A volunteer in a red vest assists a citizen in using a smart terminal equipped with facial recognition technology at the Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University yesterday. Zhang Yu
Self-Service terminals equipped with facial recognition technology were put into use at the Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University yesterday, further facilitating basic medical insurance participants to navigate through the entire process of seeking medical treatment.
The Shenzhen hospital is the first in Guangdong Province to offer such facial recognition-based medical services, according to the hospital and the Shenzhen Municipal Healthcare Security Bureau.
“I don’t need to bring my identity card or medical insurance card, and I can register, see the doctor and pay the medical bills with my face scanned. It’s really convenient,” a woman surnamed Li told Shenzhen Daily.
According to the bureau, for those who have joined the city’s basic medical insurance program, they can use facial recognition in such scenarios as registration, medical bill payment, medical consultation, check-ups and getting medicines at the hospital through smart terminals.
The terminals will send notifications to the users’ mobile phones such as pre-diagnosis reminders, pending payment reminders, optimal navigation routes, and access to examination reports.
“It is expected that the use of facial recognition will not only shorten the time for patients when seeking medical treatment, but also improve the hospital’s service efficiency,” Wang Yixin, director of the hospital’s information department, said.
Q&A
Q1: Which patients can use facial recognition throughout the entire process for medical treatment?
A: At present, it is available to Shenzhen’s basic medical insurance participants who hold an electronic certificate, excluding those who have joined the children’s medical insurance program.
Q2: How can an insured resident get an e-certificate for the medical insurance scheme?
A: There are two ways. One can either get the e-certificate by searching “医保电子凭证” through Alipay or through the hospital’s smart terminals.