China completes initial phase of national health information platform

China has finished the initial phase of building a national platform on health information, a health official said on Friday.

Mao Qun'an, director of the National Health Commission's department of planning and information, said during a news conference that all provincial-level regions and 85 percent of city-level regions have also built regional platforms to consolidate information on demographics, online health records of local residents and electronic medical records.

More than 2,200 hospitals of the tertiary level — the highest among a three-tier grade system for hospitals — have achieved information sharing with each other.

To help tackle the COVID-19 epidemic, key information on infected patients, regional health risks, nucleic acid testing results and vaccination records is also being shared across regions, he added.

Mao said the commission is working with other government organs to promote mutual recognition of digital health codes managed by different localities, so as to bring convenience for domestic travelers.

As information is playing an increasing role in healthcare services, Mao stressed that the elderly should not be overlooked in the process. Traditional offline registration services and volunteers to guide them at hospitals will continue to be offered to them.