Xu Jing of Kangmei Pharmaceutical: Smart Pharmacy Driving Integrated Traditional Chinese Medicine Supply Chain

Xu Jing

Deputy General Manager of Kangmei Pharmaceutical's Smart Pharmacy

Kangmei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. was established in 1997. It is a modern, large-scale pharmaceutical enterprise and a national key high-tech enterprise, specializing in the production of traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces, chemical raw materials, and formulations, while integrating drug manufacturing, research and development, and the marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. In March 2001, Kangmei Pharmaceutical’s Class A shares were listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Kangmei Pharmaceutical is a company with a comprehensive layout across the entire traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry chain. Prior to the stock market crash last June, Kangmei was likely the first pharmaceutical enterprise in China to achieve a market capitalization exceeding RMB 100 billion; following the crash, its market capitalization stood at approximately RMB 70 billion. The company operates source-level planting bases, production facilities, R&D centers, pharmaceutical distribution hubs, and postdoctoral research stations.

Currently, China faces an imbalance in medical resources, resulting in severe congestion for hospital visits and appointment registration. Hospitals incur substantial costs in terms of manpower, facility space, and operational expenses. The time patients spend waiting in line may even exceed the duration of their face-to-face consultations with doctors. Furthermore, after prescriptions are issued, patients are often required to decoct herbal medicines themselves, a process prone to issues such as inaccurate dosing and improper heat control during decoction. Even if hospitals offer decoction services, patients typically cannot collect the prepared medicine until the following day, which may diminish the overall healthcare experience.

Kangmei Pharmaceutical’s Smart Pharmacy Platform can integrate with hospital HIS systems. After receiving medical treatment, patients need only select the decoction and delivery services at checkout, whereupon the hospital system transmits prescription information to the Smart Pharmacy. The Smart Pharmacy then immediately performs prescription review, dispensing, double-checking, and decoction, followed by packaging and home delivery, creating a service experience that makes obtaining medication as simple as receiving a package.

Kangmei Pharmaceutical is the first company in China to produce standardized small-packaged traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) decoction pieces. Currently, it has established partnerships with over 100 tiered hospitals and is in negotiations with more than 100 additional hospitals to integrate their smart pharmacy systems.

For hospitals, Kangmei Pharmaceutical’s Smart Pharmacy has reduced patient foot traffic, saved significant floor space and financial resources, alleviated strain on hospital resources, and improved patient satisfaction. After consulting with a physician and receiving a prescription at the hospital, patients need only provide their delivery address, and Kangmei Pharmaceutical will ship the medications directly to their homes. The Smart Pharmacy also offers herbal decoction services.

For patients, smart pharmacy services reduce hospital stay duration, minimize the risk of cross-infection, and address challenges related to herbal decoction.

Kangmei Pharmaceutical has been designated to assist the Ministry of Commerce of China in formulating classification standards for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). To date, the company has developed 209 TCM coding standards.

Xu Jing, Deputy General Manager of Kangmei Pharmaceutical’s Smart Pharmacy, stated that the core competitiveness enabling Kangmei Pharmaceutical to achieve its current scale is drug quality. First, the company leverages advantageous resources across the entire traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry chain to build its smart pharmacy infrastructure. Second, Kangmei Pharmaceutical employs advanced decoction equipment, including a three-stage water softening and ultraviolet disinfection system for the water used in decocting herbs. After a patient receives a prescription at the hospital, staff input the required medications into the smart pharmacy system, which automatically calculates the volume of water needed and the optimal soaking duration for the herbal formula. A QR code containing all this information is affixed to each medicinal container. The entire process is under monitoring, with full traceability available at every stage.

In addition to stringent quality control of pharmaceutical products, Kangmei Pharmaceutical employs a professional prescription review team that integrates automated system-based reviews with manual pharmacist verification.Avoid issues with prescriptions.

Currently, Kangmei Pharmaceutical has established production and operation centers in Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shenzhen. Each center is equipped with approximately 300–400 pharmaceutical machines and processes around 9,000–10,000 prescriptions per day. In these three cities, prescriptions received by the operation centers from the Smart Pharmacy in the morning can have the decocted herbal medicines delivered to patients’ homes on the same day, while those received in the afternoon are delivered the following day. The company currently offers free medication delivery services in Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shenzhen, with a delivery fee of RMB 20 for provinces outside these areas. From June 2015 to June 2016, Kangmei Pharmaceutical’s Smart Pharmacy cumulatively processed approximately 800,000 prescriptions, serving around 500,000 patient visits.

Xu Jing stated that smart pharmacies primarily handle herbal slices and decoctions, but are not limited to proprietary Chinese medicines; they also provide Western medications, customized formulations, and personalized preparation services. Moving forward, smart pharmacies will continue to refine their services to deliver a better healthcare experience for users.