In a bid to guide medical institutions to focus on their core responsibilities and streamline outpatient naming for the convenience of patients, the National Health Commission (NHC) recently released the “Notice on Regulating the Management of Outpatient Names in Medical Institutions” (hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”).
The Notice stipulates that medical institutions should name their outpatient departments in accordance with the principles of legality, compliance, scientific standardization, clarity, and accuracy. In principle, the names should be in line with the diagnostic and treatment categories.
The names of special outpatient departments should truthfully, accurately, concisely, and clearly reflect the department’s specialty characteristics and scope of diagnosis and treatment. The names of multidisciplinary joint outpatient departments should be suffixed with “Joint Outpatient” or “MDT Outpatient”.
The Notice explicitly prohibits the use of names that violate socialist core values, go against public order and good customs, are novel and unique in a negative way, or are likely to trigger social anxiety and controversy.
Medical institutions are required to comprehensively review the establishment and naming of their outpatient departments. They should immediately rectify any non – compliant issues, adjust outpatient signs and guidance signs, optimize the outpatient management process, and provide patient guidance services to enhance the patient experience.
Moreover, they should release outpatient information through various channels such as official websites and official WeChat accounts to facilitate patients’ access to medical services.
In recent years, with the development of the medical and health industry, the scope of outpatient diagnosis and treatment services in Chinese medical institutions has gradually expanded, and the service content has become richer. However, some medical institutions have been using vague, general, or easily confused outpatient names, making it difficult for patients to seek medical treatment.
A small number of medical institutions, aiming to attract patients, have used outpatient names with homophonic effects or adjectives to imply curative effects, misleading patients, or used names that are novel in an inappropriate way and violate public order and good customs, causing social anxiety and controversy. The release of this Notice is expected to effectively address these problems.
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