New quality productivity-driven development of clinical nutrition in Chinese public hospitals: a Chongqing survey

Objectives New Quality Productivity emphasizes innovation-driven, quality-focused development, requiring data-driven and efficient healthcare. However, Clinical nutrition is an interdisciplinary field bridging public health and clinical medicine, which is prone to marginalization and currently lacks platform development and data support. To address this, our study assesses clinical nutrition departments in Chinese public hospitals via a Chongqing survey, offering potential insights into national trends, while acknowledging regional specificity to propose data-driven solutions. Methods The survey list of secondary and above public hospitals in Chongqing was obtained from the official website of the Chongqing Clinical Nutrition Quality Control Centre. A retrospective analysis was conducted using verified electronic questionnaire data retrieved from the National Clinical Nutrition Quality Control Platform. The collected data were organized in Microsoft Excel and analyzed by SPSS 26.0. Additionally, a targeted literature review was performed using databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, and CNKI to assess the structural, operational, and strategic challenges facing clinical nutrition departments and to formulate evidence-based development pathways. Results The survey included 294 public hospitals in Chongqing, comprising 34.0% tertiary hospitals and 66.0% secondary hospitals. Among them, 160 (54.4%) had established Clinical Nutrition Departments, of which 42.1% had implemented the dedicated clinical nutrition information systems. These Clinical Nutrition Departments employed 643 professionals, including 284 physicians (44.2%), 187 technicians (29.1%), and 172 nurses (26.7%). This corresponds to a clinical nutritionist-to-bed ratio of 1:451. Only 11.9% of the clinical nutrition departments participated in academic education programs, whereas 33.3% engaged in clinical research activities. Between 2022 and 2024, the 24-h nutritional risk screening rate showed significant annual increases (all p < 0.05), and tertiary hospitals consistently achieving higher inpatient nutritional assessment rates than secondary hospitals ( p < 0.05). Conclusion Chongqing’s clinical nutrition sector shows progress in scale and efficacy, yet disparities between tertiary and secondary hospitals persist alongside key challenges in talent, discipline positioning, and research/education. To address these, we propose implementing the New Quality Productivity framework through national medical centers, focusing on technology integration, process optimization, and human capital development to shift from scale expansion to innovation-driven, high-quality growth.