Wuhan Launches National Medical Insurance E-Voucher to Significantly Enhance Online Consultation and Medication Purchase Efficiency

To further enhance service efficiency, meet the growing demand for follow-up consultations and medication purchases among patients, and support epidemic prevention and control measures, the National Healthcare Security Administration provided overnight guidance to the Wuhan Municipal Healthcare Security Administration on March 2. As a result, the National Electronic Medical Insurance Certificate was rapidly launched on WeDoctor’s Internet General Hospital. Every insured resident in Wuhan will now have their own “electronic identity,” enabling them to enjoy convenient online services for follow-up consultations, medication purchases, and medical insurance settlement without leaving home or presenting a physical card.

The Wuhan electronic medical insurance certificate is uniformly issued by the National Healthcare Security Administration Information Platform. WeDoctor Internet General Hospital has become the first internet hospital in Hubei Province to implement the electronic medical insurance certificate. Wuhan users can log into the “Internet Hospital Portal” WeChat Official Account, select “Prescribe Medication,” submit identity information, complete facial recognition, and set a password to claim their electronic medical insurance certificate. This enables them to proceed with subsequent services such as online consultation, medication purchase, and payment. For follow-up visits, there is no need to reclaim the certificate; simply select the same patient profile.

During the pandemic, over 400,000 patients with severe chronic conditions in Wuhan faced disruptions in follow-up visits and medication purchases. On February 26, the Wuhan Healthcare Security Administration enabled medical insurance payment services for WeDoctor’s Internet General Hospital. This initiative provided insured individuals suffering from ten types of severe outpatient chronic diseases with online consultations, external prescription dispensing, online payment, and home delivery of medications. Following the platform’s launch, a surge in orders reflected sustained high public demand. However, because verification of insured patients’ information required manual processing and direct communication with patients for confirmation, issues arose including low order-processing efficiency, inability to guarantee timely medication dispatch, and prolonged patient waiting times.

On February 29, the National Healthcare Security Administration held a special meeting and conducted a video conference with the Wuhan Municipal Healthcare Security Administration to discuss strengthening “Internet+” healthcare security services for patients with chronic diseases. The administration emphasized the need to enhance coordination among healthcare security departments, internet hospitals, and designated pharmacies, further improve system integration, and optimize processes to provide greater support for online medical consultations and medication purchases by the public during the epidemic. It also immediately initiated efforts to promote the implementation of the electronic healthcare security certificate in Wuhan.

Just a few days ago (on February 28), the National Healthcare Security Administration and the National Health Commission jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting ‘Internet+’ Healthcare Insurance Services During the Prevention and Control of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” requiring the use of the electronic healthcare insurance certificate to enable cardless access to online healthcare insurance services. The electronic healthcare insurance certificate offers advantages such as convenience, nationwide interoperability, diverse applications, and security and reliability. It can reduce processes such as repetitive entry of healthcare insurance information and manual verification, thereby promising to enhance overall service efficiency and user experience.

The launch of the electronic medical insurance certificate in Wuhan is a significant measure taken by the National Healthcare Security Administration to support Wuhan in its fight against the epidemic. It not only facilitates online follow-up consultations and medication purchases for residents during the pandemic, thereby reducing the risk of cross-infection, but also expands the scope of “Internet+” medical services, marking an important step toward data-driven and refined management of healthcare security services.