Zhang Hao from Beijing Bo'ai Hospital: Intelligent Rehabilitation Is the New Hope for Rehabilitation Medicine

Zhang Hao, Secretary-General of the Intelligent Rehabilitation Technology Professional Committee, China Association for Promotion of Rehabilitation Technology Translation and Development

Director, Department of Neurorehabilitation III, Beijing Bo'ai Hospital, China Rehabilitation Research Center

China Rehabilitation Research Center is a comprehensive rehabilitation institution and technical resource center that integrates rehabilitation medical care, scientific and technological research in rehabilitation, training of rehabilitation professionals, rehabilitation information services, rehabilitation engineering research, and guidance on social services. Beijing Bo’ai Hospital, affiliated with the China Rehabilitation Research Center, is a teaching hospital of Capital Medical University. Approved by the Beijing Municipal Medical Insurance Center, it has been designated as one of the first batch of medical insurance-designated medical institutions in Beijing. Director Zhang Hao serves as the Chief of the Third Department of Neurological Rehabilitation at Beijing Bo’ai Hospital, China Rehabilitation Research Center. He has been working there since the hospital’s establishment in 1988, witnessing nearly three decades of development in China’s rehabilitation sector.

Beijing Bo’ai Hospital was established in 1984 at the initiative of Deng Pufang, then Chairman of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation. Dr. Zhang Hao began working here after graduating from Capital Medical University in 1988. The hospital was completed in October 1988 and commenced trial operations in 1989, with an initial capacity of just over 200 beds. In the late 1980s, public understanding of medicine remained focused primarily on life-saving interventions, with virtually no concept of rehabilitation. There was little awareness of how rehabilitation could impact future quality of life and the degree of disability for patients left with impairments after illness. At that time, there was a severe shortage of professionals in rehabilitation medicine; medical schools offered no specialized programs in this field, and many physicians transitioned into rehabilitation from clinical specialties. Due to the small patient volume, lack of health insurance coverage, and limited understanding of rehabilitation among healthcare workers—who commonly viewed it as convalescent care rather than therapeutic treatment—the development of rehabilitation medicine progressed slowly and faced significant challenges.

Thanks to the efforts of the older generation of rehabilitation experts, who pursued studies abroad or invited foreign specialists for training, China’s rehabilitation sector gradually matured by the 1990s. Today, public awareness of rehabilitation has grown significantly. National regulations mandate that all hospitals at Level II and above must establish a Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. The scope of rehabilitation therapies covered by medical insurance has continued to expand, driving even more rapid development in rehabilitation medicine over the past decade. This heightened awareness is also reflected in the substantial societal demand for rehabilitation services. Currently, Beijing Bo’ai Hospital has more than 1,000 beds, with over 200 dedicated to neurological rehabilitation alone; patients consistently face waiting lists for admission. Thus, the current state of rehabilitation medicine has improved dramatically compared with the 1980s.

Despite significant advances in the specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R), it remains a relatively young discipline compared with other medical specialties. The rapid development of PM&R has laid bare a severe shortage of qualified personnel. Although PM&R education is expanding rapidly—dozens of medical schools across China now offer majors in PM&R or in rehabilitation therapy, and master’s and doctoral programs have been established—substantial deficiencies persist in faculty capacity and teaching quality. Consequently, faculty development and postgraduate training are of paramount importance. Enhancing the professional competence and capabilities of early-career rehabilitation professionals is a key task for our generation of rehabilitation practitioners.

The emergence of intelligent rehabilitation equipment has disrupted traditional rehabilitation therapy models by replacing repetitive manual tasks, reducing labor input, enhancing the engagement of training, and introducing more objective evaluation methods, thereby improving the scientific rigor of rehabilitation treatment. There remains substantial room for the development and application of intelligent rehabilitation devices, as current equipment—including rehabilitation robots—does not fully meet clinical needs. Therefore, at the annual conference of the China Association for Promotion of Rehabilitation Technology Translation and Development, Director Zhang Hao will discuss patients’ needs and expectations from the perspective of a clinician.

The “Outline of the ‘Healthy China 2030’ Plan,” recently issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, highlights that a massive industry worth RMB 16 trillion is poised to emerge over the next 15 years. We are confident that intelligent rehabilitation will see even greater development in the future.