Getting a scan done is only half the job. If you are an international patient, what you really need to leave with is your imaging in a form your own doctor at home can open and review — and a report they can read. This guide explains how to get your DICOM files and an English report from a Chinese hospital, and why both matter.
What DICOM is and why it matters
DICOM is the international standard format for medical imaging — the raw scan data, not just a printed picture. It matters because a DICOM file lets any radiologist anywhere open your actual images, scroll through every slice, adjust the contrast, and form their own opinion. A screenshot or a single printed image cannot do this; it is low-resolution and shows only one view. If you want your doctor at home, or a second-opinion specialist, to genuinely review your scan, you need the DICOM, not a photo of it.
How Chinese hospitals provide imaging
After a scan at a Chinese hospital, imaging is typically made available on a CD or via a self-service kiosk, and increasingly through cloud or app-based access. The written report is issued in Chinese. For a foreign patient, two practical gaps appear: getting the DICOM in a usable form (not just printed films), and getting the report translated accurately into English. Medical translation is not something a general translation app handles well — the terminology is specialised and precision matters.
What you should leave with
To make a scan in China genuinely useful back home, you want three things: your DICOM files (on disc, USB or cloud), the original Chinese report, and a certified English translation of that report. With all three, your own doctor can review both the images and the findings, and you have a complete record. Without the DICOM, you are relying on someone else's interpretation; without the English translation, your home doctor cannot read the report.
How coordination helps
Collecting DICOM files, retrieving the original report and providing a certified English translation is a core part of what a coordination service does. At China MedPass, your imaging files are supplied as DICOM with cloud access, and the report is provided as a certified English translation alongside the Chinese original — so you leave with a complete, portable record that any doctor can act on. We are a coordination service; the clinical interpretation is done by the licensed radiologists who read your scan.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between DICOM and a printed image? DICOM is the full raw scan any radiologist can open and manipulate; a printed image or screenshot is a single low-resolution view that cannot be properly re-reviewed.
Will the report be in English? The hospital issues it in Chinese. We provide a certified English translation alongside the original.
Can my doctor at home use these files? Yes — DICOM is the international standard, so any doctor anywhere can open and review them.
How do I receive the files? Typically as DICOM on disc or USB plus cloud access, so you have a portable copy.
If you want to be sure you leave China with usable imaging and an English report, request a free assessment.