????剛剛早上八點(diǎn),，當(dāng)年由西方傳教士創(chuàng)建,、目前依然是中國(guó)最大的醫(yī)療中心的仁濟(jì)醫(yī)院（Renji Hospital）就已經(jīng)人滿為患。醫(yī)院候診區(qū)擠滿了焦急等待就診的患者,。首先,，他們得在一塊巨大的霓虹廣告牌下面排長(zhǎng)隊(duì)取號(hào)，上面列著了醫(yī)生們的科室信息,。然后,，患者們還要排起蜿蜒的隊(duì)伍交費(fèi)，最后還得排更長(zhǎng)的隊(duì)伍,，等著到油漆脫落的診室里就診。中國(guó)基礎(chǔ)醫(yī)療系統(tǒng)匱乏,，這樣的情景日復(fù)一日,，每天都在上演。中國(guó)的醫(yī)療服務(wù)雖然便宜，但尚處于起步階段：如果你患上任何一種疾病,，小到感冒大到癌癥,，都必須去急診室接受治療。

????而在距離仁濟(jì)醫(yī)院急診室不到100碼的一棟現(xiàn)代化大樓里,，我們可以瞥見未來中國(guó)的醫(yī)療服務(wù),。這里是貴賓特需門診，也就是所謂的VIP醫(yī)院,。在VIP大樓里,，患者不需要排隊(duì)，而是可以坐在舒適的真皮沙發(fā)上,，看著寬屏電視等著預(yù)約的醫(yī)生,。不同于仁濟(jì)醫(yī)院普通門診區(qū)的嘈雜喧囂，VIP門診區(qū)噪聲低到幾乎可以忽略不計(jì),。身穿潔白制服的護(hù)士會(huì)陪同患者走進(jìn)私人診室,。人們?cè)谌蕽?jì)醫(yī)院很難看上的專家，在這里卻可以預(yù)約——但要支付預(yù)約費(fèi)用,。VIP醫(yī)院的醫(yī)生每次會(huì)診的費(fèi)用是60美元甚至更高,，而這在馬路對(duì)面可以看50次醫(yī)生。

????為了幫助支付這樣的VIP待遇（和治療）,，越來越多的中國(guó)消費(fèi)者開始選擇附加健康保險(xiǎn)——這純粹是美國(guó)人的理念,。而諷刺的是，雖然中國(guó)對(duì)各種理財(cái)服務(wù)的需求急劇增加,，但據(jù)麥肯錫公司（McKinsey & Co）統(tǒng)計(jì),，外國(guó)公司在中國(guó)銀行與保險(xiǎn)市場(chǎng)所占的份額僅有2%。國(guó)有保險(xiǎn)公司在中國(guó)市場(chǎng)占據(jù)著主導(dǎo)地位,，以至于因?yàn)槭杖胂禄?，紐約人壽保險(xiǎn)公司（New York Life）在去年不得不放棄自己在中國(guó)的合資公司，轉(zhuǎn)而把它出售給日本的三井住友保險(xiǎn)公司（Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance）

????但來自美國(guó)康涅狄格州布洛姆菲爾德的信諾集團(tuán)（Cigna）卻正在悄悄贏得中國(guó)消費(fèi)者的青睞,。很大程度上這是因?yàn)樗嵏擦似渌绹?guó)保險(xiǎn)公司在中國(guó)的傳統(tǒng)做法,。信諾于2003年進(jìn)入中國(guó)市場(chǎng)，但它選擇的合作伙伴并不是當(dāng)?shù)氐谋ｋU(xiǎn)公司,，而是一家領(lǐng)先的零售——銀行中國(guó)招商銀行（China Merchants Bank）,。招商銀行以靈活應(yīng)對(duì)消費(fèi)者的手段而著稱。招商信諾（信諾與招商銀行的合資企業(yè)——譯注）并沒有招聘大批成本相對(duì)較高的銷售人員,，而是進(jìn)行創(chuàng)意營(yíng)銷,，成立了配備最新數(shù)據(jù)挖掘技術(shù)的電話營(yíng)銷中心，推出由電影明星代言的電視廣告,，同時(shí)進(jìn)行在線和社交媒體營(yíng)銷,，借此逐漸在中國(guó)市場(chǎng)站穩(wěn)了腳跟,。銷售人員所產(chǎn)生的巨額日常管理費(fèi)用令許多公司背上了沉重負(fù)擔(dān)。去年,，招商信諾在中國(guó)的收入達(dá)到了3.31億美元,，比上一年增加了32%（雖然與信諾集團(tuán)290億美元的總銷售額相比仍微不足道）。經(jīng)過十年的經(jīng)營(yíng),，這家公司剛剛在中國(guó)售出了第100萬份保單,。僅僅經(jīng)過三年，公司就實(shí)現(xiàn)了收支平衡,，目前已經(jīng)能夠穩(wěn)定盈利,。

????By 8 a.m., Renji Hospital, founded in 1848 by Western missionaries and still one of China's best medical centers, is already in a state of chaos. A veritable sea of patients is crammed into the reception area, waiting impatiently to see a doctor. They first line up under giant neon boards that list physicians' specialties to collect a number on a waiting list, then join another snaking line at a cashier's window, and finally shuffle into even longer queues to wait for a doctor to see them in examination rooms with chipping paint. This scene is played out daily across China, which has a limited primary health care system. Medical services are cheap but rudimentary: If you have any malady, from a bad cold to cancer, you must go to the emergency room to seek medical treatment.

????But in a modern building less than 100 yards from the main Renji emergency ward is a glimpse at China's future. It is the guibin texu, known more commonly by its English translation: VIP hospital. In the VIP building, patients don't line up but wait for appointments on leather sofas, entertained by widescreen TVs. Instead of the shouting heard at Renji's main hospital, the noise level in the VIP section remains an understated murmur. Patients are escorted into private examination rooms by nurses in crisp white uniforms. The specialists who are so very hard to see at Renji are now suddenly available by appointment -- for a price. The physicians at the VIP hospital charge $60 or more for a consultation, 50 times what patients pay across the road.

????To help pay for such VIP treatment (and treatments), a growing number of Chinese consumers are turning to supplemental health insurance -- a thoroughly American concept. The irony is that despite soaring demand for various financial services, foreign firms have just 2% of the banking and insurance market, according to McKinsey & Co. State-owned insurance companies dominate the market to such extent that last year New York Life abandoned its China joint venture, selling out to Japanese firm Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance because of slumping earnings.

????But one U.S. firm, Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna (CI), is quietly winning over Chinese consumers, largely by defying conventional wisdom about how an American insurer should operate in China. Cigna entered the China market in 2003, partnering not with a local insurer but with a leading retail lender, China Merchants Bank, which is known for its deft handling of consumers. Rather than deploying an army of relatively expensive salesmen, which has burdened many other firms with a huge overhead, the Cigna joint venture has instead deployed innovative marketing, call centers equipped with the latest data-mining techniques, television commercials featuring a movie star pitchman, and online and social media sales to gain a growing foothold in the Chinese market. Last year Cigna's joint venture in China had revenues of $331 million, up 32% from the year before (though still a small fraction of the company's overall $29 billion in sales). After a decade of operation, the firm just sold its 1 millionth policy in China. The business broke even after just three years and is now solidly in the black.