On-the-spot Record of 2014 China Enterprise Hospital Reform and Development Forum and Huangshi Aikang Hospital Decade Restructuring Experience Exchange Forum
Change is the world’s axiom. Under the positive guidance of new medical reform policies to encourage the social construction of hospitals, enterprise hospital reform and development has become the common focus of the government, enterprises, hospitals and social capital. Enterprise hospitals are at the crossroads of development. So where should they go in the future? How to effectively implement the reform? Huangshi Aikang Hospital that excels in innovation has been in leaps and bounds after a decade of reform. Through a century of ups and downs from the establishment in 1917 and restructuring in 2004 and a decade of trials and errors, the hospital provides a reference sample for the healthy development of enterprise hospitals.
From October 18 to 19, the 2014 China Enterprise Hospital Reform and Development Forum and Huangshi Aikang Hospital Decade Restructuring Experience Exchange Forum organized by China Enterprise Hospital Association and hosted by Huangshi Aikang Hospital was held in Huanshi, sounding the strongest voice of the anniversary activity of “Century Aikang, Remarkable Decade”. Over 300 people including those from the National Health and Family Planning Commissioning, Health News and presidents of enterprise hospitals nationwide had heated discussion on the major theme of “enterprise hospital reform, innovation and development”.
Open a Reform Road to Promote Another Rise
What is a road? It is a way opened from a place without any way but with thorns only. As a national third-level general hospital who took the first step of enterprise hospital reform, after a decade, the Aikang Hospital has turned from a staff hospital on the verge of collapse in Huangshi to a national third-level general hospital covering medical treatment, teaching, research, prevention, rehabilitation, first aid and medical examination with over 1200 employees and nearly 800 beds, setting a good example of China’s enterprise hospital reform.
“After a decade of reform, the Aikang Hospital has made remarkable achievements. This is a major successful case of social capital’s involvement in enterprise reform. Now, China’s hospital reform has entered a deep-water zone and enterprise hospitals’ survival and development face challenges, therefore, the Aikang model worth promotion.” Jin Yongcheng, Director of Enterprise Hospital Branch of Chinese Hospital Association said. Lv Yonghong, President of Aikang Hospital used a series of data to vividly describe the leaps and bounds of the Aikang Hospital over the past decade: the outpatient number has risen to over 400,000 from less than 100,000 in the past, the number of discharged patients has risen tenfold over the past to 35,000, the patients’ satisfaction degree has reached to 98% or more and staff income has also risen tenfold. In the meeting, the Aikang Hospital also won the award of “National Enterprise Hospital of Reform and Innovation”.
It is understood that the Aikang Hospital was founded in 1917 and is the oldest hospital in southeastern Hubei Province. On July 1, 2004, it was changed from Yegang Hospital to Huangshi Aikang Hospital. Over the past decade, the Aikang Hospital has been following the core values of “great medical service is exquisite and sincere, and actions speak louder than words”, adhering to the mission of “use our love to create a medical environment with life equality”, undertaking its social responsibility, carrying out public-interest activities as its tasks, setting customer satisfaction s a standard, using a modern enterprise management mode and implementing the development strategy of “talents to stimulate the hospital, systems to manage the hospital, quality to consolidate the hospital and culture to nurture the hospital”, hence a strong impetus to the health care reform in Huangshi and a remarkable industry pioneer.
Reshape the Mode of Good Hospitals and Establish a Model of the Medical Industry
The Aikang Hospital is a miracle created by Beijing Aikang Group in Huangshi in terms of innovative enterprise hospital development. Then what is the secret of success of the Aikang Hospital? In response to doubts of the attendants, Wang Dong, Chairman of the Board of Beijing Aikang Group gave his answer in the lecture entitled “hospital spiritual pursuit and management mechanism reform”. According to Wang Dong, whether we operate a hospital or enterprise, what we need first are good intentions, i.e. core values; on the first day of restructuring of the Aikang Hospital, Wang Dong in person determined the good intentions of “adhere to patient first and make decisions and provide services from the standpoint of patients” to let the hospital has a “soul”, therefore, the staff has strong inner motivation and sense of mission to vitalize the entire hospital. Wang Dong said that the true changes of the hospital originate from changes of the mechanism rather changes of the system and excellent mechanism originates from excellent enterprise culture.
“As members of Aikang, we bring people health and hope and we treat every patient with parent-like kindheartedness…”, onsite Aikang staff displayed with their voices and expressions the spiritual pursuit of Aikang People, winning warm applause from the participating experts and scholars. As the saying goes, honor old people as we do our own aged parents, and care for other's children as our own. All Love &Health staff assume the mission of “use our love to create a medical environment with life equality” to treat patients’ lives as lives of their own and family members. A number of guests told reporters that they were shocked by “life equality” when visiting the hospital. The medical environment with life equality attracts a large number of patients. “If you ask me why I choose Aikang to see a doctor or be hospitalized, I would say because I feel at ease and safe in this hospital since the doctor and the nurse are very kind to me.” Many patients praise the Aikang Hospital.
