How to Prepare Your US Medical Records for Chinese Doctors — The Complete Handoff Checklist

If you are seriously considering surgery or advanced treatment in China, the single most important thing you can do before you book anything is get your medical records in order. Not "email whatever the patient portal lets me download." Actually organized, translated where needed, and delivered in a form a busy Chinese specialist can read in under 10 minutes.

We have watched hundreds of American patients try this on their own. The ones who prepare records well get accurate quotes in 3–5 days and rarely need repeat imaging in China. The ones who send a chaotic 40-page PDF dump wait 3 weeks for anyone to respond, and half the time the hospital asks them to redo the MRI on arrival — costing another $200–$400 and pushing surgery back by days.

This guide is the exact checklist our coordination team uses when we prepare a patient's file for a top-tier Chinese hospital. Follow it and you will get better quotes, faster answers, and a much smoother arrival.

Why Chinese Doctors Need Different Things Than You Think

American medical records are built for insurance and legal defensibility. Chinese specialists — especially at major centers like Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), Huashan, or Ruijin — care about a much narrower set of things:

• The actual imaging (not the report summary — the DICOM files)
• A clear diagnosis in medical terminology, not marketing language
• Recent labs (typically within 90 days)
• A concise problem list and current medications
• Any prior surgical notes relevant to the current condition

What they usually do not need: the 200-page portal export, every ER visit from 2011, insurance denial letters, or your primary care doctor's chart notes about your cholesterol from three years ago.

The goal is to help a Chinese surgeon quickly answer three questions: What is wrong? Can we treat it? What will it cost? A well-prepared file gets you a quote in days. A messy file gets you silence.

The 7-Part Handoff Checklist

1. A One-Page Case Summary (Write This Yourself)

Before you touch any files, open a blank document and write a plain-English summary. One page, no medical jargon you don't understand. Include:

• Your age, height, weight, and known allergies
• The exact procedure or evaluation you are seeking (e.g., "total right hip replacement" not "hip stuff")
• When symptoms started and how they have progressed
• What your US doctor has recommended and any quoted cost
• Why you are looking abroad (cost, wait time, insurance denial)
• Any conditions that might complicate surgery: diabetes, blood thinners, heart disease, prior surgeries

This one page will do more for you than 100 pages of raw records. It gives the international department a "handle" on your case and lets them route you to the right specialist immediately.

2. Imaging on a USB Drive (DICOM, Not JPEGs)

This is where most American patients lose weeks. When you request "my MRI" from a US imaging center, they will offer you two things: a written report and image files. You need both, and the images must be in DICOM format — the raw files, not screenshots or JPEGs.

Call the imaging center's medical records line and ask specifically: "I need a CD or download of the DICOM files, not just the report." In 2026 most centers will let you download them from a patient portal or mail you a CD/USB for $10–$25. Save every scan into its own folder labeled by body part and date (e.g., 2026-04-12_MRI_right_hip).

Chinese hospitals have imaging viewing software that opens DICOM natively. If you send them JPEG previews only, they will politely say the images are "not diagnostic quality" and ask you to redo the scan on arrival.

3. Radiology Reports (English is Fine)

Send the written radiology report as a PDF for each scan. Chinese specialists at major international departments read English medical reports every day — you do not need to translate these. Just make sure the PDF is text-based (not a scanned image), so key phrases are searchable.

If you are unsure whether a document is text or image, open it and try to select text with your cursor. If nothing highlights, it is a scan and should be run through OCR (most modern PDF apps do this automatically now).

4. Recent Labs (Within 90 Days)

Any surgical program will want:

• Complete blood count (CBC)
• Basic metabolic panel
• Coagulation panel (PT/INR)
• HbA1c if you are diabetic or prediabetic
• An EKG if you are over 50 or have any cardiac history
• Chest X-ray if you have any respiratory issues

If your labs are older than 90 days, redo them now. You will save yourself another draw on arrival, and the Chinese team can pre-clear you for anesthesia. Not sure what your case will actually cost? You can estimate your treatment costs here before you commit to lab work.

5. Prior Surgical Notes That Matter

You do not need to send every surgery you have ever had. You need the ones that could affect the current procedure. For a knee replacement, that means any prior knee or hip surgery. For heart surgery, any prior cardiac procedure or catheterization. For anything requiring general anesthesia, any prior complication with anesthesia.

