Xiamen, in east China’s Fujian province, has updated its medical insurance system, allowing patients to get reimbursed for their medical expenses in 12 pilot hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai.

The improvement aims to facilitate and simplify the procedures for residents who wish to access more advanced medical services in other cities, according to Xiamen Civic Human Resources and Social Security Bureau,

Before a Xiamen resident can enjoy a medical insurance check in one of the 12 hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai, he needs to submit his insurance documents to a designated branch of Ping’an Insurance Company. The patient ought to inform his hospitalization details by calling the insurance company on 4008100186 after check-in.

A reimbursement settlement can be completed within 4 hours after a patient is discharged from hospital, and the money will be transferred to the patient’s account within 15 working days. The insured could get the reimbursement applications and settlements only after they returned to Xiamen, under the old medical insurance system.

Mr Chen, a man hospitalized in Shanghai Zhongshan Hospital at Fudan University because of abdominal aortic aneurysm, was the first Xiamen resident to enjoy the cross-city expense reimbursement. He got an insurance settlement of 77,500 yuan ($12,500) for his treatment fees of 173,000 yuan within three hours .

Figures show that by the end of December, 2014, residents taking medical insurance had reached 3.06 million in Xiamen. More than 7,000 patients sought medical services out of Xiamen in 2013, with a reimbursement amount up to 60 million yuan.

Xiamen plans to expand the system to more cities to cut down the medical expense reimbursement period for cross-city treated patients.