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A Screen Moves Mountains in Baihe County

Medical Difficulties Created by Mountains

Baihe County, Shaanxi Province, is located at the junction of Shaanxi Province and Hubei Province. As can be seen on the map, A dozen mountains including Tianchi Ridge, Tudi Ridge, Hanjia Mountain, Pingding Mountain, and Yeren Mountain create two "parallel worlds" for the small county - the world inside the mountains and the world outside. The special geographical conditions create a daunting problem for the 200,000 people living in Baihe Country when medical attention is needed. Since the county is surrounded by mountains, it's impossible for large medical equipment to reach there, and it's difficult to guarantee people's access to even basic daily medicines. If they want to go to the hospital in the nearest county, they have to travel dozens of kilometers on mountain roads, which often takes more than two hours by car.


Qin Luxin, 67, is a resident of Shiguan Village, Baihe County. He has suffered from coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and other diseases for more than ten years. His caput femoris are completely necrotic, making every step extremely difficult. It takes more than two hours by car to see a doctor outside the mountains, which is very inconvenient.


Qin Renxiu is a local doctor in Shiguan Village, dedicated to safeguarding the health of it's nearly 2,000 residents. "In his case, without regular examinations, coronary heart disease may cause myocardial infarction, and high blood pressure may cause cerebral hemorrhage." she said.

A Screen Moves Mountains in Baihe County
The Story of a Screen

In the past, Qin Renxiu had to hail a car to send critically ill patients to the county hospital. But now, "a screen" brings a new solution to the problem. After measuring Qin Luxin's body temperature and blood pressure, she clicked the "Baihe County Regional Medical Collaboration Platform" on her mobile phone and issued a request for "remote clinic". The doctor from the county hospital soon responded via video, read Qin Luxin's past medical records simultaneously, and began to check medical reports and images of the 67-year-old patient.


The village doctor and county doctor quickly made a diagnosis through cooperation. "The blood pressure is a little bit too high, so the patient should go through regular physical examination to prevent myocardial infarction or cerebral hemorrhage." The timely diagnosis made Qin Luxin feel reassured.

A Screen Moves Mountains in Baihe County

 

A Beam of Light on Mountain Roads

In the past, it would have been unimaginable to think a small screen could "move mountains" that had created a difficult barrier for residents seeking medical care. Baihe County Regional Medical Collaboration Platform, built under the leadership of Baihe County People's Hospital and with the support of United Imaging, integrates five remote clinic functions including consultation, diagnosis, audio and video conferencing and education, covering 12 township hospitals and 113 village clinics, benefitting 200,000 Baihe County residents. The people of this mountainous region are able to enjoy quality services from higher level hospitals without leaving their home with the remote access to medical experts at a variety of institutions at the county level through grassroots hospitals.

A Screen Moves Mountains in Baihe County
A Screen Moves Mountains in Baihe County
6-min
Hu Mingzhao
Director of Baihe County People’s Hospital
"The platform has not only solved the problem for the masses in seeking medical services, but also received commendations and recognition many times in the province and even in the country. It has been covered by many provincial and national media outlets. The investigation group from Shaanxi Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission highly recognized the Baihe County Regional Medical Collaboration Platform Project, "It's a good model of medical treatment combination. Its experience should be drawn to benefit more doctors and patients." In the future, Baihe County People's Hospital will incorporate maternal and child care service centers, private institutions and nursing homes into the regional medical collaboration system, enabling more special groups to experience the convenience and speed of telemedicine."
7-min
Huang Chunbo
Deputy Director of Baihe County People's Hospital
"It gives me a strong sense of fulfillment to bring tangible benefits to patients and fundamentally solve the practical problems for the masses, such as difficulties in seeking medical treatment, equipment in grass-roots medical institutions left underused, insufficient qualifications of grass-roots medical staff, and difficulties in training and education. The main purpose of medical staff is to solve people's problems."