A Peking Union Medical College Hospital branch is now allowing patients to make appointments at its registration windows a day in advance.

The new policy took effect at 8 pm Sunday, when the registration windows at the hospital's Dongdan branch began accepting appointments for Monday. Registration windows now will accept appointments beginning at 8 pm for the next day, every day.

The hospital branch's registration windows used to open daily at 6:30 am, and those who showed up could make an appointment only for that same day.

"Many people used to line up at the registration windows at 3 or 4 am, when subway and buses aren't running, and there are not many taxis. It was very inconvenient," the hospital said in a statement.

Allowing patients to make appointments at 8 pm the day before will mean that patients don't have to rush to the hospital early in the morning and wait for hours for the registration windows to open, the statement said.

However, Wang Xiaobo, director of the hospital's outpatient department, said that only 20 percent of appointments are made at the registration windows. Half of the appointments are made through telephone, and 30 percent are reserved for people with hospital-issued appointment cards.

The two-branch Peking Union is one of the most popular hospitals in Beijing, and has been designated as a pilot hospital for ongoing medical reforms. In 2010, it consulted up to 12,000 people a day.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn