At the home of 75-year-old Wu Ling in the city of Baiyin, northwest China's Gansu Province, Zhao Yanyan gently and professionally changed the urinary catheter for Wu's bedridden husband.
Deeply grateful, Wu poured Zhao, a licensed nurse, a cup of tea and clasped her hands in thanks.
"After my child taught me how to use my phone to book a nurse online, Zhao has been coming regularly to care for my husband since April 2023," Wu said. Her spouse has been confined to bed since 2019, making daily care a significant challenge.
"With this 'Internet plus nursing' service, he gets the same attentive care at home as in the hospital," she added.
For many senior Chinese citizens like Wu, navigating hospital visits can be a complex ordeal -- understanding registration procedures, finding the correct department, or following dense signage can cause confusion.
Services ordering nurses online or via phone are bringing professional care directly to homes across China, offering warm, high-quality care with unprecedented convenience for the nation's growing "silver-haired" generation.
Zhao, a 37-year-old chief nurse in the neurology department at Baiyin First People's Hospital, exemplified this shift. Since her hospital launched the service in 2023, she has handled over 130 home care orders annually.
"As medical workers, we strive to serve every patient well," Zhao said. "I'm equally grateful for the patients' and families' strong support for our home visits."
Zhao's hospital implemented rigorous preparation before offering the service. "We conducted comprehensive training and assessment for all nurses, covering laws, ethics, service standards, technical procedures, and emergency response," said Li Fangli, head of the hospital's nursing department.
"Only those who passed the assessment can register on the platform and provide home services," Li added.
The result is impressive: the hospital has fulfilled over 700 orders so far. Patients simply submit requests via the hospital's official platform, which then matches them with specialized nurses boasting at least five years of clinical experience.
Services range from wound dressing and rehab guidance to catheter changes -- 23 personalized care items tailored to individual needs.
"Currently, 157 nurses are registered on our platform," said hospital president Gao Zhenhua. "This program solves key problems for elderly patients, those with chronic diseases, people with limited mobility, and offers extended care after discharge, greatly reducing the burden of hospital travel."
In addition to Baiyin, other cities in the province, such as Lanzhou and Jiayuguan, are adopting similar services.
Since 2019, the National Health Commission has designated pilot provincial regions, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong, and released guiding frameworks. In Shanghai, for example, all community health centers offer "doorstep nursing," with 11 categories covering 42 services now covered by basic medical insurance.
China's official data indicated that by late 2024, over 310 million people aged 60 and above, accounted for 22 percent of the population. As the demographic shift deepens, "Internet plus nursing" is emerging as a vital tool to address the challenges of elderly care.
"This model, featuring 'online orders and offline services,' provides specialized care directly at the doorsteps of discharged patients, the elderly, and others facing difficulties," explained Da Chunhe, director of Baiyin's health commission.
