National Health Medical Big Data Application and Sharing Platform Launches, Prescription Sharing Set for Large-Scale Expansion!

Big Data in Health and Healthcare Has Become a Powerful Tool for Advancing the “Healthy China” Strategy. On February 2, the inaugural Conference on Applications of Big Data in Health and Healthcare was held at the G20 Summit venue in Hangzhou. The “National Platform for Sharing and Application of Big Data in Health and Healthcare,” initiated with the support of the Chinese Society for Health Information and Big Data in Health and Healthcare, was officially launched. This platform is open to multiple stakeholders across China involved in industry, academia, research, and application, aiming to promote the use of big data in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and medical insurance, and to foster a new ecosystem for industrial applications of health and healthcare big data. During the conference, the first prescription-sharing platform serving the entire industry nationwide was also released, becoming one of the initial applications on the National Platform for Sharing and Application of Big Data in Health and Healthcare.

Jin Xiaotao, President of the Chinese Society for Health Information and Big Data in Healthcare; Bian Zhenjia, Special Researcher at the Counselors’ Office of the State Council; Academician Han Demin, President of the China International Exchange and Promotive Association for Medical and Health Care; Feng Wen, Director of the Population Culture Development Center under the National Health and Family Planning Commission and Chair of the Family Health Professional Committee of the Chinese Society for Health Information and Big Data in Healthcare; Wu Jian, Director of the Ruiyi Artificial Intelligence Research Center at Zhejiang University; and more than 3,000 guests from across China jointly witnessed the launch ceremony.

In June 2016, the General Office of the State Council explicitly stated in the Guiding Opinions on Promoting and Regulating the Application and Development of Health and Medical Big Data that it is necessary to comprehensively deepen the application of health and medical big data by “integrating business information such as medical service pricing, medical insurance payment, drug tendering and procurement, and drug utilization, so as to drive the coordinated reforms of healthcare, medical insurance, and pharmaceuticals.” As a key link connecting healthcare, medical insurance, and pharmaceuticals, the construction of prescription-sharing platforms is an important task for consolidating the foundation of health and medical big data applications and advancing the “Three-Medical Linkage” reform.

It is reported that the prescription-sharing platform, centered on patients, connects hospital information systems, retail pharmacies, pharmaceutical distribution companies’ delivery systems, and medical insurance settlement systems at scale. This enables online prescription review, standardizes and optimizes the pharmaceutical supply chain, and fosters a pattern of shared health and medical data resources across the entire industry chain.

According to the conference, the newly launched prescription-sharing platform features a three-tier architecture comprising the service layer, application layer, and data layer. The application layer covers multiple scenarios, including internet hospitals across provinces and municipalities nationwide, hospitals at all levels, primary healthcare institutions, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) facilities and TCM clinics, and pharmacies. Patients can conveniently access services such as online consultation, settlement via medical insurance and commercial insurance, medication delivery, and medication guidance through WeChat official accounts, mobile apps, and web portals.

Taking a hospital setting as an example, after a face-to-face consultation between the patient and the physician, the doctor connects to the Prescription Sharing Platform via the Hospital Information System (HIS) to issue an electronic prescription. Upon review and approval by a pharmacist, a QR code is generated. After the patient scans the code to complete the payment, they can choose to collect the medication at the hospital, pick it up at a nearby affiliated pharmacy, or have it delivered directly to their home by a logistics provider. This model offers multiple medication retrieval options, enhancing the patient’s healthcare experience while reducing operational costs for hospital pharmacies and promoting the separation of prescribing and dispensing. Furthermore, the Prescription Sharing Platform has established a drug traceability mechanism that enables end-to-end data tracking from manufacturers through distribution, warehousing, and delivery, thereby ensuring the safety and timeliness of patients’ medication use.

Another highlight of the platform is its technology-driven engine powered by big data and artificial intelligence, which assists hospital physicians in achieving intelligent auxiliary diagnosis and treatment, intelligent prescription generation, and intelligent online prescription review. Furthermore, through big data mining, the platform promotes the standardization of clinical pathways for single diseases in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Taking polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) as an example, the platform has integrated the theoretical explorations, clinical experience, diagnostic and treatment models, and specific applications derived from over 60 years of research by renowned senior TCM practitioner Yu Jin into a cloud-based auxiliary diagnosis system. Clinically validated through repeated trials, the system has demonstrated an ovulation rate of 90% and a pregnancy rate of 70%, which was regarded by the former President of the International Androgen Excess Society as the best outcome worldwide.

It is reported that WeDoctor, as the builder of the prescription-sharing platform, will open up its technological, operational, and resource advantages cultivated over eight years in the healthcare sector to all parties. Through Wuzhen Internet Hospital, WeDoctor has enabled nearly 20,000 pharmacies across China to implement online prescribing and prescription review, serving more than 46,000 patients daily. This has standardized the distribution and use of prescription drugs on a large scale and earned recognition from national and local Food and Drug Administration authorities. Moving forward, WeDoctor will further promote medical information sharing among its internet hospitals in 19 provinces and municipalities, over 100 medical consortia, and 2,400 partner hospitals, thereby advancing the shared application of information resources across healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, and medical insurance entities.

Globally, prescription sharing is also an international best practice that promotes the separation of prescribing and dispensing and drives the upgrading of the pharmaceutical industry. Taking Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) as an example, the company has 80 million enrolled members in the United States and Canada, with a network of over 70,000 participating pharmacies. It processes approximately 1.5 billion prescriptions annually. By leveraging industrial-scale connectivity, ESI has significantly improved the efficiency of pharmaceutical distribution, effectively managed the growth of healthcare costs, and thereby comprehensively advanced the development of pharmaceutical logistics, health management, and pharmaceutical insurance.

Address by Jin Xiaotao, President of the Chinese Society for Health Information and Big Data in Healthcare

Jin Xiaotao, President of the Chinese Society for Health Information and Big Data in Healthcare, stated in his address: “The core of healthcare big data lies in its application. Driven by collaborative efforts across government, industry, academia, and research, China’s healthcare big data has entered a phase of rapid development that places equal emphasis on infrastructure construction and practical application. This progress will further stimulate the momentum and vitality of deepening healthcare system reforms, enhance the efficiency and quality of healthcare services, and foster new business models and economic growth drivers.”