Medicine First! WeDoctor Safeguards Shanghai Residents' Medication Needs
“We sincerely thank you for braving the pandemic to deliver this ‘life-saving medication,’ which has truly resolved a major problem for us!” the patient said emotionally to the Weiyi pharmaceutical delivery personnel.
This is a scene from Shanghai during the pandemic. On April 11, WeDoctor’s medication delivery vehicles once again navigated between hospitals and communities. Staff members from WeDoctor, clad in heavy protective gear, personally handed medications to patients who were anxiously awaiting their arrival. What was once an ordinary medication delivery service became somewhat “extraordinary” during the pandemic.
Staff at the Shanghai Micro Medicine Center Deliver Urgently Needed Medications to Patients
Since the outbreak of the current wave of the epidemic in Shanghai, the number of COVID-19 cases has continued to rise. Under the citywide implementation of strict prevention and control measures, manpower and logistics capacity for ensuring essential supplies have become extremely strained. Residents across the city not only require a steady supply of basic necessities such as vegetables, meat, eggs, and dairy products, but also urgently need access to medical services and medications—critical safeguards for life and health. For patients with severe conditions such as cancer, access to medication is literally a matter of life and death.
The CPC Central Committee has repeatedly emphasized the need to accelerate the resolution of bottlenecks and challenging issues, strictly implement various prevention and control measures, and make every effort to ensure transportation, supply, and supply chain stability. Under the coordinated guidance of governments at all levels, offline medical institutions, pharmacies, digital health platforms, and other stakeholders have actively engaged in safeguarding patients’ access to pharmaceuticals and medical services.
As China’s largest digital healthcare service platform, WeDoctor has actively responded to government calls since the onset of the Shanghai outbreak, leveraging its digital healthcare advantages to rapidly launch an online channel for discounted free consultations, thereby meeting patients’ needs for home-based medical care. Meanwhile, in compliance with epidemic prevention and control requirements, it has strived to prioritize alleviating medication access challenges for patients with severe or chronic conditions.
Xue Chunyan, who delivered medications to patients on this occasion, is the head of the WeDoctor Pharmaceutical Center in Shanghai and also a volunteer in Shanghai’s anti-epidemic efforts. She and her fellow volunteers are responsible for providing pharmaceutical services to patients across multiple districts in Shanghai. Xue Chunyan explained that even before the lockdown, the WeDoctor platform had received a large volume of urgent medication requests from medical institutions and patients, including critically ill patients such as those with cancer who required essential drugs. Failure to deliver these medications to patients in a timely manner could have led to severe consequences. “As healthcare professionals, we were deeply concerned to see many patients facing difficulties in seeking medical care and purchasing medications during the pandemic. Therefore, we are making every effort to help patients obtain their ‘life-saving medications’ promptly.”
Dr. Wang Yang, President and Chief Technology Officer of WeDoctor, also stated that in the next phase, WeDoctor will devote greater efforts to establishing a closed-loop system integrating “online consultations and medication delivery,” so as to meet the consultation and medication needs of more patients in urgent need, thereby supporting the broader epidemic prevention and control efforts.
“Epidemic” Prevention Is Our Duty, Guarding Shanghai’s Health — Real-Time Medical Consultation Channel in Shanghai
It is understood that WeDoctor has currently launched the “‘Epidemic’ Duty-Bound, Guarding Shanghai’s Health—Shanghai Real-Time Medical Consultation Channel,” mobilizing nearly 5,000 doctors from major medical institutions in Shanghai to participate in free clinic activities. This initiative provides Shanghai residents with a variety of medical and health services, including online consultations, discounted free clinics, psychological counseling, health guidance, and home-based health management. The WeDoctor platform has also specially invited renowned experts and expert teams from top-tier (Grade A tertiary) hospitals in Shanghai to continuously provide authoritative health education and Q&A services through online live streaming and other formats. To date, series covering respiratory medicine, pediatrics, dermatology, general surgery, and other specialties have been conducted.
According to reports, since the launch of WeDoctor’s real-time assistance platform for COVID-19 in early 2020, the company has continuously provided patients with a range of services, including online free consultations, medical insurance payment processing, home delivery of medications, health consultations, and psychological counseling. These efforts have supported nationwide epidemic prevention and control in China and accumulated extensive experience.
“WeDoctor’s platform connects 7,900 hospitals and 300,000 doctors across China. We aim to fully leverage the advantages of our digital healthcare platform in rapidly linking resources among healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance payers, thereby contributing to the supply of medical and pharmaceutical services in Shanghai during the pandemic. We strive to help every patient to the best of our ability and alleviate pressure on offline medical institutions, which embodies the true value of digital healthcare,” said Dr. Wang Yang, President of WeDoctor.