For planning only. A licensed clinician decides diagnosis and treatment. If symptoms may be urgent, use emergency services. Hospital access, fees, and insurance decisions come from the relevant organizations.
Write the request before choosing the channel
Prepare a compact request containing the patient's passport name, date of birth, current location, preferred language, main problem or established diagnosis, purpose of the visit, and preferred date range. Attach only the records needed for triage unless the hospital asks for the full set. If the patient wants a particular clinician, also say if a department appointment is acceptable.
Hospitals accept requests through official apps, telephone lines, websites, international-patient offices, and coordinators. What matters is reaching the correct service and receiving a traceable reply. Save the request date and reference number.
Write dates with the month in words and state China local time in the final record. For a person booking from overseas, this small detail prevents a midnight call or a one-day error caused by time-zone conversion.
Sources[1]Beijing Municipal Government: Medical Guide for Foreigners in Beijing[2]Beijing Municipal Government: Beijing Friendship Hospital international medical services[3]Jiahui Health: Jiahui International Hospital location and contact
Request submitted and appointment confirmed are different states
Swipe horizontally to see all columns.
| Status | What it means | What remains to be done |
|---|---|---|
| Inquiry received | A hospital mailbox, form, app, or coordinator has the message. | The service still needs to triage the case and might request records or identity details. |
| Records under review | A department or triage team is considering the material. | Wait for the department, campus, visit type, and available dates. |
| Provisional slot | The hospital is holding a time while registration, payment, or clinical review is completed. | Learn the hold deadline and the action required to secure the slot. |
| Confirmed appointment | The hospital has issued the details needed to attend. | Check the name spelling, local time, campus, arrival desk, documents, language, and payment instructions. |
What belongs in the final confirmation
Keep all appointment details in one message or document. If information arrives across several chats, consolidate it and send the summary back to the responsible contact for correction. This reduces the risk of an old campus, time, or payment instruction surviving in one part of the thread.
From the day before to the end of the visit
- DAY BEFORE
Recheck the active details
Review the latest written appointment, travel time, hospital address, identity name, and record set. If the hospital issued preparation instructions for a test, follow only those instructions or contact the clinical service when something is unclear.
- ON ARRIVAL
Register as instructed
Use the designated desk or app and present the same identity document used for booking. Registration, creation of a patient record, and consultation payment are often separate steps. Allow extra time at a first visit.
- IF THE PLAN CHANGES
Create a new written record
Obtain the revised date, time, campus, or clinician in writing and mark the earlier version as canceled. A forwarded old screenshot should not remain the working itinerary.
- AFTER THE VISIT
Record the follow-up process
Save the patient number, clinician or department, pending-result process, prescription, bill, and next appointment instructions. These details make later communication far easier than starting a new inquiry.
Sources[1]Beijing Municipal Government: Medical Guide for Foreigners in Beijing
If the hospital has not answered
A delayed reply has several common causes: the request reached the wrong service, records are incomplete, the department is still reviewing them, or no suitable slot is available. Follow up with the original date, patient name, reference number, requested department, and a one-line statement of the outstanding request. Avoid sending different versions of the case through unrelated channels on the same day.
When timing is clinically important, tell the hospital the actual deadline—for example, a scheduled procedure elsewhere or a travel date—without describing a planned case as an emergency. If symptoms become urgent, leave the appointment workflow and use local urgent or emergency care.
