Tencent Cloud, Jointown Pharmaceutical, and DHC Software Collaborate to Enter the E-Prescription Outsourcing Market
Donghua Software stated that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Donghua Medical Information Technology, has entered into a strategic framework cooperation agreement with Tencent Cloud Computing and Jointown Pharmaceutical Group. Leveraging their respective unique advantages and capabilities in relevant fields, the parties will utilize cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, internet, and blockchain technologies to address the informatization needs of healthcare institutions. Together, they aim to build an “Internet + Healthcare” ecosystem chain and carry out the system research, design, construction, promotion, and operation of the “Hospital Prescription Outflow Information Sharing Platform and Pharmaceutical Distribution Solution.”
VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) reviewed the announcement and found that this tripartite collaboration primarily focuses on six key areas:
1. Develop an information platform that interfaces with hospital HIS systems and external prescription outflow systems, providing integration solutions for connecting the hospital’s internal systems with external pharmacies that fulfill prescriptions;
2. Provide an intelligent review solution for rational drug use in prescriptions to ensure medication safety, appropriateness, and efficacy;
3. Provide an information platform solution for the safe, fast, and accurate delivery of medications to patients;
4. Provide operational management and emergency response plans for the entire process of hospital prescription outflow and drug delivery;
5. Provide a plan for integrating the hospital prescription outflow and drug delivery system with the regulatory systems of national medical insurance agencies, health regulatory authorities, and drug supervision and administration departments;
5. Provide solutions for applying the aforementioned content to fields such as internet hospitals, smart medical consortiums, telemedicine, regional HMOs, and health management.
Tencent Cloud and Donghua Software Frequently Collaborate
Previously in May, Tencent Cloud announced its partnership with DHC Software. On May 25, DHC Software signed an agreement with Tencent Cloud Computing, under which both parties will engage in deep cooperation across four specialized areas: medical cloud, medical internet, medical artificial intelligence, and video technology services; smart city case development; energy IoT; and financial big data.
Specifically, in the healthcare sector, both parties will jointly promote cloud-based services such as Cloud HIS and Cloud Clinics, and co-design new business models; establish a DRG Application Laboratory to build and promote solutions for medical insurance cost control and commercial insurance cost management based on Tencent Cloud products; implement voice input for electronic medical record (EMR) systems using Tencent Cloud’s speech recognition technology; integrate Tencent Miying to assist in early cancer screening and diagnosis; and leverage Tencent Cloud’s facial recognition API to promote real-name registration services for hospital visits.
In the process of enabling data sharing among healthcare institutions, the company integrates Tencent Cloud’s blockchain technology to ensure data security and traceability. By deeply integrating Jiankangle with WeChat Mini Programs, Official Accounts, video technologies, and Tencent Cloud, the user experience for both medical professionals and patients is enhanced. Additionally, both parties will jointly establish laboratories such as the Energy Cloud Laboratory and the Financial Big Data Laboratory.
On May 28, Tencent injected RMB 1.266 billion into Donghua Chengxin, acquiring a 5% stake in Donghua Software. Following Tencent’s investment, Han Shibin, Vice President of Donghua Software, stated, “The core value of Donghua Software lies not in its net profit, but in its medical big data. Thirty percent of the top 100 hospitals across China use Donghua’s Hospital Information System (HIS), and the accumulated big data from this segment holds substantial value.”
Major Industry Giants Set Their Sights on the Prescription Outflow Market
Tencent Cloud, Jointown Pharmaceutical Group, and DHC Software have come together primarily due to the policy background. The state “guides the standardized development of ‘Internet + pharmaceutical distribution,’ supports strengthened cooperation between pharmaceutical distribution enterprises and internet companies, promotes the integrated development of online and offline channels, and fosters emerging business formats.”
Specific application scenarios include “standardizing online retail services of retail pharmacies and promoting new delivery models such as ‘online ordering with in-store pickup’ and ‘online ordering with store-based delivery’”; “encouraging eligible regions to leverage existing information systems to provide pharmaceutical care services, including online prescription review by pharmacists and guidance on rational drug use”; and “piloting a classified and tiered management system for retail pharmacies, encouraging the development of chain pharmacies, and exploring the interconnectivity and real-time sharing of prescription information from medical institutions, medical insurance settlement data, and drug retail consumption information.”
Under these major “Internet + Pharmaceuticals” models, numerous companies have established their presence, including internet giants that have crossed over from other sectors. For example, Alibaba Health has partnered with Wuhan Central Hospital: after patients schedule online consultations through the Alibaba Health Internet Hospital and receive electronic prescriptions, Jointown Pharmaceutical handles the delivery.
In March 2016, the Zibo Municipal People’s Government of Shandong Province, JD.com Group, and Xinhua Pharmaceutical signed a tripartite cooperation agreement. Under this agreement, JD.com would build the “Zibo Medical Prescription Circulation Information Platform” for the Zibo Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission. Public pilot hospitals in Zibo would submit prescriptions to the platform, enabling patients to conveniently purchase medications from Xinhua Grand Pharmacy using electronic prescriptions.
In May 2017, Tencent, Liuzhou Workers' Hospital, and Guangxi Liuzhou Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. established a partnership to launch an "out-of-hospital prescription circulation" service at Liuzhou Workers' Hospital. By accepting electronic prescriptions issued by physicians through its WeChat official account, the platform enables patients to purchase medications outside the hospital. The system initially covered eight pharmacies under the Liuzhou Pharmaceutical Group. Going forward, patients can freely choose to pick up their medications either within the hospital or at designated out-of-hospital pharmacies after their medical consultations.
Local policies have also provided strong encouragement. Cities such as Chengdu, Xining, Xi’an, Haikou, and Chongqing have successively issued policies to guide the outflow of prescriptions, permitting retail pharmacies to pilot the sale of prescription drugs based on electronic prescriptions. These pharmacies are required to integrate with medical institutions, establish computer network connections, and obtain electronic prescriptions from medical institutions through information systems.
The core keywords of prescription outflow are prescriptions, drug supply assurance capability, pharmaceutical care service capability, and coordinated medical insurance payment. Currently, companies involved in this business each have their own strengths. For instance, distribution enterprises possess comprehensive supply assurance capabilities, while retail pharmacies have extensive store coverage, enabling them to reach patients to the greatest extent possible.
Certainly, the entry of Alibaba and Tencent has brought more possibilities to the business of prescription outflow. Especially through their cooperation with hospital information technology vendors, they have connected the processes inside and outside hospitals for patient visits, which better aligns with the circulation path of prescriptions. This also provides stronger guidance for patients and opens up greater potential for future development.