In an ongoing effort to improve the health of its citizenry, Qingdao is focusing on resolving pressing medical issues and enhancing residents' sense of happiness and security.

By the end of 2023, Qingdao had a total of 8,980 medical and health institutions at all levels, with 69,611 beds, 124,019 personnel, outpatient services for 102 million visits per year, inpatient services for 2.05 million visits, and an average life expectancy of 81.78 years for residents.

The city is currently carrying out national pilot projects for the reform and high-quality development of public hospitals, as well as the inheritance of traditional Chinese medicine. It is home to 23 national key specialties, seven national work studios, three national key TCM laboratories and 118 provincial key specialties, and has established four Shandong TCM specialty clusters in pulmonary diseases, rehabilitation, cardiovascular diseases and preventive medicine.

In terms of talent cultivation, Qingdao has 52,600 medical personnel with bachelor's degrees or higher, 13,300 individuals with senior professional titles or above, 44 national high-level talents such as members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 82 provincial high-level talents including members of the Taishan Scholar Plan, and 334 outstanding talents at the city level.

The city is optimizing its medical treatment process, introducing services such as expert team appointments, volunteer companionship, nighttime outpatient services, and on-site and bedside settlements in tertiary public comprehensive hospitals. Moreover, second-tier and above public hospitals provide patients with "one-stop" services such as handling admission and discharge procedures, centralized appointments for examinations, inspections, and health education. At least one attending physician with a senior professional title is on duty at grassroots medical and health institutions for at least three days a week, providing services such as "diagnosis and treatment first, settlement later" and long-term prescriptions for chronic diseases.

Additionally, Qingdao is committed to transforming medical services empowered by big data and advanced technologies. It has established a smart medical care system in which 583 medical institutions have achieved mutual recognition of 207 examination and inspection items, saving patients more than 48 million yuan ($6.61 million) in medical expenses from January to September this year.

A shining example of the system's efficiency is Qingdao's creation of an electronic medical map with 4.5 billion pieces of data, providing 150 intelligent services covering the entire medical process. By building a 5G emergency platform, the average dispatch time in the city's Shinan, Shibei, Licang, and Laoshan districts has been shortened by 12 seconds, and the average emergency response time has been cut by two minutes.

Qingdao is also constructing closely-knit medical groups in districts and county-level areas, allowing more patients to access high-quality medical services. For example, Shinan and the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University have formed a medical group, offering services such as direct appointment with renowned experts. Residents can now book appointments, obtain examination orders and settle payments directly in the community.

Furthermore, Laixi city has built a medical group to introduce 82 resident experts and 43 specially appointed experts from Qingdao Municipal Hospital (Group), providing medical services for residents.