Expats have access to a wide range of Beijing healthcare services to deal with almost all health issues.
In the past, Beijing expats might go to Hong Kong or back to their own country to deal with many health issues, but now there are several high-quality healthcare facilities in Beijing where you can receive similar care to what you are used to back home. Embassies in Beijing now only recommend you to return home for the most serious of health issues.
Beijing Medical Care
Choices for foreigners to seek medical care in Beijing include:
- Beijing international hospital and clinics
- Public Beijing hospitals
- VIP wards of public hospitals
- Traditional Chinese Medicine hospitals
The international hospitals and clinics in Beijing have english speaking doctors, many of them expats themselves. Indeed, you can also find physicians and other healthcare professionals in Beijing who speak German, French, Japanese, Spanish and other languages.
China Medical Insurance
It is critical to have medical insurance coverage for your stay in China as some Beijing healthcare services can be very expensive. You should familiarize yourself with the different types of insurance policies and what procedures you need to follow for coverage and reimbursement before using healthcare services in Beijing.
International hospitals and the VIP wards of public hospitals are much more expensive than the standard care provided by Beijing public hospitals. Some are even labeled as ‘high-cost’ providers by medical insurance companies. This means you will have to purchase a higher priced policy to cover all their fees, or assume a co-payment of a certain percentage of the bill.
Some medical insurance policies will only cover inpatient care, requiring hospitalization. Medical insurance policies which only cover inpatient care are much cheaper, but you will have to pay out of pocket for any outpatient consultations. For such cases, if your budget is limited, you might consider using one of the public hospitals in Beijing for their relatively cheap services.
Health insurance policies that also cover outpatient care such as doctor consultations, dental services and medication will be much more expensive, but then you will be able to use the international hospitals and clinics for all your healthcare needs.
Apart from having foreign language speaking doctors these foreign hospitals and clinics in Beijing have many other advantages over public hospitals such as shorter waiting times, longer consultations, better preventative care etc. So they are definitely worth considering if your budget allows.
Beijing Healthcare Services
Healthcare services in Beijing also include:
- Beijing Dentist
- Eye doctors
- Vaccinations for China – travel vaccines, flu shots, vaccinations for newborns, HPV vaccination etc.
- Beijing Maternity care
- Mental health care
- STD testing facilities
- Private Medical Insurance providers
- Specialized health check-up clinics
You can also find more information on various Beijing healthcare services in our healthcare category articles.
Medical Emergency Contacts
For emergency health issues the Beijing medical and ambulance service hotline is 120 and the Beijing red cross is 999. International SOS also offers a 24-hour emergency service through their hotlines in Beijing at 6462 9100, 6433 2345 or 5927 7120.
Some of the international hospitals and clinics in Beijing also have 24-hour emergency hotlines. It is a good idea to visit a few of them when you first arrive to compare their Beijing healthcare services.
Return to the Beijing expat health website homepage.