Multidisciplinary service has become the main feature of the 1-year-old Pudong branch of Shanghai Cancer Center, the leading medical facility on cancer diagnosis and treatment in China.

In the past year, the branch’s multidisciplinary clinics offered some 940 treatment plans, 60 percent of which were for complicated cases. Previously, patients had to go between different hospitals and departments for diagnosis and treatment.

In the new branch, leading specialists have their own teams dedicated to different forms of cancer. Patients can receive a treatment plan just by visiting a single clinic.

“Such practices are convenient for patients and improve medical efficiency,” said Yu Xianjun, vice president of Shanghai Cancer Center and a leading expert on pancreatic cancer.

Patients never have to be transferred between wards under different departments for different treatment.

In addition to innovation in hospital management and the introduction of multidisciplinary service, the new branch has led many clinical trials on new medicines and new technologies.