Partnership innovation brings better service, greater trust

Lan Jianhua, assistant to director of the urologic surgery department at West China- Guang'an Hospital, has won Youth Innovation research funding provided by the Sichuan Provincial Health Commission and also published a paper in the Chinese Journal of Urology. Such achievements were still a rarity at Guang'an Hospital just a couple of years ago.  

But a change came in 2015 when Guang'an Hospital became part of West China Hospital amid efforts to develop a medical treatment partnership system. Experts from West China Hospital regularly visit Guang'an Hospital each month, always ready to share their expertise on a broad range of areas with local doctors, and provide insights on check-ups, medical imaging and communication skills with patients, as well as surgical methods, procedures and techniques in great detail.

At the end of the year, Lan received a patient who already underwent complicated transurethral surgery performed by Wang Kunjie at West China Hospital. The  follow-up checks, every two to three months after surgery, proved to be a big hassle, as the patient had to register one month in advance, arrive at West China Hospital a day before the scheduled date and stay in Chengdu City for a night before returning home. At the suggestion of Wang Kunjie, the patient went to see Lan directly with much ease. Every time, the patient made an appointment by phone one or two days previous, left home at 5 am in the morning and went back on the same day.

In the past few years, Lan's department has made progress in more than 10 new technologies and performed a growing number of surgeries. There were almost no operations in the whole afternoon in the past, but now the department was still busy with surgeries as late as 9 pm. Locals in Guang'an have benefited hugely from the partnership system because medical costs in the local hospital are much lower than large hospitals in cities like Chengdu and Chongqing while patients can have a larger portion of the cost reimbursed through medical insurance and they also have easier access to family support. As a result, the hospital has built up a better reputation among local people.