Hospitals set up Shanghai's first gynecology and obstetrics network

Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital has teamed up with hospitals in Jing'an District and Pudong New Area to set up the city’s first medical network on gynecology and obstetrics.

The network includes ten district and city-level hospitals in Pudong plus four district-level hospitals and some neighborhood health centers in Jing’an, officials announced over the weekend.

The hospital, a leader in the field in Shanghai, will share resources with other hospitals in the region, offer training, and cooperate with research projects to improve the overall gynecological and obstetric abilities of grassroots hospitals.

Such networks can also promote a classified service system, which encourages patients with common problems to go to grassroots hospitals and save the limited resources in leading hospitals for patients with complicated and serious conditions.

“The most important task of the network is to ensure patients can receive the same, quality health services in any of the hospitals here — all hospitals will adopt the same standards and procedures,” said Dr Wan Xiaoping, president of Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital. 

“Only after district-level hospitals and neighborhood health centers offer the same high-quality service will patients have confidence to visit them instead of going all the way to leading hospitals for any problems.”

Wan said a database will also be established inside the network to achieve information sharing and long-distance consultation, reservation and education. Patients’ reports will also be shared between doctors from different hospitals inside the network for study and discussion, all while respecting the privacy of patients.