Online hospital consultations reduce need for in-person visits

Residents in Qingpu District can receive long-distance consultation with medical experts from district- and city-level public hospitals at community hospitals or village clinics upon reservation thanks to an Internet hospital system.

The Yangtze River Delta Intelligent Hospital program, which was built by the Qingpu District government and Zhongshan Hospital's Qingpu branch, integrates high-quality medical resources in the region to offer residents more convenient and better health service, officials told a live streaming health program at the 4th International China Import Expo on Tuesday.

"The Internet hospital, which is located at Zhujiajiao People's Hospital in Qingpu, streamlines the process of seeing a doctor, as patients need not go all the way to visit a leading hospital in the downtown areas," said Jin Guiyuan, vice director of Qingpu District Health Commission. "There are 20 to 30 Internet clinics in Qingpu, which connect with experts from leading hospitals in Shanghai for remote consultation."

"All the consultation, drug prescription and long-distance group consultation can be done online. So far, the Internet hospital project has covered residents in Shanghai's Qingpu District, Zhejiang's Jiashan and Jiangsu's Wujiang," Jin said.