Guangdong Internet Hospitals Enable Chronic Disease Prescription Renewals with Integrated WeChat-Based National Health Insurance Payments
During the pandemic, many patients experienced temporary difficulties in obtaining their regular and life-sustaining medications. To alleviate the severe pressure of infection control measures at offline hospitals and rapidly overcome spatial barriers in doctor-patient communication, internet hospital services for follow-up care of chronic diseases have garnered significant attention.
Recently, Guangzhou and Dongguan launched pilot programs to include “Internet+” chronic disease medical services within the scope of medical insurance reimbursement. Multiple hospitals, including the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University and Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, have enabled Internet hospital services via their WeChat official accounts. Patients with chronic conditions can now conduct online follow-up consultations, obtain prescription renewals, and arrange for medication delivery. They can also directly use WeChat to pay from their personal medical insurance accounts, thereby streamlining the entire online process for chronic disease follow-up care.
Mr. Liu, a Guangzhou resident who has suffered from diabetes for many years, ran out of his medication. He submitted an online prescription renewal request for diabetes medication through the official WeChat account platform of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital for the first time. After review by physicians and pharmacists in the backend system, he quickly received the medication at home via express delivery.
Meanwhile, 64-year-old Ms. Zhang, who suffers from hypertension, also received her antihypertensive medication promptly after consulting with a doctor and obtaining a prescription renewal through the Internet Hospital of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. “During this special period, it is incredibly convenient to receive online medical consultations and home delivery of medications without having to visit the hospital, and we can even use medical insurance for payment!”
To prevent cross-infection within hospitals and reduce the number of visits citizens make to healthcare facilities, multiple hospitals in Guangzhou have launched convenient services on their WeChat official accounts featuring “online consultations” plus “medication delivery.” Internet hospital services, which offer the advantages of being remote, professional, convenient, and efficient, have become the optimal choice for non-emergency patients seeking medical advice and prescriptions while avoiding offline cross-infection.
(For patients with chronic diseases, medications prescribed through online hospital follow-up consultations will be delivered to their homes via courier.)
To further alleviate the medication cost burden on patients with chronic diseases, the Guangzhou Municipal Healthcare Security Administration issued the "Notice on Including Online Consultation Fees for Hypertension and Diabetes in the Scope of Medical Insurance Reimbursement During the Prevention and Control of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia." Patients with hypertension and diabetes who obtain online prescription renewals through internet hospitals are also eligible for relevant medical insurance benefits.
Taking the Internet Hospital of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University as an example, starting from February 26, patients with hypertension or diabetes who are covered under Category I special outpatient programs and have visited the hospital within the past three months can register through the dedicated online follow-up consultation portal via the hospital’s official WeChat account. They can obtain online prescriptions and medication refills. Patients who have already linked their medical insurance cards to WeChat can select “Medical Insurance Payment” to pay using their personal medical insurance accounts.
(Patients who have linked their medical insurance cards to WeChat can use their personal medical insurance accounts for payment)
To further improve the accessibility of medical care and medications for insured patients with chronic diseases, the Guangdong Provincial Healthcare Security Administration has introduced three supportive measures. These measures include covering both internet-based follow-up consultation fees and medication costs at designated medical institutions under the pooled fund of basic medical insurance. This provides support for insured outpatients with chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and cancer to access “Internet+” chronic disease management services, thereby strengthening the guarantee of medical care and medication for outpatient chronic diseases. The specific measures are as follows: First, supporting insured individuals in accessing “Internet+” chronic disease medical services. Second, supporting designated medical institutions in providing “Internet+” medical services. Third, supporting the development of prescription circulation platforms.
In August last year, the National Healthcare Security Administration issued the "Guiding Opinions on Improving Price and Medical Insurance Payment Policies for 'Internet+' Medical Services," supporting the orderly development of "Internet+" medical services and proposing for the first time that eligible "Internet+" medical services could be included in the scope of medical insurance reimbursement. Subsequently, in November, the national electronic medical insurance certificate was officially launched.
On January 11 this year, Guangdong officially launched its electronic medical insurance certificate as one of the first pilot provinces nationwide. The certificate can be activated and used via WeChat. More than 10,000 designated medical institutions across the province have adopted the system, covering 107 million insured residents. In Guangzhou, where the pilot program began in December 2019, 1.2 million insured individuals had activated and used the electronic medical insurance certificate by mid-January 2020, with over 100,000 transactions completed through personal medical insurance accounts.
Currently, over 400 designated hospitals and more than 2,000 designated pharmacies in Guangzhou have implemented QR code payment services using the Electronic Medical Insurance Certificate. As major physical hospitals progressively integrate their internet hospital platforms, a broader range of online medical insurance payment scenarios will be covered.
(WeChat has covered multiple medical insurance payment scenarios, including hospitals, community health centers, and pharmacies.)
At hospitals and community health centers, insured individuals can access medical care without a physical card by using their electronic medical insurance credentials. By scanning a QR code via the hospital’s official WeChat account, they can complete various steps—including patient registration, appointment scheduling, payment, and medication pickup—thereby reducing wait times at service counters and eliminating the need for repeated visits. At pharmacies, users can simply open the Medical Insurance Code in their WeChat Card Package and scan the code to purchase prescription drugs with medical insurance coverage, avoiding the hassle of handling change or swiping cards. Meanwhile, every medical insurance payment detail can be easily queried on WeChat, providing clear visibility and greater security. As functionalities continue to improve, more medical insurance services—such as enrollment and reimbursement payments—can all be handled through a single electronic credential, making it easy to manage everything via WeChat.
Nowadays, with the integration of health insurance payment channels into “Internet Healthcare,” users can directly settle their health insurance payments via WeChat when utilizing online medical services. From offline medical consultations and medication purchases to online follow-up visits and prescription renewals, WeChat covers all scenarios for health insurance payments, fully meeting patients’ diverse needs for insured medical care.