Local Hospitals More Human-Centered: Introducing English WeChat Account and Pet Friendly

Local hospitals have been rolling out a variety of people-oriented services, including launching English-language WeChat accounts, introducing pet-friendly and child-friendly measures, enhancing mental health support, and expanding intelligent medical services to effectively improve patient satisfaction, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

While acknowledging the efforts of local hospitals, the survey noted that patients' main concerns remain reducing outpatient waiting times, increasing support for elderly patients, and improving the hospital environment for wheelchair users.

The Shanghai Medical Ethos Association, in partnership with Fudan University, interviewed nearly 28,000 outpatients and 7,400 inpatients across 116 public medical institutions to gain insights into local healthcare services.

Focusing on both the physical environment and service quality, the survey evaluated public feedback on 30 outpatient indicators and 35 inpatient indicators across four categories: hospital facilities and digital services, doctor services, other staff services, and medical processes and outcomes.

Patients expressed high satisfaction with the development of smart services, which support convenient payments, online appointment booking, intelligent hospital navigation, and remote medical care. At the same time, they called for more elderly-friendly services, such as assigning more volunteers to assist seniors who struggle with digital tools or visit hospitals alone.

The survey also recommended launching large-font queuing screens and simplified versions of hospital guidance, providing more wheelchairs, and optimizing accessible routes inside hospitals.

Among public hospitals at different levels, neighborhood health centers achieved higher satisfaction scores than municipal and district-level hospitals, as grassroots facilities serve more elderly residents and have implemented more age-friendly measures.

Shanghai is improving the medical capabilities of neighborhood health centers so that they can offer a full range of services, such as diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, nursing, dental care, and health management. This allows residents to access high-quality, convenient, affordable, and warm medical care close to home.

Some neighborhood health centers have also begun offering basic and minimally invasive surgical procedures.

The Dapuqiao Neighborhood Health Center has pioneered appropriate surgical services and continued to refine its elderly-friendly and child-friendly practices. Its surgery department provided more than 10,000 services and performed over 4,000 operations last year.

It also aligns with Shanghai's goal of building an international metropolis. Located in downtown Shanghai, the center serves many expatriate patients. It has improved its multilingual service system, strengthened staff language proficiency, launched an English WeChat account (ID: Dapuqiao Community Hospital), and installed more bilingual signage.

"We completed the city's first general practitioner contract with an expatriate patient, who is also a key group in grassroots healthcare," said Jin Ying, director of the Dapuqiao Neighborhood Health Center and a municipal people's congress deputy. She has proposed including expatriates in the city's grassroots medical service system.

"In addition, we set up a pet parking area at the center so patients can leave their pets while receiving treatment, which has been very well received," Jin added. "We also provide pet therapy for inpatients. We have two cats that interact with patients to help relieve anxiety."