# Recommendation Method

## Ranking Baseline

Use `fudan-rankings-2025.md` as the static ranking baseline. It is the starting point, not the only decision criterion.

## Hospital Selection Priorities

Rank hospital options using this order:

1. specialty fit for the patient's condition
2. Fudan specialty strength
3. treatment-path fit: first consult, surgery, multidisciplinary review, or second opinion
4. international patient support and communication readiness
5. JCI status as a positive trust and process-readiness signal
6. likely budget fit and travel practicality

## JCI Use Rule

- Treat JCI as a positive recommendation factor, not a hard filter.
- A hospital without a verified JCI status may still be recommended when its specialty fit is stronger.
- When JCI is verified, explain it in plain English as a support-quality signal for international patients, not as proof of better clinical outcomes.

## Specialist Direction Rules

- When stage, pathology, receptor status, or prior treatment path are incomplete, default to an evaluation-first or MDT-first specialist direction.
- Procedure-first specialist directions must be conditional, not the default, unless the case already clearly points to surgery-first or another procedure-led path.
- Prefer specialist direction, team profile, or department lead profile over naming an individual doctor unless public evidence is strong.
- Named doctor references require current official or hospital-backed public evidence.
- If evidence is weak, describe the type of specialist the patient should be matched to.

## Recommendation Language

Separate three layers clearly:

- static fact: bundled ranking baseline
- current fact: search-backed public information
- recommendation judgment: why this option fits the patient's case

Do not blur them together.

Separate clinical fit from access readiness:

- A hospital can be clinically strong while still having an access path that needs manual confirmation.
- Do not present multiple hospitals as equally accessible to foreign patients unless the evidence strength is actually comparable.
- Record-review support is not the same as doctor-led remote consultation.

## Patient-Facing Voice

- Write to the patient, not to an internal operator.
- Prefer direct phrases such as "this hospital may fit you if..." and "before you book, confirm...".
- Keep technical provenance out of the main recommendation paragraphs unless it changes a booking decision.