Wang Dong said, “Our Aikang undertaking, through our joint efforts, has enabled as many patients as possible to enjoy equal medical services and our staff not only to have material satisfaction but also have enhancement of life quality and spiritual growth. In this society with various material pursuits, I hope we can be a pure land with lofty spiritual pursuit. ” Fu Qiang, Director of Mine Service Division of Daqing Oilfield spoke highly of the Aikang Hospital’s intentions and values and hoped Aikang’s medical undertaking will flourish nationwide and called for joint efforts to create medical environments with life equality.
Adherence to Life Equality for the Wellbeing of People
Great medical service is exquisite and sincere, and actions speak louder than words. To truly implement the culture concept of “life equality”, the Aikang Hospital has developed a set of management systems for strict internal management and external supervision. Wang Dong, Chairman of the Board of Aikang Group pointed out that, “we build a fair hospital based on system management, because without a system basis there will be no fairness.” In the Aikang Hospital, we have no drug rebate and don’t accept red envelopes and taking drug rebates or red envelopes is deemed to violate the “foremost rule” of Aikang and will result in most severe punishment. The benefits given to patients by a hospital without drug rebates and red envelopes are true benefits. Many participating experts and scholars successively said that Aikang management mechanisms including incentive, complaint and evaluation mechanism all worth learning.
The Aikang Hospital not only implements internal equality but also advocates equality through public-interest activities. The “medical environment with life equality” advocated by the Aikang Hospital means more than just noble ethics, superb medical skills and attentive services but also benefiting charity which, like rain moistening the living beings, leads to higher moral comments of all circles on the hospital. The Aikang Hospital always adheres to the social welfare nature to actively undertake more social responsibility and pay attention to people’s livelihood through a series of people-oriented measures like reduction or exemption of fees, free diagnosis, donations to difficult patients and poor college students and establishment of a justice foundation worth millions. The Aikang Hospital has invested over 20 million to open two community medical service centers and five community medical service stations. We truly enable people to see doctors in community for non-serious diseases and hospital for serious diseases. Over the years, the Aikang Hospital has held a number of large-scale free diagnosis activities in all community medical service centers, nearby counties and towns, implemented health education and free lectures, letting over a million people receive health consultation and services provided by the hospital and truly fee the meaning of “life equality”.
Introduction of High-end Talents and Building an Elite Team
“How does the Aikang Hospital introduce and retain talents?” Participating presidents of several enterprise hospitals consulted the Aikang Hospital on the issue of strengthening talent team building. As talents are the primary first productive force, in the Aikang Hospital’s development strategy, “talents” are put in the foremost position. Over the past decade since its restructuring, the Aikang Hospital has invested over ten million in introducing high-end talents, including 3 persons with doctoral degree, 28 persons with master degree and 32 chief physicians. A number of famous doctors (including Li Wuer, Former Vice President of Huangshi Fifth Hospital, incumbent Executive Vice President of Beijing Aikang, Lv Yonghong, incumbent General Manger of Tongji Aikang Hospital Management Co., Ltd. and President of Huangshi Aikang Hospital, Zhang Chuntian, member of Hubei Society of Nephrology, Director of Huangshi Society of Nephrology, one of Top Ten Doctors in Huangshi, chief physician of Nephrology Department of Aikang Hospital, Ke Wentan, member of Hubei Orthopedic Committee, Director of Huangshi Orthopedics Committee, Chief Physician of Orthopedics and Brain Trauma Department of Aikang Hospital, and Fan Hua, one of the First Excellent Female Doctors Engaged in Chinese Traditional Medicine, one of Top Ten Doctors in Huangshi and Chief Physician of Pediatrics Department of Aikang Hospital) have applied extensively their gorgeous innovative results in clinical and research aspects in clinical diagnosis and treatment, laying a solid foundation or the rapid development of the Aikang Hospital.
The Aikang Hospital not only provides high-end talents with first-class working environment and remuneration and benefits higher than those of same-level hospitals but also professional technical development platforms to enable them to have a bigger career development space. The Aikang Hospital also attaches importance to the fostering of talents by not only sending medical staff to have external training but also inviting every week experts from Wuhan Tongji Hospital and Union Hospital to provide guidance and from time to time famous experts and professors nationwide and foreign academic leaders to give lectures in Huangshi. A health and mature talent mechanism helps the Aikang build a famous medical brand in southeastern Hubei Province and famous departments with leading levels in southeastern Hubei Province including nephropathy department, orthopedics department, laboratory department, radiology department, obstetrics and gynecology department.
As introduced by the relevant person-in-charge of the Aikang Hospital, in this meeting as the finale of the celebration of “Century Aikang and Remarkable Decade”, the restructuring achievements of Aikang were reported to leaders at all levels, the successful model of system reform advocated by Aikang was introduced to industry fellows and reform opinions and innovative philosophy were provided for domestic hospitals that need restructuring. Yang Youwang, Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group of Health and Family Planning Commission of Hubei Province pointed out that through communication and discussion, we gave out new sparks of enterprise hospital reform and innovation, which would certainly promote medical development to a new level and China’s health care development to have further reform and development.
——Beijing Aikang Group