Liu Xiaofang, Project President of HeYou International Hospital: Promoting High-Quality Development of "Healthy Foshan" with an International Vision

Health is the foundation of people's livelihood and the source of happiness. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed advancing the Healthy China initiative, prioritizing the protection of people's health in strategic development, and improving policies for promoting people's health.

On the new journey, Foshan, striving to be a leader in high-quality development among prefecture-level cities, must vigorously promote the high-quality development of healthcare services, which is also one of the necessary conditions for Foshan to create a first-class business environment.

A first-class business environment calls for first-class healthcare services. Amid the wave of globalization, Foshan should seize the opportunity, ride the momentum, and gather strength to promote high-quality development of healthcare services with an international vision, thereby achieving the goal set in the "Foshan Healthcare Development 14th Five-Year Plan" of "basically building a resilient, smart, high-quality, and fully empowered healthcare hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area by 2025."

Keynote Speaker: Liu Xiaofang

President of HeYou International Hospital, National Key Discipline Leader, Chief Physician of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, and one of the first batch of "Foshan Famous Doctors."

This article was first published in the Theory Weekly of Foshan Daily on November 7, 2022.

Nationwide

Healthcare Services Usher in a "Golden Period" of International Development

Observing the celestial patterns to discern seasonal changes, and studying human affairs to transform the world. To understand the "future history" of high-quality development of healthcare services in Foshan, we can begin by examining the development context and trends of "Healthy China 2030."

Accelerating the improvement of the quality and service level of healthcare supply is a requirement for adapting to changes in the principal contradiction in Chinese society and meeting the people's needs for a better life. It is also the foundation for achieving higher quality, more efficient, fairer, more sustainable, and safer economic and social development. In recent years, China's healthcare services have been moving towards internationalization. In June 2019, the National Health Commission, together with ten other ministries, issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Sustained, Healthy, and Standardized Development of Private Medical Institutions." Overseas medical institutions have flocked in, and international hospitals have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. By adopting international medical quality standards and first-class medical technology, they create humanized service processes and patient experiences, forming a more diversified and multi-layered medical service layout to continuously meet the people's new expectations for health.

At the same time, some public hospitals are actively promoting the alignment of service concepts, processes, and standards with international practices to build core competitiveness. Taking Beijing as an example, through policy support and project construction, an international medical service pattern primarily composed of international departments of public hospitals and high-quality private medical institutions has been initially formed, providing strong health guarantees for high-level opening-up.

Driven by a series of major policy dividends, the internationalization of domestic healthcare services is increasingly advancing. In September of this year, Shenzhen released the "Hospital Quality International Certification Standard (2021 Edition)." This standard, based on the domestic Grade-A Tertiary Hospital evaluation standards, is of great significance for promoting the alignment of hospital evaluation with international standards and facilitating cross-border medical service connections, marking an important step in the internationalization of the "Grade-A Tertiary Standard." With the integrated development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the "International Standard (2021 Edition)" can be applied to medical institutions in the Greater Bay Area, including hospitals in Hong Kong and Macao, promoting medical homogenization and cross-border medical service rule alignment in the region.

Furthermore, with the steady progress of supply-side structural reform in China's health sector, the adaptability and flexibility of health supply to changes in demand are also being strengthened. According to the "Guangdong Province Healthcare Development 14th Five-Year Plan," during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, Guangdong will actively promote the construction of a Healthy Bay Area and international cooperation, explore the establishment of an integrated medical and health service system aligned with international standards, and collaboratively plan and build a number of key specialty and disease groups. The plan also proposes building overseas medical exchange platforms, strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation with internationally advanced medical and research institutions, and learning from the advanced medical technologies and management concepts of developed countries to support the construction of high-level hospitals and the cultivation of international medical talents.

Evidently, healthcare services are ushering in a "golden period" of international development.

Focusing on Foshan

Healthcare Services Transitioning from "Basic Coverage" to "High Quality"

For urban development, healthcare services, as a key component of public service provision, have become a crucial factor determining urban competitiveness. Currently, Foshan's GDP has reached a scale of over one trillion yuan, but its public service provision capacity has yet to match its economic development level, to some extent becoming a shortcoming for Foshan in attracting various innovation resources.

