A senior citizen reads healthcare recommendations sent by Anzhen'er to her phone. [Photo/WeChat account: cntcm01]

Hangzhou is accelerating the use of artificial intelligence across its healthcare system, offering residents faster, smarter, and more accessible medical services.

At a press release on Dec 2, officials announced that AI has now been integrated throughout the entire patient journey — from pre-visit consultations to diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

At the center of this effort is Anzhen'er, the city's flagship digital health assistant, now deployed across all public hospitals above the secondary level. It supports consultation, registration, payment, queue updates, medication reminders, and even navigation, parking, and meal ordering. This year alone, it has served patients more than 37.27 million times.

Hangzhou is also pioneering AI-powered digital twins of top specialists. Using the clinical expertise of Mao Hongjing, vice-president of Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, the city launched China's first sleep-medicine expert agent — nicknamed Hanghaomeng, literally meaning good sleep in Hangzhou. Providing round-the-clock consultations, the agent has already assisted 6.63 million users and identified nearly 140,000 people with sleep disorders.

Drawing on specialties across district and municipal hospitals, Hangzhou has released 28 additional expert agents, focusing on fields such as medical aesthetics, weight management, hair loss, and child growth, ensuring that every hospital has an online expert.

Beyond general healthcare, Hangzhou is expanding AI applications in specific fields. For example, the city launched Hangxiaoyu, China's first childcare-service AI assistant, offering instant guidance and developmental screening. It has served 880,000 parents and helped identify 13,000 children at developmental risk, enabling early intervention.

Hangzhou's healthcare authorities say they will continue advancing AI-healthcare integration, aiming to further strengthen the city's Healthy Hangzhou brand.

The user interface of Anzhen'er. [Photo/China National Health Commission]