The Baotou medical insurance bureau issued a notice titled "Regulations on Outpatient Consultation Fees" on Jan 18, implementing a policy across the city's tertiary medical institutions that allows patients to register once for outpatient services and return for follow-up visits within three days without re-registering.

Previously, registration was only valid within one day. If a follow-up visit was needed the next day because the test results were not yet available, patients had to re-register, incurring additional time costs.

The policy has been in effect for nearly four months. Recently, reporters visited several hospitals in the city and found that the convenient and time-saving follow-up visits have improved patient experience.

Ms Bai, 35 years old, recently experienced waist pain that extended to both sides of her hips, affecting her sleep. On May 13, she visited the orthopedics department at the Fourth Hospital of Baotou.

"Director Li from orthopedics ordered an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) for me, but since it was late in the day, the results would not be available until the next day," she said. "I thought I would have to register again, but to my surprise, when I came back today, the nurse informed me that I didn't need to re-register and could go in directly for the follow-up visit," Ms Bai appreciated the time and effort saved by not having to re-register.

In addition, Baotou Central Hospital has been helping patients make follow-up visits through rolling video displays, instruction manuals, and explanations from volunteer guides. The hospital has also upgraded its registration equipment to automatically recognize patients' tests and examinations in the same department within three days.