8:40 on May 21st, 2020, Ms. Lin was describing her conditions to Dr. Liu Yongtai, a cardiologist in Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), via video link on the official app of PUMCH. This makes Ms. Lin the first-patient-ever to use PUMCH’s online medical diagnosis and treatment service.

Ms. Lin, in her 80s, has a history of hypertension for more than 20 years. She has been taking oral antihypertensive drugs for a long period of time. Recently, Ms. Lin has not been able to maintain her blood pressure within the ideal range and has planned to visit the doctors to adjustment her medications. Yet, due to concern of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the plan was delayed till now.

"Could you show me your ID card and medical insurance card and hold them still in front of the camera?” “Please point the camera to the patient.” “Madam, would you please move your right hand and turn your head a little?” asked Dr. Liu, as he verified the patient identify to get ready for the appointment. “How is your blood pressure lately?” He continued. “Her blood pressure is 150/110 after taking the medicine. Should we switch to a different type of medicine?” replied by daughter of Ms. Lin who accompanied Ms. Lin during the online appointment. Dr. Liu checked the patient's medical histories, examination results, and medications records through the hospital information system (HIS). After careful consultations and inquiries about patient’s conditions, Dr. Liu provided Ms. Lin and her daughter treatment recommendations for managing blood pressure and wrote a prescription online. A few minutes later, a pharmacist completed the online prescription review, and the medicines were successfully prescribed. “(Dr. Liu is) very patient and responsible, and the advice offered was very professional!” The review left by Ms. Lin’s daughter on the PUMCH app.

△ Dr. Liu Yongtai communicates with Mr. Lin's daughter via video link.

President Zhao Yupei, together with the heads of the involving departments including the Remote Medical Center, Information Management Office, Outpatient Office, and Medical Insurance Office, witnessed the new online service for the first patient. The successful completion of the online diagnosis and treatment services for Ms. Lin marked the official launch of the online medical service by PUMCH, accelerating the development of “Internet + Health Care” in China.

△ PUMCH Online Medical Service Team on their first day of service

The online medical platform launched this time offers service in departments of internal cardiology and endocrinology. More clinical departments will join the platform after the operation of the platform is further optimized. Unlike simple online consultation, the online diagnosis and treatment services cover the key components in patients’ follow-up and subsequent visits, including review of PUMCH medical records, consultation and inquiry of patients’ condition, order of examinations/tests, prescription of medicine, and writing of electronic medical records. Additionally, patients who are beneficiaries of Beijing Municipal Medical Insurance can directly pay for the online diagnosis and treatment fees during their follow-up and subsequent visits without the complexity of using the insurance card. Notably, the comprehensive identity verification process of the system ensures the privacy and security of patient health information. Furthermore, the online medical service system supports the use of a variety of retrievable interactive formats such as texts, pictures, voice, and videos, making barrier-free, "zero distance” doctor-patient communication a possibility. After a doctor orders a prescription, a real-time review of the prescription online will be conducted by a clinical pharmacist, which provides extra guarantee for safe prescription medicine usage. The hospital will also launch its "door-to-door" drug distribution system, allowing patients to enjoy PUMCH’s comprehensive high-quality diagnosis and treatment services without the need to leave their houses.

At present, only returning patients (i.e. patients who have visited PUMHC within the past six months) are qualified to make an appointment for online diagnosis and treatment services via the hospital's official app, as required by the Administrative Measures for Online Diagnosis and Treatment Servies (Trial) released by the National Health Commission. The document defines “online diagnosis and treatment activities” as the diagnosis and treatment of the returning patients with common and/or chronic diseases by registered doctors in a medical institution by using the Internet technology and the contracted services offered by family doctors using the Internet technology.

PUMCH Online Medical Service Milestone Events

February 10 - Online fever consultation service began.

February 17 - Online specialist consultation service was launched.

March 26 - The hospital passed the expert accreditation on online diagnosis and treatment services.

April 3 - The hospital obtained the qualification for online diagnosis and treatment services.

May 9 - The Supplementary Agreement on Internet + Medical Insurance Services was signed.

May 20 - Approximately 60,000 online consultations have been offered.

May 21 - The online diagnosis and treatment service was officially launched.

Offering the patient-centered services has been the mission of PUMCH during its century-long journey. More than 60% of the patients seeking medical services in PUMCH are not local patients from Beijing. The availability of the online diagnosis and treatment services will transform the phenomenon of “Patients across China crowd into PUMCH for medical services” into a new mode of “Patients across China enjoy online consultation services via PUMCH app”. This will greatly facilitate the follow-up and subsequent visits of return patients living in other provinces and/or patients with difficulties visiting the doctors. The Internet + Health Care can truly let patients travel less by making data travel more. PUMCH will keep up the hard work in optimizing the online diagnosis and treatment system, aiming towards the goal of integrating the online and offline medical services soon and making greater contributions to saving lives and promoting health of the people.

Writer: Wanglu Chen Mingyan, Gu Liangjun

Editor: Fan Jing, Liu Zhaoyu, Fu Tanping

Photo: Wang Pengfei