Request the operative report itself (usually 1–3 pages), not the full hospitalization record. Your US hospital's medical records department can email this within 5–7 business days if you request it in writing.

6. Current Medication List with Doses

Type this into your case summary. Include:

• Every prescription drug, dose, and how long you have taken it
• Any blood thinners, aspirin, or supplements that affect clotting
• Herbal supplements — this matters more than most Americans realize
• Any drug allergies with what the reaction actually was

Chinese hospitals stock most Western medications, but if you take something unusual, they need to know weeks in advance so they can either source it or plan a substitute.

7. A Clear Photo of Your Passport

Yes, really — include a photo of the identification page. The international department uses this to confirm your name spelling matches on records, visa paperwork, and hospital admission forms. Mismatched name spellings between records and passport are one of the most common causes of check-in delays.

What About Translation?

This is the question we get every single day. The short answer: at major international departments, you usually do not need to translate anything. The doctors read English medical terminology fluently. What matters is that your case summary is written clearly.

The exception is if you are targeting a hospital's regular department (not the international wing) for a specialized reason — for example, a specific TCM practitioner or a niche cancer program. In those cases, having your one-page summary translated into Chinese medical terminology by a professional (not Google Translate) can dramatically speed things up. OrientHealthLink handles this translation as part of our standard case preparation, so patients don't have to hunt for a qualified medical translator on their own.

How to Actually Deliver the File

Once your records are gathered, package them cleanly:

1. Create a single folder named LastName_FirstName_DOB_MedicalRecords
2. Inside it, create subfolders: 01_Case_Summary, 02_Imaging_DICOM, 03_Radiology_Reports, 04_Labs, 05_Prior_Surgical_Notes, 06_Medications, 07_ID
3. Put your one-page case summary at the top level so it opens first
4. Compress the folder into a ZIP file
5. Upload it to a secure file-share service — Dropbox, Google Drive, or a hospital patient portal. Do not send by email; medical files are often too large and email is not secure enough for this data.

Share the link with the hospital's international department or with your coordination service. Set the sharing permission to "anyone with the link can view" but keep the link private.

Common Mistakes That Cost Patients Weeks

"I sent them my patient portal export." — This is usually a 100+ page document that no one has time to read. It buries the actual clinical information under insurance codes and administrative noise. Always accompany it with a one-page summary.

"I forgot to send the actual imaging." — A report says "there is a herniated disc at L4-L5." A surgeon needs to see the actual disc to plan the operation. Always send the DICOM files.

"My labs are 8 months old." — Any surgical program will require labs within 90 days. Redo them at home; it is cheaper and faster than doing them on arrival.

"I didn't tell them about my blood thinner." — This is the single most common cause of a delayed surgery in China. Blood thinners need to be stopped 5–7 days in advance under supervision. Disclose everything.

How Long Does This Actually Take?

Most patients can pull a complete file together in 1–2 weeks:

• Days 1–3: Request records from your US doctors and imaging centers
• Days 4–7: Get updated labs done at your primary care or a walk-in lab
• Days 8–10: Records arrive; you organize them and write the case summary
• Days 11–14: Upload, share, and receive back the first specialist evaluation

If you want a shortcut, this is exactly the kind of coordination we handle every day. Our team will pull records from your US providers with a signed release, translate what needs translating, package the file to the exact standard the Chinese specialists want, and get you a formal treatment plan and quote — usually within 5 business days. You can request a free case review and we will tell you what your file is missing before you spend a dime.

Related Reading

If you are still in the earlier stages of deciding whether China is right for you, these will help you think through the full picture:

• How to Book Surgery in China: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide
• How to Verify Your Chinese Surgeon's Credentials Before You Fly
• How to Get a Remote Second Opinion from a Chinese Hospital Before You Travel

The Bottom Line

Getting surgery in China at 20–30% of the US cost is real, and it works — but only if you show up with a file the doctors can actually use. Spend one weekend organizing your records the right way, and you will save yourself weeks of back-and-forth, hundreds of dollars in repeat imaging, and the frustration of arriving in Beijing only to be told your MRI is "not readable."

Or hand the whole thing to a coordinator who does this every week. Either way — do not wing it.