Lolomiina · Tuvalu

China Sets National Standard for Paid Medical Accompaniment Services from November 1, 2026

A new Chinese national standard, GB/T 47801—2026, sets basic requirements for socialized medical accompaniment services, clarifying who may provide them, what tasks are allowed, and what is prohibited. Foreign founders building healthcare-adjacent service businesses in China should understand the framework.

New National Standard Defines Who May Provide Paid Medical Accompaniment

China's State Administration for Market Regulation has approved a national standard titled Socialized Medical Accompaniment Services — Basic Requirements (GB/T 47801—2026), which takes effect on November 1, 2026, according to the source article published by the People's Daily and reposted by SAMR. The standard establishes a service framework covering service providers, service content and service processes.

The standard was prompted by practical gaps in a fast-growing sector. Elderly patients navigating large hospitals alone may struggle to locate departments or understand where to pay and collect medicines, and patients traveling from other cities to major hospitals can find the environment confusing. Medical accompaniment services emerged to address these pain points, but the absence of service standards has led to blurred boundaries and uneven service quality.

For foreign founders considering healthcare-adjacent service businesses in China, the standard is a useful signal of how regulators are formalizing a young service sector — and of the compliance boundaries that any licensed operation will need to respect.

Who Can Provide Socialized Medical Accompaniment Services?

Under the new standard, the provider of socialized medical accompaniment services must be an institution, not an individual operating informally. The institution's accompaniment personnel — referred to as accompaniment specialists — deliver services directly to service recipients. Institutions may earn revenue by providing these services.

Service recipients are defined as people who face difficulties accessing medical care due to mobility, cognitive or geographic differences, or individuals seeking a better medical experience.

Accompaniment specialists are expected to possess basic accompaniment knowledge and professional conduct. Deng Yong, a professor and doctoral supervisor in the law department at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, is quoted in the source as saying that specialists need to understand the medical visit process, basic medical terminology and emergency common sense, and be able to accurately relay a patient's condition. They must also hold a firm compliance line — refusing to scalp appointment slots or promote medicines — and demonstrate patience and empathy in reassuring patients.

Permitted Service Content

With the consent of the service recipient or their legal guardian, accompaniment specialists may perform a defined set of tasks:

• Queuing to collect appointment numbers, scheduling examinations and preparing for examinations.
• Purchasing or collecting basic medical supplies such as wheelchairs, companion beds and disposable masks on the recipient's behalf.
• Guiding recipients to designated areas, such as consultation departments, examination rooms or treatment areas.
• Delivering samples for testing, collecting medicines and examination results, recording medical instructions, and collecting or copying medical documents such as medical records and diagnostic certificates.
• Handling hospital admission and discharge procedures, making payments, and providing daily life assistance during visits — for example, booking transport or meals and temporarily keeping belongings.
• Offering emotional support during the medical visit.

Activities That Are Off-Limits

The standard draws a clear line between accompaniment and medical practice. Accompaniment specialists are not medical personnel. They may not interpret examination results, participate in medical procedures, provide medical advice, adjust a recipient's medication plan, choose or consent to treatment on behalf of the recipient or family, conceal, alter or selectively convey key medical information, or sign legally effective medical documents for the recipient.

For foreign founders, this boundary matters: a business built around accompaniment cannot drift into clinical services or medical decision-making without crossing into regulated healthcare territory.

Hospital-Level Management and Oversight

Deng Yong suggests that hospitals strengthen management of accompaniment specialists by exploring an "access filing, conduct control and public supervision" mechanism. Specific suggestions in the source include:

• Establishing a unified access channel for accompaniment specialists, verifying identity and criminal records, and issuing temporary access passes.
• Requiring third-party institutions and individuals to file records, and explicitly prohibiting soliciting business in consultation rooms or registration areas.
• Publicly displaying the list of legitimate accompaniment providers and complaint hotlines in outpatient halls.
• Working with industry associations on pre-job training and awarding a hospital-recognized service marker to those who pass assessment.

The source also notes that relevant authorities should strengthen supervision and explore a multi-department joint enforcement mechanism involving market regulation, public security and health departments to investigate and address illegal conduct such as price fraud and unlicensed operation.

Practical Takeaways for Foreign Founders

The standard does not create a licensing regime by itself, but it signals the direction of travel: institutional providers, defined service scopes, trained personnel and hospital-level access controls. Foreign founders evaluating healthcare service models in China should treat the standard as a baseline for structuring operations, training staff and defining contracts with hospitals and clients.

Because the standard takes effect on November 1, 2026, businesses planning to launch or adjust accompaniment services should align their service descriptions, personnel training and hospital cooperation arrangements with its framework in advance.

Call to action: Foreign founders can contact ChinaMNC on WhatsApp / WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535 for help registering and operating a company in China.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.