CHINESE medical experts are advocating that local hospitals be digitized using advanced foreign expertise to provide better low-cost services for patients.

　　Feng Xiaoyuan, vice-president of Huashan Hospital, said "digital healthcare solutions are very significant in developing the country's medical health system."

　　He made the remarks at the Digital Hospital Forum 2004 held in Shanghai last weekend attended by more than 200 Chinese hospital presidents and medical IT experts from the US, Australia and Belgium.

　　Participants at the forum, sponsored by Agfa Healthcare, probed the possibility of using Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) in local hospitals.

　　Feng said the system offered a multiplicity of opportunities - by moving from analog to digital patient-related data flows - to integrate the information generated throughout a healthcare facility and to optimize the quality of service offered to patients.

　　With more than 100 years of experience in imaging technologies, Agfa, though a latecomer compared with GE and Siemens, is elbowing its way into the Chinese market, trying to help local hospitals with their analog to digital conversion.

　　"China is a very important market for Agfa, which is growing fast," said Herman Raats, general manager of Agfa's Healthcare Business Group Asia-Pacific North.

　　"China's digital medical market has not been developing rapidly. We can use our expertise in America, the Middle East and Europe to push forward the digitization of Chinese hospitals," he said.

　　He explained that integration is the keyword in healthcare today. It is vital to manage images and information on patient data in the right way with images, medical reports, lab results, charts and many other forms of data from every hospital department over a single, transparent network, when and where needed.

　　At present, many hospitals keep their data in an analog format, which makes it inconvenient for patients and physicians who need to consult medical records.

　　"With digital solutions, they can access years of data and it is accessible to clinicians and radiologists within seconds," said David Zhao, product manager of Agfa's Healthcare Division China.

　　Local Ruijin Hospital has launched China's largest digital hospital project with an investment of 30 million yuan (US$3.63 million) in co-operation with Shanghai EBM Imaging Corporation, a joint venture with Taiwan.

　　Zhao said Agfa is seeking co-operation with Chinese hospitals to build "digital hospitals".

　　"Negotiations are going on with Huashan Hospital in Shanghai and Huaxi Hospital in Chengdu in Sichuan Province to launch PACS projects," Raats said.

　　He said the projects are "promising and probably will be launched next year with a combined investment of US$5 million to US$10 million."

　　By Chen Qide