Shanghai's First International Medical Center With Whole-Life Health Service

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Shanghai's Xinhua Hospital has opened an international medical center.

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: The center, named Memorial Jinglang International Medical Center, has received the DNV International Accreditation Standards for Hospital.

Shanghai's Xinhua Hospital, a medical institution with the ability to offer whole-life health service, recently opened a global medical center with international accreditation.

The Memorial Jinglang International Medical Center has received the DNV International Accreditation Standard for hospitals, a globally recognized accreditation scheme developed to support health-care organizations in demonstrating excellence in quality and safety.

The accreditation is an endorsement of a medical facility's international competitiveness.

With Shanghai home to many private medical facilities and international medical departments of public hospitals, Xinhua said its international medical center is the only one offering whole-life health care, from genetic consultation before pregnancy, prenatal checks, fetal medicine, delivery and newborn treatment, pediatrics, puberty care as well as treatment for adults.

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: The international medicine center has its own CT machine.

"For instance, many people grow up into adults with their congenital disease or disease starting in childhood. Doctors at adult hospitals consider it a pediatric disease, while pediatricians refuse them as they are already adults. Patients may have difficulty in effectively controlling the disease. So we offer health management for the whole life and receive such patients, who can't find coherent disease management at other hospitals," said Dr Sun Kun, president of Xinhua Hospital.

"We may also be among the few hospitals whose international medical center is accredited to international standards. We got through a process of renovation to meet the standard of DNV accreditation and take the international medical center as a role model to improve the entire hospital management and service level," he added.

"As a crowded and leading public hospital, it is very hard for us to change the traditional theory of patient serving. We must revamp to better our service process and information system to meet international standards, which calls for a patient-centered model," Sun pointed out.

"Medical staff have to change their traditional way of receiving patients and adopt a certain language pattern to reach better and cozy communication with patients."

In addition to improved service, Xinhua Hospital also kicked off reform to set up disease centers to create a disease-centered model. Patients needn't travel between different departments but stay at one center, which consists of doctors from other majors.

"For instance, child patients with heart disease only need to visit our pediatric heart center, which consists of doctors with different majors. It is the doctors who help patients choose the most appropriate treatment," Sun said.

"So far, we have established nine disease centers, such as the skin disease center and eye disease center, for patients' convenience. This international medical center is also a comprehensive center, where doctors from different majors and teams come to the patients, who can receive such a one-stop service just here."