A patient at the Shengcheng Subdistrict Health Center in Shouguang, Shandong province, on Friday. [Photo by Zhao Ruixue/chinadaily.com.cn]

In Shouguang, Shandong province, a digital transformation is reshaping primary healthcare, making medical services more accessible and efficient for rural residents.

With innovations like hospital apps and a Smart Health Map, locals can now book appointments, settle payments and access health records with just a few taps on their smartphones.

Li Shuliang from Fanyu village used to queue for hours from dawn for follow-up appointments. Now, he completes the process in minutes via a hospital app.

"I can choose a doctor and schedule an appointment online. Mobile payment deducts insurance automatically, saving time and hassle. My entire family's health records are stored on my phone, which is very practical," Li said.

The One-Network Electrocardiogram system built by Shouguang People’s Hospital connects 306 grassroots clinics across Shouguang, enabling timely heart checks.

During the past two years, over 99,000 ECG cases have been uploaded at the network, reducing missed or misdiagnosed heart conditions, said Zhang Bingzhe from the hospital.

At Shengcheng Subdistrict Health Center, a Smart Health Map enables doctors to see the distribution of chronic disease patients, such as those with high blood pressure and diabetes.

Using GIS technology, the map color-codes residents by health risk. For instance, red indicates severe, yellow indicates moderate and green indicates mild.

"It allows us to identify chronic disease patients, analyze risks, and assign tasks to family doctors automatically," said Liu Yueping, head of the center. Health data accuracy has risen above 98 percent, and control rates for hypertension and diabetes have increased by over 10 percent.

Li Peng, Communist Party secretary of Shouguang, said six different models have been developed on the Smart Health Map, including population-wide health profiling and health risk early warning.

Targeting prevalent musculoskeletal ailments such as neck, shoulder, waist and leg pain among farmers, it delivers proactive health reminders, improves access to suitable traditional Chinese medicine therapies, and has benefited over 800,000 people to date.

Across Shandong, primary healthcare now accounts for 63.3 percent of total medical visits, reflecting improved accessibility and equity in rural care.