Xinjiang promotes telehealth services to central Asian countries

URUMQI -- A total of 27 hospitals in Urumqi, capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, have established telehealth service cooperation with 24 hospitals in central Asian countries.

Xinjiang has been sharing telehealth services with the countries in recent years with the help of cloud computing, big data and the internet.

The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University launched such services, linking itself as well as some 50 hospitals across China with over ten medical institutions in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

"For every foreign patient who uses the telehealth service, we set up health document and do follow-up checks," said Tang Ling, who is responsible for the department of telehealth services at the hospital.

A number of hospitals in Xinjiang have established international service departments, staffed with medical personnel who can speak the languages of the neighboring countries to provide convenient services.

By the end of 2018, nearly 20,000 visits from patients in nearby countries have been made through such telehealth services.a