Gansu Launches China's First Provincial-Level Electronic Prescription Information Sharing Platform

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) reported on-site that on September 6, to promote the development of “Internet + Healthcare” and improve “Internet +” pharmaceutical supply guarantee services, China’s first provincial-level “Electronic Prescription Information Sharing Platform” was fully launched in Gansu.

The platform will cover all medical institutions across cities and prefectures in the province, Lanzhou New Area, and the Gansu Mining District. It will integrate the National Health Information Platform and the Electronic Health Card Data Platform, while interfacing with the medical insurance settlement platform and chronic disease management systems. This initiative aims to effectively resolve the issue of “seeking medical care primarily for medication access” and comprehensively enhance post-diagnosis health management services for residents.

In recent years, with the deepening of the new healthcare reform and the advancement of multi-pronged policy initiatives, the new development model of “Internet + Healthcare” has been clearly defined. Leveraging internet and big data technologies to accelerate hospital informatization and meet patients’ medical needs has become a key focus of the current healthcare system reform.

In 2018, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Development of 'Internet + Medical Health'," pointing out the need to improve drug supply guarantee services under the "Internet +" framework, conduct online follow-up consultations for certain common and chronic diseases, support medical institutions in implementing prescription circulation and establishing internet hospitals, develop "smart pharmacies," and provide third-party drug delivery services, thereby further facilitating convenient and efficient access to healthcare services for the general public.

The “Implementation Opinions of the General Office of the People’s Government of Gansu Province on Promoting the Development of ‘Internet + Medical Health’” stipulates that exploration should be conducted to achieve interconnectivity and real-time sharing between prescription information from medical and health institutions and drug retail consumption information. This aims to promote the standardized development of online drug sales and medical logistics distribution, enable physicians to issue online prescriptions for patients with common and chronic diseases, and allow patients to purchase medications offline through multiple channels based on these prescriptions. These measures are intended to eliminate the problem of “seeking medical care solely for obtaining drugs” and facilitate the implementation of healthcare reform initiatives such as the “Three-Medical Linkage.”

Information supervision is a major challenge in the development of “Internet + Healthcare.” During the process of prescription outflow, irregular practices such as purchasing medications without a prescription and obtaining retroactive prescriptions for drug purchases frequently occur. The Drug Administration Law, recently reviewed and approved, imposes strict regulations on the online sale of prescription drugs. In accordance with the overarching principle, pharmaceutical sales networks and healthcare institutions’ information systems must be interconnected to enable effective oversight, ensure the authenticity of prescriptions, and safeguard patients’ medication safety.

A representative from the Planning and Information Division of the Gansu Provincial Health Commission stated, “Under the implementation requirements of the ‘Healthy Gansu’ strategy and in alignment with the national informatization development strategic plan, ‘Internet + Healthcare,’ with informatization as its entry point, has become a new initiative to drive supply-side reforms in health services, strengthen management of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, and comprehensively improve the level of medical and health services. The implementation of electronic prescription sharing applications can effectively track prescription circulation information, monitor pharmaceutical care services, reduce the proportion of drug costs, facilitate medication access for the public, further refine the internet-based diagnosis and treatment service system, promote the application of ‘Internet + Healthcare,’ innovate convenient and beneficial service models, and enhance residents’ sense of gain in health services.”

He also stated that the Gansu Provincial Health Commission has issued documents on the construction of an electronic prescription information-sharing platform. He urged health commissions at all levels and medical institutions to actively implement the requirements set forth in these documents and carry out the platform’s development and deployment. Pilot programs were launched in 2019 across nine provincial-level public hospitals, tertiary public hospitals in all cities and prefectures, selected secondary public hospitals in counties (districts) designated as pilot sites for comprehensive regional healthcare reform, and other specified facilities. By 2020, the platform was to be promoted and applied throughout all public hospitals at the secondary level and above across the province.

Gansu Province has launched the “Electronic Prescription Information Sharing Platform,” the first provincial-level prescription information sharing platform in China. Led by the Gansu Provincial Health Commission, the platform was jointly developed with Yifuzhen, a professional third-party technology provider for prescription sharing platforms.

Centered on patients, the platform standardizes the sharing and circulation of electronic prescription data across medical institutions through the Gansu Provincial National Health Information Platform. It facilitates hospital prescription outflow, intelligent online prescription review, chronic disease prescription refills, rational drug use monitoring, and primary care medication guidance. This provides patients throughout the province with a more convenient healthcare experience, encompassing streamlined in-person consultation and medication purchase, simplified follow-up visits and prescription refills, and enhanced post-diagnosis management.

Leveraging the Gansu Provincial Population Health Information Platform, the Gansu “Electronic Prescription Information Sharing Platform” features the following three characteristics:

First, establish and improve the “Internet+” pharmaceutical supply and assurance services. Upon completion, the platform will provide comprehensive coverage of all medical institutions across all cities and prefectures in Gansu Province, including Lanzhou New Area and the Gansu Mining Area, forming a unified provincial electronic prescription circulation management system. This system encompasses prescription circulation within medical institutions and medical consortia, as well as distribution channels from medical institutions to professional pharmacies, third-party logistics providers, and new smart medication-dispensing terminals.

Second, facilitate the convenient management of chronic diseases. Centered on patients, the platform offers diverse features such as extended outpatient consultations, prescription renewals for follow-up visits, home delivery of medications, and online follow-ups. Meanwhile, the platform will integrate with provincial and municipal population health information platforms, electronic health cards, internet hospital regulatory platforms, chronic disease management information systems, and urban and rural resident basic medical insurance information systems to achieve data interoperability, thereby providing residents with more convenient services.

Third, achieve unified regulatory oversight of prescription information, break down information silos, and establish a unified, visualized regulatory system that covers hospital prescription management, pharmaceutical retail terminal information management, and settlement management for both basic medical insurance and commercial health insurance.

Ma Guanglei, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Pharmaceutical Commercial Association and General Manager of Yi Fuzhen, stated, “Three authenticities must be ensured in the sales process of prescription drugs: authenticity of prescriptions, authenticity of products, and authenticity of patients. Among these, the authenticity of prescriptions is the most fundamental principle in pharmaceutical retail; if this principle is violated, patient medication safety cannot be guaranteed.”

Gansu Province has actively responded to national healthcare reform policies, comprehensively advancing the development of “Internet + Healthcare” and promoting the integration of information technology into medical and health services, thereby “letting data do more running so that citizens need to run less.”

The development of this platform is a key initiative by Gansu Province to facilitate public convenience, providing patients with convenient, affordable, and accessible medical consultation and medication procurement services. It aims to ensure convenient and safe medication use for the general public while comprehensively enhancing the quality of healthcare services. Upon completion of the platform’s construction across all administrative levels, it will significantly optimize patient workflows for seeking medical care and purchasing medications. Furthermore, through big data mining and analysis, the platform will enable precision treatment, safe medication practices, and rational cost control.

The implementation of the platform will accelerate the development of smart hospital services across the province, provide the public with affordable and convenient smart medical services, enhance post-diagnosis health management for residents, and lay a solid foundation for advancing the “Healthy China” strategy and realizing the vision of “Healthy Gansu.”