High-end hospitals focus on post-surgery recovery to reduce complications

Day surgery and minimally invasive surgery are the main competitive advantages for local international medical facilities at leading public hospitals.

Most hospitals focus on complicated cases and basic health demands, while high-end facilities focus on service and comfort, experts said at a forum over the weekend.

More than 20 top surgical experts from leading public and international hospitals actively participated in the forum, which also saw the attendance of patients seeking a high-end health-care experience.

"Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, or ERAS, has been widely promoted and adopted into clinical practice to improve patients' recovery and reduce complications," said Dr Zhang Junjie, surgery center director at Shanghai SinoUnited Hospital.

"Both public and private hospitals in the country have also conducted relevant research. Private medical facilities may outperform state hospitals in this regard since they are smaller, have a better environment, and have more advantages for better service.

"We have implemented ERAS into the entire surgery planning, operation, and management to reduce hospitalization time and benefit patients, and it is in line with international practice.

"Orthopedic patients can leave the operating room and be discharged within half a day. Some people even travel abroad in a week's time."

According to experts, all surgical departments should aim to create a customized operation plan, reduce patient discomfort, improve patient happiness, and fully implement the ERAS standard.

The forum's academic chairman, Dr Ye Dingwei of Shanghai Cancer Center, said medical innovation is about patient health and benefit, and medicine should be human-focused.

"Private hospitals have become an important part of health care in Shanghai, and their international practice and exploration of medical services and management are in leading positions in the local health field," Ye said.

"Public hospitals can learn a lot from private facilities."

Dr Kathy Shi, president of Shanghai SinoUnited Hospital, said surgery solves more internal medicine problems and that minimally invasive surgery is becoming more common.

"It also provides new challenges and high requirements on medical quality, clinical effects, and patient satisfaction, which boosts medical development and progress," she said.