China's medical and health field has taken on a new look, becoming more convenient and benefiting the public more after it was supported by information technology and the application of 5G and artificial intelligence.

Doctors make the rounds of the wards through a 5G robot in Shanghai No. 1 People’s Hospital. (Photo/ Shanghai No. 1 People’s Hospital)

"What is a new hospital? In the past, it was thought that a waiting hall had to be big, even bigger than a small auditorium. Now two sofas are enough, and the time between accurate appointments for diagnosis, treatment and examination is less than 15 minutes," said Wang Jianye, director of Beijing Hospital.

Wang noted that information technology is changing the way daily diagnoses and treatments are being carried out.

Long queues and crowded clinics will become a thing of the past for China’s medical and health services.

In August 2020, 64.1 million residents in south China's Guangdong province received their own unique QR codes. Using this "electronic health code", residents can gain access to 1,420 medical institutions in the province. They can also use the code for registration, medical examinations, laboratory tests, health insurance payments and so on.

When patients see a doctor, they can show the QR code, and the medical records will be immediately displayed on the doctor's computer.

Since 2015, the National Health Commission (then called the National Health and Family Planning Commission) has been drawing up and carrying out an action plan to improve medical services, proposing the use of "Internet +" as a means to build a smart hospital.

"In addition to more than 40,000 health care workers sent to help Hubei (the former epicenter of the COVID-19 epidemic in central China), relying on Internet hospitals, remote consultation and other platforms, more doctors have opened up a 'second battlefield' on the Internet," said Mao Qunan, director of the Planning Department of the National Health Commission.