Wuzhou Launches Citywide Prescription Information Sharing Platform with 20+ Hospitals and 100+ Pharmacies, Pioneering National 'Wuzhou Model' for Pharmaceutical Separation

China’s healthcare system is undergoing continuous and in-depth reform. The combined impact of policies such as the “two-invoice system,” reductions in the proportion of drug costs, and reforms to health insurance payment methods has made the separation of prescribing from dispensing and the outward flow of prescriptions an inevitable trend.

On November 15, Wuzhou City held a seminar on the implementation of a prescription information sharing platform, announcing the joint launch with Baiyang Intelligent Technology’s Yifuzhen platform to establish a citywide prescription information sharing system. More than 20 secondary and tertiary hospitals and over 100 pharmacies in the city will be connected to the platform. Wuzhou has become the first city in China to fully implement the national policy on prescription information sharing, truly ushering in the era of separation between medical services and pharmaceutical sales and the outward flow of prescriptions across China.

Qin Ying, Deputy Director of the Wuzhou Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission; Fu Mingzhong, Executive President of the China Pharmaceutical Commerce Association; leaders from the Wuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Office of Healthcare Reform, Health and Family Planning Commission, Social Security Bureau, and Food and Drug Administration; heads of health and family planning bureaus at all levels in Wuzhou; presidents of all secondary and tertiary hospitals in the city; Song Qing, President of Baiyang Pharmaceutical Group; Li Qin, CEO of Baiyang Intelligent Technology; Ma Guanglei, Executive Deputy General Manager of Yi Fuzhen; as well as representatives from pharmacy chains including Baixing Chain Pharmacy, Jiajin Chain Pharmacy, and Xinlikang Pharmacy Chain, attended this symposium and the launch ceremony of the Prescription Information Sharing Platform.

For a long time, hospital revenues have relied heavily on pharmaceutical sales. Under the “drug-subsidized healthcare” system, outpatients could only purchase medications prescribed by physicians at the hospital pharmacy, often leading patients to seek medical care primarily to obtain drugs. The year 2017 marked the beginning of prescription outflow and the separation of prescribing from dispensing, with multiple government documents calling for “exploring the interconnectivity and real-time sharing of prescription information from medical institutions, health insurance settlement data, and retail pharmaceutical consumption records.”

To implement the "Implementation Opinions on Further Reforming and Improving Policies for Drug Production, Distribution, and Use," more than 20 provinces and municipalities across China have recently issued relevant policies to enhance drug quality and efficacy, and to standardize drug distribution and usage practices. These local policies stipulate that medical institutions shall prescribe medications by their generic names and proactively provide prescriptions to patients. Patients are free to choose whether to purchase medications at medical institutions or retail pharmacies, and medical institutions are prohibited from restricting outpatients from purchasing medications at retail pharmacies based on their prescriptions.

Prescription Information Sharing PlatformThe Prescription Information Sharing Platform is an information technology platform developed in response to the practical needs of pharmaceutical and healthcare reforms. Patient-centered, it is jointly established by hospitals, government health commissions, drug administration authorities, social security agencies, and community pharmacies. The platform enables interconnectivity and real-time sharing of prescription data from medical institutions, medical insurance settlement information, and retail drug sales data. The launch of this platform system in Wuzhou City will comprehensively cover more than 20 secondary and tertiary hospitals and over one hundred pharmacies across the city. It aims to fully mobilize the enthusiasm and creativity of medical institutions, retail pharmaceutical outlets, and societal resources, thereby addressing the healthcare needs of more than three million residents in Wuzhou.

Qin Ying, Deputy Director of the Wuzhou Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission, stated, “The prescription information sharing platform is an effective mechanism for implementing the new healthcare reform policy of separating prescribing from dispensing. This separation is a crucial measure to abolish the current practice of subsidizing medical services with drug profits and to alleviate the difficulties and high costs associated with accessing medical care. Furthermore, this initiative actively engages patients by empowering them to choose where to purchase their medications. By integrating health insurance systems and enabling interoperability of prescription information, it enhances the medication purchasing experience at retail pharmacies and through other channels, thereby facilitating the implementation of the policy separating prescribing from dispensing.”

Mr. Fu Mingzhong, President of the China Pharmaceutical Commerce Association, speaking on behalf of the research delegation, expressed full recognition of the pilot program for the Prescription Information Sharing Platform at Wuzhou Red Cross Hospital. He expressed hope that Wuzhou would launch the construction of a citywide Prescription Information Sharing Platform, enabling Wuzhou to become the first city in China to fully implement the national policy on prescription information sharing. The “Wuzhou Model” could serve as a benchmark and exemplar for policies separating pharmaceutical sales from medical services and for healthcare reform pilots, with this model then being promoted nationwide.

In May 2017, Wuzhou established a pilot prescription information sharing platform at the Red Cross Hospital, achieving interconnectivity and real-time data sharing among hospitals, individual social security accounts, and pharmacies. To date, over 20,000 shared prescriptions have been issued through the platform, accounting for 11% of the hospital’s outpatient prescriptions. The first three pharmacies to join the platform now offer more than 700 prescribed drugs, with specifications identical to those available at the hospital and prices aligned with hospital rates, thereby providing significant convenience for patients purchasing medications.

