Everything that the Hirslanden Private Hospital Group does is always geared towards one primary goal – patient benefit. This applies to investments and acquisitions together with the establishment of uniform structures and processes, not to mention the accreditation of new affiliated doctors and the foundation of collaborations. A high patient benefit is comprised of first-class medical quality, a high level of patient satisfaction and the efficient provision of services.
Regional healthcare networks:
The Hirslanden Private Hospital Group is divided up into different geographic care regions, each of which forms a network of central hospitals (maximum care), basic care hospitals, specialist hospitals and outpatient centres. Patients can thus be cared for close to home across all levels of treatment, whether as an outpatient, day patient (one night’s stay) or inpatient – and all without delays or loss of information. This results in a higher quality of care and added efficiency. The range of services in a care region extends from basic care through to diagnostics and highly specialised medicine. The outpatient operation centres close to the hospitals are becoming increasingly important in the healthcare networks, as the shift from inpatient services to the outpatient sector continues unabated.
System provider:
The organisation of the Hirslanden hospitals is based on a clear division of tasks between common medical functions on one hand – such as internal medicine, emergency care, anaesthesia, radiology and intensive care – and increasingly focused specialities such as orthopaedics, cardiology and oncology on the other. Thanks to this division, specialists can count on all basic medical services being provided quickly and professionally at all times, thus ensuring the highest possible level of patient safety. This in turn allows them to concentrate fully on their own specialist tasks. This type of organisation is known at Hirslanden as the “system provider approach”.
Affiliated doctors and employed doctors:
The team of doctors at the Hirslanden Private Hospital Group is made up of affiliated doctors and employed doctors. This allows for an extremely wide range of medical services, from basic care and common medical functions at the hospitals all the way through to specialised and highly specialised medicine. A large proportion of the affiliated doctors at Hirslanden are connected to over 100 centres of expertise, where specialists from a range of different fields work together on an interdisciplinary basis with a focus on specific organ systems or pathologies. Many affiliated and hospital doctors are also involved in “indication boards”. These are regular meetings where representatives from various disciplines jointly define which therapy or combination of therapies is the most sensible course of action for which patients. One example of this is the tumour board for patients with cancer.
Quality management:
The Hirslanden Private Hospital Group has a highly developed quality management system. Its most important function is to ensure the continual improvement process, a major part of which also includes the Group-wide sharing of knowledge and the adoption of best practice. Since 2010, the Hirslanden Group has published a quality report each year [link?] which shows the results of the comprehensive quality measurements in a clear and open fashion.
Infrastructure:
The hospitals and outpatient centres at Hirslanden constantly adapt their medical infrastructure according to ongoing developments. This is why the Hirslanden Group invests around 10 percent of turnover each year in the development and maintenance of its hospitals. Each hospital is equipped with a comprehensive range of diagnostic equipment and also offers interventional radiology, with computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as standard.
Leading provider of supplementary insurance:
Around 45 percent of Hirslanden patients have general insurance, a number which is also set to increase in future. Hirslanden thus plays an important role in the provision of healthcare to the people of Switzerland whilst also ensuring that high case numbers are achieved, which is critically important for quality in top-class medicine. Hirslanden also positions itself on the market as a leading provider of supplementary insurance. This means that patients with semi-private and private insurance can reap the benefits of their insurance class. This includes the free choice of doctors and appointments, having a say in the use of certain brand products and technologies, and added levels of comfort and service with hotel-like facilities.
Partnerships with public hospitals:
The Hirslanden Private Hospital Group works closely on a regional basis with public hospitals, including university hospitals. In Aarau, for example, Hirslanden co-operates with the Inselspital and university hospital in Berne in heart surgery, and with the Aarau Cantonal Hospital in heart medicine (cardiology and heart surgery) and in neurosurgery. The goal of such partnerships is to be able to offer patients from the region an even wider range of high-quality medical services closer to home.
Staff:
With their optimally trained staff, the hospitals and outpatient centres at Hirslanden guarantee individual patient care in pleasant surroundings. In addition to medical specialists from virtually all disciplines, 9,920 members of staff across the Group take care of patients directly or indirectly.