Compared with some domestic central cities, the internationalization of healthcare services in Foshan started relatively late. There is an urgent need for improvement in the construction of software and hardware facilities, international exchanges and cooperation, and service capabilities and levels. Additionally, there is insufficient supply of specialized resources in pediatrics, obstetrics, geriatrics, psychiatry, rehabilitation, as well as high-level, personalized medical health, and high-end integrated medical and elderly care services.

Only by acknowledging these shortcomings can we achieve a real breakthrough. In the "Foshan Healthcare Development 14th Five-Year Plan," "international" has become a high-frequency word for the future development of Foshan's medical service system. The plan emphasizes vigorously developing private medical institutions, supporting the construction of HeYou International Hospital and others, and promoting the full alignment of drug and medical device quality standards with international standards.

The HeYou International Hospital mentioned in the plan is a key project of Guangdong Province, founded by Midea Holdings with an investment of over 10 billion yuan. Located in the Sanlong湾 High-end Innovation Cluster Area of Foshan, it is scheduled to be operational on June 28, 2024. The hospital will be built according to the highest standards of Grade-A Tertiary Hospital and international quality system certification, providing a clinical medical research system and service system on par with world-class levels. It will also be connected to the medical insurance system to better reduce the burden of medical expenses, allowing citizens to enjoy more high-quality and affordable medical services.

International healthcare services mean having first-class medical technology, elite medical teams, and advanced technical equipment, enabling precise treatment for more "complex and difficult diseases." It means having first-class modern hospital management, focusing on refined management to comprehensively improve the quality and efficiency of medical services. It means adopting internationally advanced service concepts, being patient-centered, pursuing comfort and humanization in medical care, and ensuring patients can seek medical treatment with dignity. It also means leading in scientific and technological innovation, being at the forefront of medical research.

It is foreseeable that in the next two to three years, with the completion of projects like HeYou International Hospital, the internationalization process of healthcare services in Foshan will enter a "fast track," providing better medical security for the local population.

Liu Xiaofang (center) is consulting at Meihe Hospital, a subsidiary of the HeYou International Hospital project.

Development Path

Five Strategies to Enhance the "International Appeal" of Foshan's Healthcare Services

How to build a "Healthy Foshan" that leads the industry and reaches the international summit? Facing the challenge of the times, we should carry forward the entrepreneurial spirit of Foshan, adopt an international perspective and an open attitude, and implement five "Foshan Kung Fu" strategies with international appeal to achieve high-quality development of healthcare services.

Build a Talent Highland with Innovative Approaches. Focus on introducing and cultivating a group of medical leaders and discipline leaders with international and domestic leading levels, creating a talent development echelon suitable for Foshan's actual conditions, and constructing a closed-loop system of "attracting, cultivating, and retaining talent." For example, HeYou International Hospital, still under construction, launched a global talent recruitment plan in April this year, focusing on recruiting high-level talents, including internationally renowned tumor radiotherapy expert, national high-level talent, and chief scientist of the Ministry of Science and Technology's key R&D project, Lu Jiade. These medical leaders will become important pillars for the internationalization of Foshan's healthcare services.

Strengthen the Standard System with Skillful Approaches. Adopt a problem-oriented approach, use reform as a variable, and innovation as a driving force. Actively introduce international medical standard certification systems represented by JCI standards, using the international "gold standard" for verifying medical institution quality to measure the highest level of hospital service and management in Foshan.

Introduce Cutting-Edge Equipment with Ingenious Approaches. Support medical institutions in actively introducing world-class high-precision medical equipment to achieve a leapfrog in precision medicine.

Build Diverse Platforms with Practical Approaches. Strengthen international exchanges and cooperation, establish and improve collaboration mechanisms and cooperation platforms, promote joint medical operations, joint research, and academic exchanges with foreign medical schools and institutions, expand overseas study and training channels, promote talent exchange and international cooperation through project collaboration, and develop and introduce international cutting-edge technologies and research projects.

Promote Mutual Benefit and Complementarity with Clever Approaches. Within the framework of the "Basic Medical and Health Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China," advocate win-win cooperation between public and private hospitals. Through models such as medical alliances, specialty alliances, third-party services, expert support, further training, discipline co-construction, and telemedicine cooperation, achieve regional medical resource sharing, complementary advantages, mutual benefit, and linked development. Build a high-quality, efficient, and integrated medical and health service system to better address the issues of difficulty, high cost, and inconvenience in accessing medical care for the public.