On November 17, 2022, the first joint outpatient for refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease and hiatal hernia in northwest China officially launched in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi 'an Jiaotong University (XJTU). Vice President Liu Qingguang and heads of Medical Department, Outpatient Department, Publicity Department, Department of Gastroenterology and Department of Thoracic Surgery attended the unveiling ceremony. The joint outpatient will be delivered by the experts from Department of Gastroenterology and Department of Thoracic Surgery. This "disease-centered" novel diagnosis and treatment mode optimizes multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment process, improves the efficiency of medical treatment, and enhances the convenience and sense of fulfillment of patients through high-quality integration of medical resources.

Professor He Shuixiang, Director of Department of Gastroenterology, Professor Zhang Guangjian, Director of Department of Thoracic Surgery, and Professor Fu Junke delivered speeches, respectively. Vice President Liu Qingguang stressed that with tremendous support from Medical Department and Outpatient Department, Department of Gastroenterology and Department of Thoracic Surgery established joint outpatient for patients diagnosed with refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease and hiatal hernia, reflecting the "patient-centered" service concept of our hospital. The joint outpatient is expected to make a good start, offer qualified services, give full play to its characteristics and advantages and accumulate experience for joint outpatient service of other disciplines and other diseases in our hospital, aiming to provide more convenient and one-stop medical services for patients.

Refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease refers to the symptoms, such as reflux and heartburn, are not significantly mitigated after 8 weeks of double-dose acid inhibitor treatment, or even if acid inhibitor treatment is effective, patients are unwilling to take medicine for a long period of time, leading to secondary mental and psychological problems. Esophageal hiatal hernia is also a common digestive system disease. It is necessary to perform digestive endoscopy or minimally invasive thoracic surgery for refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease and hiatal hernia.

The joint outpatient of refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease and hiatal hernia established by Department of Gastroenterology and Department of Thoracic Surgery is concrete practice of doing concrete things for patients, and it is also a practical multidisciplinary measure to accelerate high-quality development of our hospital with concreteactions. The joint outpatient will be delivered by experts both from Department of Gastroenterology and Department of Thoracic Surgery to jointly analyze the patients' condition, formulate individualized treatment regimens, and provide systematic, comprehensive, convenient, long-term and high-quality diagnosis and treatment services for patients with these diseases.