Alipay Launches 'Future Hospital 3.0' on Open Platform, Offering End-to-End Digital Healthcare and Reducing Patient Queues by an Average of 4 Times

On July 29, at the China Hospital Information Network Alliance (CHIMA) Conference, Alipay announced a comprehensive upgrade of its “Future Hospital 3.0” digital solution, developed in collaboration with ecosystem service providers in the healthcare sector. Built on Alipay Mini Programs, the solution integrates seven core capabilities—including mobile payment for medical insurance, credit-based medical services, and anti-scalping measures—to provide users with an end-to-end digital healthcare experience covering appointment scheduling, consultations, payments, and follow-up visits. During the testing phase, the solution improved healthcare delivery efficiency by 60%. The solution is now fully available and has been launched on the Alipay Open Platform.

Long queues and extended waiting times for hospital consultations have long been a shared pain point for both patients and healthcare institutions. The Future Hospital 3.0 model focuses on addressing this challenge. During registration, patients can schedule appointments in advance via the Alipay mini-program and retrieve their queue numbers directly from self-service kiosks upon arrival, thereby reducing lines at manual service counters. During consultation, the smart card on the Alipay homepage provides expedited triage services, including department navigation and real-time updates on queue status, eliminating the need to wait physically for number calls. For payment, patients can choose either mobile medical insurance payment or “credit-based medical care,” which allows treatment first and payment later in urgent situations, bypassing the need to queue at payment windows. For follow-up visits, patients can consult online with intelligent customer service agents through the hospital’s mini-program, minimizing the need for in-person visits.

Currently, “Future Hospital 3.0” encompasses functionalities such as appointment registration, online medical insurance payment, expedited triage navigation, intelligent customer service, anti-scalping systems, credit-based medical services, and low-carbon healthcare. Among these, the expedited triage navigation feature makes its debut, leveraging smart cards on the Alipay homepage to provide users with pre-consultation reminders, departmental navigation, remote ticket retrieval, queue number alerts, and medication pickup guidance. On average, this feature helps patients avoid three to four separate queues, significantly reducing the time spent seeking medical care.

Zhengzhou People’s Hospital is among the first batch of pilot hospitals for Alipay’s “Future Hospital 3.0.” According to a hospital representative, since the introduction of its intelligent triage system in June this year, the feature has helped patients save an average of 45–60 minutes per visit, while also reducing the hospital’s labor costs for triage consultations by 40%.

It is reported that Alipay began exploring digital solutions for hospitals as early as 2014, successively launching “Future Hospital 1.0” for appointment registration and “Future Hospital 2.0” for credit-based medical payments. The latest “Future Hospital 3.0” solution integrates all stages of the patient journey and is now available to hospitals across China. Hospitals can select suitable functional services based on their specific needs through the “Medical Services” section of the Alipay Open Platform.