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A Policy Analysis of Human Resource Management Optimization in Chinese Public Hospitals under HighQuality Development

Tian Zhao1 , Bingyao Wang2 , Hailin Zhu3

  • 1 The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250001, Shandong, China
  • 2 University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
  • 3 Shandong University of Finance and Economics, Jinan 250014, Shandong, China
hailinzhu@sdufe.edu.cn https://doi.org/10.64574/ghss.2026.2.3.1 Open access

Under a Creative Commons license: CC BY 4.0

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Abstract

Chinese public hospitals are the institutional core of China's medical and health service system and are now undergoing a policy-driven transition from scale expansion to quality, efficiency, refined governance, and stronger public welfare orientation. Against this background, human resource management (HRM) can no longer be treated as routine personnel administration. It must be redesigned as a strategic governance mechanism that connects talent structure, post management, performance distribution, professional development, employee well-being, digital management, and hospital accountability. This article is positioned as a policy analysis and perspective article rather than an empirical research article. Drawing on China's major public-hospital reform policies, the 2024 national health statistical bulletin, and international literature on HRM in health systems, it examines persistent HRM tensions in Chinese public hospitals and proposes an integrated optimization model. The analysis identifies six major problems: incomplete alignment between workforce structure and hospital strategy, extensive post management, insufficiently balanced performance appraisal, discontinuous talent development, weak institutional support for medical staff, and fragmented digital HRM. To address these problems, the article develops a "policy orientation--organizational mechanism--humanistic support--digital empowerment--outcome evaluation" model and translates it into operable pathways: strategic workforce planning, classified post management, public-welfare-oriented performance appraisal, full-cycle talent cultivation, multi-track career development, institutionalized staff care, and data-supported HR governance. The contribution of the article lies in clarifying the Chinese policy logic of hospital HRM reform and offering a structured framework that can guide hospital managers and policymakers in transforming HRM from administrative execution to strategic governance.

Keywords

Chinese public hospitals; human resource management; high-quality development; performance appraisal; talent team construction; policy analysis

Conclusion

Under the background of high-quality development, human resource management in Chinese public hospitals must shift from routine personnel administration to strategic, refined, people-oriented, and digitally supported governance. This shift is required by national policy, by the scale and workload of China's hospital system, and by the need to sustain professional motivation and service quality.

The optimization of HRM should begin with strategic workforce planning and classified post management, continue through public-welfare-oriented performance appraisal and full-cycle talent development, and be supported by institutionalized staff care and digital decision-making. The ultimate goal is not only to improve internal management efficiency but also to enhance medical quality, patient safety, staff dignity, talent stability, and the sustainable development of public hospitals.

For public hospitals, the most important human resource question is not simply how to recruit more people or how to distribute performance pay. It is how to build an organizational environment in which medical professionals can work safely, grow continuously, cooperate effectively, and contribute to public welfare. Only when HRM is integrated with hospital strategy, policy requirements, and humanistic governance can public hospitals better meet people's demand for high-quality health services.

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