Weikang Technology Empowers Community Healthcare with Third-Party Pharmacy Services and Chronic Disease Management via Digital Prescriptions

During the 2015 Spring Festival, WeChat Red Packets became a sensation, highlighting the commercial value of WeChat’s connectivity capabilities. Chen Linjun, a seasoned entrepreneur in the internet healthcare industry, quickly identified the business opportunity and promptly registered Guangzhou Weikang Information Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Weikang Tech”), along with the trademark Wicares (Weixin Information Care System), aiming to leverage WeChat’s connectivity to provide online pharmaceutical services.

WeChat connects with the general public, whose daily lives are centered in communities. Community residents have three basic pharmaceutical service needs: medication consultation, medication sourcing, and medication management. Therefore, Weikang Technology, with the goal of “helping the public use medications properly,” has successively launched the medication consultation mini-program “Medication Advisor,” the medication sourcing mini-program “Easy Med Search,” and ultimately formed the medication management mini-program “Smart Prescription,” which centers on electronic prescriptions.

Physician prescriptions are central to pharmacotherapy for patients with chronic diseases, while medication use represents the final step in drug sourcing and consultation. The “Smart Prescription” system provides community clinics and pharmacies with supplies of prescription medications for chronic conditions and novel specialty drugs, online review services by third-party pharmacists, and services for family doctor prescription transmission, issuance, and storage. By extending capabilities for medication consultation and drug sourcing, it closes the loop on pharmaceutical care services for prescription drugs.

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that, to date, the “Yao Guwen” mini-program has reached 72,000 users, while the “Zhao Yao Yi” mini-program has attained 27,000 users. Since its launch in March 2019, the “Smart Prescription” mini-program has been piloted in key communities, establishing online communities comprising more than 1,000 patients with chronic diseases. The average value per community-based prescription for chronic disease management is RMB 247.

For patients with chronic diseases, the community is the most convenient setting for receiving medication therapy and pharmaceutical guidance. The most comprehensive and efficient service workflow involves having prescriptions issued by community physicians, dispensing medications within the community, and receiving medication guidance from both community doctors and pharmacists. However, current urban community clinics offer a limited range of medications and lack licensed clinical pharmacists. It is understood that typical urban community clinics stock only around 200 drug varieties, primarily consisting of common antibiotics, gastrointestinal medications, and topical agents, which fails to meet the medication needs of patients with chronic, severe, or rare diseases in the community setting.

Meanwhile, prescriptions from large hospitals cannot be effectively transferred to community doctors and community pharmacies. Therefore, Weikang Technology has developed an electronic prescription system designed for community clinic physicians. This system enables clinic doctors to issue prescriptions legally, which are then reviewed by Weikang’s licensed pharmacists and its intelligent smart prescription review system. This approach not only ensures prescription safety but also enhances the efficiency of the entire prescription service process.

Electronic prescriptions issued by community physicians are linked to smart community medication dispensers independently developed by Weikang Technology, which provides supply chain services for 12,000 prescription drugs through its supply chain partners. It is reported that these dispensers offer 200 types of new and specialized medications for chronic, severe, and rare diseases, such as kidney disease, diabetes, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders. By connecting with third-party central pharmacies, the system achieves comprehensive coverage and supply of all new and specialized medications. Weikang Technology has established an efficient connection among its electronic prescription system, IoT-enabled medication dispensers, and central pharmacies, thereby streamlining the community pharmaceutical care service system and addressing the need for patients with chronic conditions in communities to access high-quality medications.

Weikang Technology’s “Smart Prescription” system establishes a comprehensive community-based prescription medication solution. Patients with chronic diseases visit community clinics, where physicians issue prescriptions that are reviewed online by licensed pharmacists. Upon approval, nurses assist patients in retrieving medications from smart dispensing cabinets using the validated prescriptions, after which the prescription follow-up system is activated. This entire service workflow is built upon foundations of informatization, professionalism, and regulatory compliance, ensuring patient medication safety.

It is worth noting that patients with chronic diseases can now enjoy home delivery services for medications prescribed through extended prescriptions in community settings. Chen Linjun told VCBeat, “The policy on extended prescriptions in communities has been piloted in multiple regions, including Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Fujian.” Community clinics can deliver medications to the homes of chronic disease patients via third-party services.

In the areas of online prescription review and intelligent prescription auditing, Q-Yao Network, Weikang Technology’s licensed pharmacist training platform, has trained over 10,000 qualified licensed pharmacists since 2013. Weikang Technology’s professional expertise and its licensed pharmacist resource platform fully ensure the accuracy of prescription reviews.

Chen Linjun emphasized that Weikang Technology does not sell drugs itself; instead, it empowers community clinic physicians with WeChat’s connectivity capabilities, provides electronic prescription technical support services for community doctors, offers integrated supply chain services for medications treating chronic, severe, and rare diseases, and delivers third-party pharmaceutical care services.

Based on this, Weikang Technology has formulated a three-step strategic plan. The first step focuses on technical support and supply chain integration, ensuring that physicians have access to both tools and medications. The second step involves establishing electronic prescription records for patients to improve medication adherence and safety among community-based patients. The third step aims to build a community-based chronic disease health management service system, ultimately enabling patients to use higher-quality medications while reducing overall medication usage.

The business model corresponding to the three-step strategy is as follows: In the first phase, revenue is generated from supply chain services by providing integrated supply solutions for new and specialized pharmaceuticals. In the second phase, revenue is derived from chronic disease membership management and promotional services through community prescription management. In the third phase, revenue streams are expanded into insurance, finance, and pharmacy benefit management (PBM) by leveraging user bases and data assets.

To date, Weikang Technology has launched pilot programs in multiple urban communities, providing comprehensive services to 200 patients with kidney disease, 500 cancer patients, and over 1,000 patients with common chronic diseases.

Regarding future plans, Chen Linjun stated that the company will deepen its services in pilot communities and gradually expand to more communities, cities, and regions. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. In mobile healthcare, quality must be prioritized, and safety must come first,” said Chen Linjun.

In 2019, new opportunities and challenges coexisted!

VCBeat Partners with “Deep Divers” to Focus on the “Ocean” of Grassroots Medical Innovation

How to Thrive and Dive Deeper in the Vast “Deep Water Zone”?

If you are also a “deep-dive enthusiast” of primary healthcare,

We welcome you to sign up and join us in conquering the vast “ocean” of primary healthcare.