How hospitals are getting smarter

 06-Aug-15, Shanghai Daily 

Queues in China’s overcrowded hospitals are notoriously long, but mobile apps and technology are solving the problem as the country introduces more “smart” hospitals.

Image: Ecns

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning said yesterday that the capital’s top-level hospitals will offer patients access to mobile payment services by the end of 2017.

Mobile payment has been introduced in some hospitals in the capital on a trial basis.

Beijing Children’s Hospital has given patients the option of making appointments and paying for services via mobile apps since June 18, said Zhao Chengsong, director of its outpatient department. Mobile services for appointments and payment have saved time for both patients and medical workers and prevented long lines.

South China’s Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center set up the nation’s first smart hospital in May 2014. By late May, 82 hospitals in 41 cities had launched mobile medical services for patients, according to data from Alipay, an online payment provider.

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