Internet playing bigger role in healthcare

Intensified efforts will be made to improve connectivity and information sharing among different regions and healthcare service providers across China via the internet to improve public services, according to a notice released by the top health authority.

Local health authorities should promote different medical care institutions to share patient information, including their electronic medical records and test results, in order to ensure the quality of healthcare services, the National Health Commission said on Dec 10.

Efforts need to be accelerated in promoting the use of residents' electronic health codes in hospitals and clinics so that patients can use the codes instead of other medical documents required by various medical care providers. The codes will cover areas such as diagnoses, treatments and other medical history data, said the notice.

Electronic health codes in smartphones have been promoted across China following the COVID-19 pandemic as an important tool for contagion prevention and control. Every resident has a unique code, and a code indicting low risk for COVID-19 infection is mandatory prior to accessing many public venues.

Different places across China should also increase information sharing to ensure electronic health codes are recognized nationwide to better facilitate the movement of people. In places deemed to be at low risk for COVID-19, people should not be required to scan health codes except to access special venues such as hospitals, said the notice.

While making full use of the internet and big data to expand online services including remote follow-ups and healthcare advice, medical institutions should continue to improve offline services and improve services for special groups who have difficulty using digital technologies, such as the elderly, children and the disabled, it added.

Internet technology has been widely used in healthcare services in China in recent years. More than 5,500 secondary and tertiary hospitals across China are able to provide online services, said the NHC.

The internet has also helped people gain greater access to healthcare services including consultations, diagnoses and drug deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic without the need to visit hospitals and has thus contributed to contagion prevention and control, said the commission.

Fan Li, director of the National Clinical Medicine Research Center of Geriatric Diseases, said developing online healthcare services is especially helpful to certain groups such as the elderly and patients with chronic diseases.

"The advantages of online services have been highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which reduced infections among patients, especially the elderly," she said. "With a rapidly aging population, more efforts are needed to integrate internet technologies and healthcare to cope with increasing demand for healthcare services."