The conference was presided over by President Lei Guanghua of Xiangya Hospital and attended by Qiao Jie (academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, executive deputy director of Peking University Health Science Center, and president of Peking University Third Hospital), Wang Wei (executive vice president of Huazhong University of Science and Technology and president of Tongji Hospital), Kan Quancheng (director of the Health Commission of Henan Province, and Party secretary of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University), president Li Weimin of West China Hospital of Sichuan University, president Huang He of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Tang Jinhai (vice president of Nanjing Medical University and Party secretary of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Hospital), president Li Bing of Liuzhou Workers’ Hospital, executive vice president Zhu Xingen of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, vice president Kuang Ming of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, vice president Qu Changbao of the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, vice president Li Shaojie of Xiangtan Central Hospital, Alexandre Louren?o (consultant for the World Health Organization and President of the Portuguese Association of Hospital Managers), Professor Michael Nerlich (President of the German-Chinese Society of Medicine and Director of the Department for Trauma Surgery at Regensburg University Medical Center), Ann-Marie Cannaby (Chief Operating Officer at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS trust), Toni Staykova (Vice President of International Education and Innovations at Cambridge Medical Academy), Professor John Porter of International Health at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Wang Dan (director-general and secretary-general of China Health & Medical Development Foundation), Party secretary Zhang Xin of Xiangya Hospital, president Zhou Zhiguang of the Second Xiangya Hospital of CSU, president Zhang Guogang of the Third Xiangya Hospital of CSU, and vice presidents Chen Zihua and Chang Shi of Xiangya Hospital.

Main venue of the conference (Xiangya Hospital of CSU)

In his opening speech, Party secretary Zhang Xin said that the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges to the healthcare community, and that how medical institutions should strengthen lean operation and management and improve the efficiency of operations and performance management has become a matter of shared concern to global healthcare practitioners. He also expressed his hope that the conference might inspire and benefit the attendees.

Director-general Wang Dan noted that, in face of the new tests brought by the pandemic, China Health & Medical Development Foundation, as a national charity organization, will continue to set up online platforms for international exchange and cooperation and provide support and services for technological exchange, talent training, and discipline development in the medical field, so as to boost the development of hospitals.

Several attendees also delivered keynote speeches. President Lei Guanghua talked about the specific actions and achievements of Xiangya Hospital in epidemic prevention and control, and summarized the experience and inspirations from four aspects: enhancing bottom-line awareness to resolve risks early; strengthening the awareness of the rule of law and standardizing operations in accordance with the law; enhancing the sense of mission and fulfilling the responsibility of running the hospital; and strengthening awareness in management and accelerating transformation and development. He also stated the ideas and strategies for the development of Xiangya Hospital in the post-epidemic era. Professor Alexandre Louren?o made some suggestions on hospital management and health services in the post-epidemic era, including the use of big data and artificial intelligence, and changing the way of payment and the operating mode of medical institutions, such as promoting same-day surgery, assisting community healthcare, and improving the ability and quality of medical services. He particularly highlighted the importance of innovation in hospital operation and management and the development of healthcare in the post-epidemic era. The speech of Academician Qiao Jie was titled “Scientific Development of Hospitals in the Context of Regular Epidemic Prevention and Control”. She explained how to carry out regular epidemic prevention and control with the combination of routine exercises and actual emergency response and develop hospitals in a science-based way. She also pointed out that hospitals must take various measures to prevent and control the epidemic, make reasonable arrangements for work resumption, and gather together high-quality resources to boost the development of hospitals. Professor Toni Staykova expounded the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on digital health. She said that the pandemic made telemedicine a necessity and brought about some positive changes in the telemedicine service market. The development of the entire health system, including the reconstruction, reform and innovation of the payment system of medical insurance, was affected. The United Kingdom has learned a lot from the pandemic. Party secretary Zhang Xin was the moderator of this session.

Roundtable discussions

In addition, attendees conducted roundtable discussions about two themes: “How should hospitals strengthen lean operation and management in the post-epidemic era” and “New ideas for hospitals going global in the post-epidemic era”, and practical experience and thoughts of medical institutions from different places of the world and at different levels were shared. Vice president Chen Zihua pointed out that three aspects should be paid attention to in terms of hospitals’ lean operation and management in the post-epidemic era. First, hospitals must be prepared all the time and make coordinated arrangements for epidemic prevention and control and normal medical services. Secondly, hospitals should achieve better economic benefits by enhancing their performance and allocate the benefits in a proper way, which in turn could accelerate their development. Thirdly, hospitals should take every opportunity, follow the changing trend and make corresponding adjustments to improve the quality of medical services. Vice president Chang Shi introduced the challenges faced by and practices of Xiangya Hospital in international cooperation and exchange in the context of the global pandemic, and proposed new ideas for affiliated hospitals of universities to go global in the post-epidemic era. First, the process of Internet-based medical services connecting with the world should be accelerated, and remote exchange should be made regular. Secondly, existing partnerships should be deepened, and exchange should be carried out with more institutions and organizations. Thirdly, policies and procedures should be continuously optimized, and professionals for foreign affairs should be trained in a systematic way.

President Lei Guanghua said at the end of the conference that the participation of 18 Chinese hospital managers and 5 experts from Europe made it a high-level and productive event. Their in-depth discussions about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare community and about how to cope with the challenges in a positive and science-based manner, how to strengthen hospital management and economic operations, and how to facilitate the process of hospitals going global in the post-epidemic era would greatly inspire hospital managers and serve as reference for them.