Global ambulatory surgery services center on efficiency optimization, while China, against the backdrop of the medical and health system reform, has realized the transformation from “ambulatory surgery” to “ambulatory care”, shifting from an efficiency-oriented approach to a dual orientation of system restructuring + patient needs. Adopting a combined method of literature review and policy text analysis, this paper systematically sorts out more than 30 core policy documents issued at the national level over the past 20 years and nearly 100 papers from core domestic journals, and constructs an integrated analytical framework of “policy-concept-model”. The study clarifies the policy evolution logic of Chinese-style ambulatory care featuring “instrumental application → systematic integration → strategic restructuring”, and defines the hierarchical relationship and boundaries between “ambulatory surgery” and “ambulatory care”. This review provides a referential practical guide for different types of medical institutions and highlights the core value of Chinese-style ambulatory care as a key initiative for the supply-side structural reform of medical services.
Citation： XIANG Jufang, LIU Yang, ZHOU Mengdi, LUO Ying, YU Deshui. From “ambulatory surgery” to “ambulatory care”: policy evolution, conceptual definition and practical models of Chinese style. West China Medical Journal, 2026, 41(2): 297-302. doi: 10.7507/1002-0179.202601099 Copy
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