were no childcare items or workbooks scattered around the examination room.

He didn’t seem like the type to be noisy enough to be heard outside either.

“I’ll observe from around here. If patients ask, just say I’m a junior colleague.”

“Yes, thank you. Oh, could I just give my son his homework assignments real quick?”

“Of course.”

I nodded readily.

Yun Heeyoung returned to the examination room quickly as promised, and exactly at 8 o’clock, three patients arrived.

“Oh my, it’s like going to market on market day. Usually there aren’t this many patients in the morning, but today there are so many.”

“You know how machines suddenly start working well when you’re about to fix them. Anyway, it’s good if we can see many patients.”

Yun Heeyoung started her consultations precisely as soon as it was time.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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