Huang Yunqi, President of Wuzhou Red Cross Hospital, stated in his report: “As the largest Grade A tertiary general hospital in Wuzhou City, with an annual patient volume exceeding 700,000, the hospital adheres to the spirit of the new healthcare reform and continuously enhances its medical informatization services. Through informatization-driven reforms, we aim to strengthen the integration of medical resources and regional healthcare collaboration, improve the efficiency of medical services and patient visits, and achieve effective management and control of hospital medical services.”

Based on the current operational status of the Prescription Information Sharing Platform, most clinical departments have begun issuing shared prescriptions, with a daily volume reaching 300 prescriptions and a medication dispensing rate exceeding 90%. Furthermore, the platform’s implementation has significantly reduced queuing at hospital outpatient pharmacies. The extension of prescriptions to external channels has also integrated social retail pharmacies; by enabling real-time settlement through social insurance systems, patients can collect their medications at retail pharmacies using their medical insurance cards. This helps enhance patient service experiences, allowing them to truly appreciate the affordability and convenience brought about by healthcare reform.

Ma Guanglei, Executive Deputy General Manager of Yi Fuzhen, provided a detailed introduction to the Wuzhou Prescription Information Sharing Platform. The platform comprises three core components: the Hospital Prescription Information Sharing Platform, the Regional Drug Centralized Procurement Platform, and the Medical Insurance Retail Settlement Platform. The entire project will be implemented in two phases. The currently launched Phase I primarily focuses on developing the “separation of prescribing and dispensing” module within the Prescription Information Sharing Platform. By integrating with hospital HIS (Hospital Information System) systems, the platform ensures the authenticity of prescription sources and proactively provides prescription information to patients through various channels. Additionally, integration with pharmacies’ inventory and sales systems facilitates convenient and accessible medication purchases. The platform also offers multifaceted services, including operational supervision and data management.

The Phase II project is currently under construction. Yifuzhen will build a retail settlement platform for coordinated basic medical insurance to facilitate efficient management, and establish a centralized drug procurement platform to reduce medication costs. It will enable multiple medication retrieval methods, including “online order, in-store pickup” and “online order, home delivery.” Additionally, it will develop a smart medical consortium service platform and pilot health service stations to extend hospital services, while incorporating physician brand building and post-consultation doctor-patient communication management. These initiatives aim to significantly enhance operational efficiency at every stage, promote the decentralization of medical resources, and comprehensively improve patients’ healthcare experience.

According to research data from Zhongkang CMH, in the first half of 2017, prescription drug sales in retail pharmacies reached RMB 132.1 billion, nearly equaling the RMB 134.1 billion market size of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Meanwhile, industry insiders estimate that by 2020, out-of-hospital prescription purchases will account for one-third of the total prescription volume. Prescription information-sharing platforms represent a key approach to implementing the policies of “separating pharmaceuticals from medical services” and “eliminating the reliance on drug profits to subsidize healthcare,” and are expected to become the mainstream model in the coming years. Through these platforms, patients can access their prescriptions and freely choose where to purchase their medications. Furthermore, hospitals will explore the separation of outpatient pharmacies from medical institutions, thereby fully realizing the separation of pharmaceuticals from medical services.

As a benchmark for prescription information sharing platforms, Yi Fuzhen has its unique advantages.

First, professionalism. Yi Fuzhen is highly aligned with national healthcare reform policies, promoting the separation of prescribing and dispensing as well as the outflow of prescriptions through a highly secure information technology infrastructure, while providing professional on-site services;

Second, completeness. Yi Fuzhen has achieved full integration among hospitals, pharmacies, and medical insurance systems, enabling the seamless flow of information, logistics, and funds, thereby providing comprehensive service solutions for governments, hospitals, and patients;

Third, Yi Fuzhen is the only prescription information sharing platform in China that has been fully implemented at the prefecture-level city level, and it is also the largest prescription information sharing platform in China by sales volume.

Song Qing, President of Baiyang Pharmaceutical Group, stated that as a pioneer in new-generation medical informatization, Baiyang Intelligent Technology leverages AI as a breakthrough to establish the “Three Terminals, Two Clouds, and One Platform” architecture. This includes the Decision Intelligence Terminal, the Post-Consultation Patient Management and Prescription Information Sharing Terminal, and the Physician Skill Enhancement Terminal, along with the Puti Medical Cloud, which provides informatization services to hospitals, and the Mingjing Marketing Cloud, which offers intelligent precision marketing services to the industry. Notably, the establishment of the Yifuzhen Prescription Information Sharing Platform will provide professional verification of prescription authenticity, supporting the creation of “Regional Health Data Centers,” facilitating “online ordering with in-store pickup or delivery,” and building a Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) model for chronic disease medications to help control health insurance costs.

Meanwhile, by advancing the construction of a prescription information-sharing platform, we aim to enhance regional sharing of pharmaceutical and healthcare data, improve the management of prescription authenticity, elevate pharmaceutical care services, and optimize drug supply chains. This will provide the public with safe, convenient, affordable, high-quality, and reliable medical and health services, laying a solid foundation for the further implementation of pharmaceutical reform policies.