Shanghai hospitals have the largest number of out-of-town patients
Dr Shen Kunwei, director of the breast disease department of Ruijin Hospital, explained the psychological guidance carried out among breast cancer patients by volunteers and professionals to officials from the National Health Commission.
About 40 percent of hospitalized patients in local leading public hospitals are from other provinces, which makes Shanghai the city with the largest number of out-of-town patients in the nation, health officials told a news conference launched by the National Health Commission on improving medical skills and quality.
The national commission conducted spot checks in hospitals in Shanghai, the most medically capable city in China.
With the highest medical capability and better hospital management, the average hospitalization period in Shanghai in 6.4 days, much lower than the national level of 9.8 days, Wen Daxiang, vice director of Shanghai Health and Family Planning Commission said.
To further improve efficiency and follow international practice, Shanghai is the first city to introduce one-day surgeries. In Renji Hospital, about 43 percent of surgery is now carried out on just one day.
Shanghai is also a leading proponent of multi-disciplinary team (MDT) care for complicated disease diagnoses and treatment. Experts from different departments work together to give patient treatment plans instead of the traditional practice where patients must visit different departments for different medical guidance.
“The one-stop format has been widely adopted in our hospital,” said Dr Shen Kunwei, director of the breast disease department at Ruijin Hospital. “We have a team of experts from over 10 departments giving patients all the necessary medical guidance from genetic screening and surgery, to psychological direction and after-surgery rehabilitation."
The doctor said that a database closely follows the patients, who can receive individualized direction and help from the entire treatment period until after they leave the hospital. "We only lost contact with two patients in the past few years, as over 99 percent of patients are in the database.”
To improve medical quality, Shanghai established 61 professional quality control centers covering all departments to guide and regulate clinical practice, technology and management in local hospitals.
Guo Yanhong, from the National Health Commission, said the national health authority will study and promote the experiences of Shanghai to help improve the health service and medical ability of the entire nation.
Dr Ge Junbo, from Zhongshan Hospital, was in surgery for coronary heart disease treatment. Ge's team developed the nation's own drug-coated coronary stents, greatly dropping the medical bill of patients and improving the innovative ability of local hospitals.
