Akon Health: Pioneering Online Medical Insurance Payment and Home Delivery Services for Internet Hospitals

On November 2, 2020, the National Healthcare Security Administration issued the “Guiding Opinions on Actively Promoting Medical Insurance Payment for ‘Internet+’ Medical Services,” which established more detailed provisions regarding issues such as designated medical insurance institutions, medical insurance settlement, and fund supervision.，Internet-based healthcare has finally entered the practical implementation stage of being covered by medical insurance payments.

On November 5, under the guidance of a pharmacist at AKang Pharmacy, Aunt Li, a patient with diabetes, used her medical insurance to purchase the necessary medications for the first time on the WeDoctor Guangzhou General Practice Center Internet Hospital platform. “You can buy medications from major hospitals right from home; simply place an order on your mobile phone, and a dedicated courier will deliver the medications to your door. Moreover, purchases made through the internet hospital platform are eligible for medical insurance reimbursement, which is very convenient…”

When Aunt Li’s order appeared in the AKangHealth warehouse management system, staff immediately packed the medications according to the order and stored them in cold-chain containers. The delivery personnel then promptly transported the cold-chain containers to the General Practice Center, delivering the medications to Aunt Li within thirty minutes.

Patients’ ability to purchase prescription drugs covered by medical insurance through internet hospital platforms is made possible by the “Guiding Opinions on Actively Promoting Medical Insurance Payment for ‘Internet+’ Medical Services,” issued by the National Healthcare Security Administration on November 2. The document outlines specific measures concerning applications for medical insurance agreements, reimbursement scopes, and settlement entities, thereby facilitating the gradual transition of online medical insurance coverage from framework planning to practical implementation.

The "Opinions" issued on November 2 regarding medical insurance state that the scope of medical insurance reimbursement includes consultation fees and medication costs incurred from online follow-up visits and prescription issuance. The document stipulates that consultation fees and medication costs incurred at medical institutions (the portion covered by the medical insurance fund) shall be settled directly between the medical insurance handling agencies and the medical institutions, while medication costs incurred at designated retail pharmacies (the portion covered by the medical insurance fund) shall be settled between the medical insurance handling agencies and the designated retail pharmacies. Efforts will be made to explore the interconnectivity of information on prescriptions filled outside designated medical institutions with designated retail pharmacies. Pooling regions with the necessary conditions may leverage the national unified medical insurance information platform to accelerate the application of functional modules related to the circulation of externally filled prescriptions, thereby facilitating the transfer of follow-up visit prescriptions for "Internet+" medical services.

It is foreseeable that, with the inclusion of online medication purchases in medical insurance reimbursement, the habitual nature and convenience of online shopping will significantly stimulate patients' desire to buy medicines online.A surge in orders will pose significant challenges to the pharmaceutical supply chain of internet hospital platforms.

Surprisingly,AKangHealth has long been strategically positioned in this area, striving to become the preferred partner for the chronic disease prescription drug supply chain of internet hospitals.In 2013, AKangHealth strategically positioned itself as an integrated service provider for the out-of-hospital supply chain of prescription drugs for chronic diseases. In April 2018, when the national policy on “Internet + Healthcare” was introduced, AKangHealth took the lead in establishing its “Internet Healthcare Business Center.” To date, the Internet Healthcare Business Center has connected with more than 100 internet hospitals and third-party medical service platforms across China, facilitating remote unit-dose dispensing and delivery services for these partners.

Currently, AKangHealth’s cloud pharmacy for internet hospitals has covered 16,000 drug specifications, over 1,500 disease types, and 5,000 medication combination regimens. In the realm of internet hospital services, AKangHealth has taken the lead in the industry to complete the upgrade of “Internet + Healthcare,” achieving a natural integration between its robust drug database foundation and the current major trend of prescription outflow.

AKangHealth stated, “In the post-pandemic era, bolstered by this national policy, internet hospitals anchored in physical hospitals have ushered in a new and explorable track. Internet hospitals place greater emphasis on user acquisition sources and pursue high-quality services to drive monetization and value addition, while”AKangHealth also hopesTongParticipation through seamless integration of the pharmaceutical supply chaintoThe Service Closed Loop of Internet HealthcareIntegration and Upgrading.”

The head of AKangHealth’s internet healthcare team had a gleam in his eyes, clearly envisioning a brand-new and broad path ahead.

It is worth mentioning that the “Guiding Opinions on Actively Promoting Medical Insurance Payment for ‘Internet+’ Medical Services” will also have a significant impact on the chronic disease management and health management industries.

With medical insurance reimbursement for internet hospitals entering the implementation phase, impacting hospital patients, hospitals will respond by accelerating the development of internet hospitals and advancing the separation of prescribing from dispensing. How does AKangHealth plan to address the surge in service demand in the future?

AKangHealth has leveraged the technological capabilities of its Cloud Pharmacy Technology to build an internet hospital pharmaceutical services platform,To support the services of internet hospitals and pharmaceutical supply chains, AKangHealth plans to tag customer profiles with data on adherence management for various chronic diseases and track them. Guided by evidence-based medicine, it matches patients with high-efficacy, high-quality medications tailored to specific conditions and provides unit-dose dispensing services. By cultivating a professional team of licensed pharmacists to offer medication therapy management, including chronic disease adherence and rehabilitation guidance, AKangHealth delivers premium service packages post-purchase. This approach facilitates long-term membership package management, enhances user stickiness, and ensures optimal medical care.

Currently, AKangHealth operates both a pharmaceutical care service platform and chronic disease management services in parallel within the primary healthcare market. It collaboratively develops chronic disease management services through a partnership model with village doctors, while jointly managing these services with senior specialist physicians from internet hospitals.

This initiative enables internet hospitals to upgrade from offering solely diagnosis, treatment, and pharmaceutical services to a new level of chronic disease management for users, shifting their revenue model from single-episode clinical fees to monetization through membership-based service packages. By diversifying physicians’ prescribing habits while ensuring consistency in drug efficacy, AKangHealth has expanded beyond its original pharmaceutical distribution role to incorporate chronic disease management services. This upgrade helps internet hospitals achieve industrial breakthroughs in a rapidly growing market, allowing them to accumulate user base while exploring rational medication use and generating insurance savings.

AKangHealth, established in 2005, is a novel pharmaceutical distribution company specializing in the circulation of medications for chronic diseases, critical illnesses, and rare diseases. After years of refinement, AKangHealth’s supply chain and disease-specific management capabilities have gained industry recognition.

During the outbreak, AKangHealth partnered with numerous leading domestic internet healthcare platforms, including WeDoctor, Dingxiang Doctor, Ping An Good Doctor, Chunyu Doctor, Cihua, and Kuaiwen TCM, to launch 24-hour online free clinics. Meanwhile, as a medication dispensing service provider for over 100 mainstream internet healthcare platforms in China, it activated its “Open During Spring Festival” contingency plan to comprehensively serve platforms, physicians, and patients, thereby ensuring an uninterrupted supply of medications for individuals with serious, critical, and chronic conditions.During the pandemic, the daily average number of shipped orders for internet medical prescription transfers exceeded 10,000.AKangHealth, leveraging its supply chain capabilities accumulated over many yearsFully and effectively safeguarding online patientsofTimely and safe medication administration.

We believe that a cohort of enterprises will grow and thrive by leveraging internet hospital platforms, with AKangHealth, specializing in pharmaceutical circulation, playing an indispensable role. Let us await with anticipation: as internet healthcare rises rapidly, AKangHealth will seize the momentum to vigorously fulfill its mission.