Experts are calling for more professional administrators to be involved in hospital administration in China.

At the 5th Top Forum for Chinese Health and Hospital Administration 2007, held from 22 September to 23 at Tsinghua Science Park in Beijing, delegates highlighted that the professional administration of hospitals is important for improving the quality of medical treatment services in the country.

At present, hospital administration in China is still the domain of doctors and experts on site.

Li Xuewang, vice-president of Peking Union Hospital and member of the Quality Management Branch of the China Hospital Associate said, "I don't think that the professional administrator of a hospital should only be the ones who majoring in management." A qualified hospital administrator can be an experienced doctor, one who also has academic management skills gained through further study, Li said.

When talking about whether there is any compatibility between hospital administration and enterprise management, Zhang Muhan, assistant dean at the School of Continuing Education, Tsinghua University, said that essentially, hospital administration is interlinked with enterprise management; but they do have distinctions. For example, public hospitals in China cannot maximise profits like enterprises can. Furthermore, hospitals take on more social responsibilities and moral obligations than enterprises.