North China's Shanxi province launched its first province-city-county-township remote ultrasound telemedicine service in the provincial capital of Taiyuan city on Nov 13.

Experts from the Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital and the Second People's Hospital of Taiyuan guided medical workers, at the Yangqu People's Hospital and at a rural clinic in Xilingjing township, to carry out ultrasound diagnoses and consultations on four patients through online streaming video. 

Previously, rural patients had to go to hospitals in the county seats or in cities to take ultrasound examinations which was time-consuming and costly, according to Wang Haijuan, head of Yangqu People's Hospital.

"With the help of 5G network technology and the technical support of experts from provincial and city-level hospitals, rural patients – especially those in remote areas – can enjoy higher medical services at home from hospitals in large cities and the medical abilities of grassroots doctors are improved through the remote guidance," Wang added.

The new online telemedicine service has reportedly helped alleviate the uneven distribution of medical resources in Shanxi.

Plans are for similar services, such as remote ultrasound medical consultations in the fields of gynecology, cardiology, nephrology and hepatology, to be conducted regularly in the province, to serve more rural patients.