The queues in China's overcrowded hospitals are notoriously long, but mobile apps and technology are offering hopes for shorter waits as the country introduces "smart" hospitals.
The Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning confirmed on Tuesday that the capital's top-level hospitals will offer patients access to mobile payment services by the end of 2017.
The move is part of a scheme released by China's National Health and Family Planning Commission in January to improve the country's health and medical services, medical management and patient services from 2015 to 2017.
Mobile payment has already been introduced in some Beijing hospitals on a trial basis. Beijing Children's Hospital has offered patients the option to make appointments and pay for services via mobile apps since June 18, said Zhao Chengsong, director of the hospital's outpatient department.
The hospital received 3.37 million outpatients in 2014. "It used to be common to see more than 1,000 patients and family members queuing up in the hospital early in the morning," said Nie Xiaolu, a doctor with the hospital.
Mobile services for appointments and payment have saved time for both patients and medical workers and prevented long lines, Nie said.
The hospital also plans to expand mobile services to more areas, including receiving test results and paying treatment fees, and it will also explore a mobile platform for direct communication between doctors and patients, according to Nie.
Jia Ruofei, a doctor at the Beijing Anzhen Hospital, told Xinhua that mobile payment will lead to a technological revolution in China's medical system, though his hospital does not yet offer mobile payment service.
Beijing Anzhen Hospital received a total of 2.41 million outpatients in 2014, making it one of the top 10 hospitals for outpatient treatment in the city, Jia said. He believes mobile payment will let the hospital operate more efficiently while providing patients a better environment for treatment.
Beijing isn't alone in the trend. South China's Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center set up the nation's first "smart hospital" in May 2014. Patients at the center can make appointments, pay medical bills and consult doctors via mobile apps.
Xia Huimin, president of the center, attributed the success of the smart hospital to the management of the center's medical mobile network and wide public acceptance of mobile services.
As of July 27, about 260,000 people had used the mobile medical services provided by the center, and more than 30 percent of the center's patients had made appointments via the services, according to Xia.
By late May, 82 hospitals in 41 cities had launched mobile medical services to patients, according to data from Alipay, China's largest online payment provider.
Smart hospitals have led to breakthroughs in China's medical system reform, said Chen Dengkun, an expert on smart medical services in Guangzhou.
Smart hospitals are expected to be widely promoted as the number of Chinese Internet users grows. The country's online population reached 649 million at the end of 2014, with some 557 million accessing the Internet via mobile phones.
In addition to hospitals, other public venues such as railway stations, public security bureaus, and banks could also see lines shrink as mobile public services reach more traditional sectors.
