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.

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 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.