BEIJING -- China's health authority attaches great importance to the improvement of patients' experiences while receiving medical attention, and it has made various measures in this regard, a health official said Tuesday.

Such measures include improving the medical appointment procedures to shorten the patients' waiting time, said Xing Ruoqi, deputy head of the medical administration department of the National Health Commission (NHC), at a press conference.

Also, hospitals are encouraged to provide more multidisciplinary treatment services to meet the patients' diverse needs, Xing said, adding that to date such multidisciplinary services are available at over 2,400 hospitals nationwide.

The hospitals are also using more new technologies to support relevant work, Xing said.

Moreover, the NHC launched a program last year to improve the care and nursing services to better cater for the patients and clinical needs, according to Xing.

To date, more than 3,000 medical institutions have made relevant services available at the patients' homes, Xing said, adding that regions like Beijing, Shandong and Jiangsu also carried out reforms and engaged more resources from the society to provide nursing services for the elderly people.

The commission is also working on drafting a plan to better staff and train the nurses, the official said.