Internet medical treatment under the epidemic situation: the number of consultations has been doubled, and multiple channels have opened up the problem of dispensing drugs

Under the control of the epidemic, Internet hospitals have become an important channel for people to seek medical treatment and medicine.

Wang Yi (pseudonym), a member of the volunteer service team for delivering medicines at a tertiary hospital in Shanghai. He clearly told the China Times, "April 27 was the busiest day for me to volunteer. At 12:11 p.m., an old comrade in our patient group sent a voice, anxiously asking how to buy methylprednisolone tablets. ”

Subsequently, with the help and coordination of Wang Yi, the elderly successfully purchased methylprednisolone tablets through the Hospital's Internet Hospital. Before 5 p.m. on the same day, the elderly received the drug at home through contactless delivery.

It is reported that in the context of this round of epidemic in Shanghai, Internet medical care has become the key to solving the difficulty of people buying drugs under the epidemic by breaking through geographical restrictions, no contact, and avoiding cross-infection. A number of hospitals and many third-party enterprises have tried to open up drug purchase channels, and strive to solve the difficulty of people to see a doctor and dispense drugs under the control of the community.

A number of hospitals are open online

At the end of 2015, Wuzhen Internet Hospital, the first Internet hospital in China, was officially established. Inspired by it, a number of Internet companies are moved by the wind. At that time, Internet hospitals sprung up. Until 2020, when the new crown epidemic struck, all the Chinese people stayed at home. In this extreme context, Internet Hospital has completed the most extensive user education and market popularization in history.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic in Shanghai, many local top three hospitals have had to close offline outpatient clinics and only open emergency departments to cooperate with epidemic prevention. In this environment, the online prescription and online follow-up functions of Internet diagnosis and treatment fully demonstrate the advantages of remote diagnosis and treatment. All the top three hospitals in Shanghai have opened Internet hospitals to help patients with chronic diseases configure prescription drugs online.

Ms. Li, a citizen, said in an interview with the China Times reporter, "At this special moment, I can buy platelet-generating medicine, which is really good!" ”

The patient, Ms. Li, had a long-term trip to Zhongshan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University for chemotherapy due to advanced liver cancer. For her, the treatment of elevated platelets is essential in her daily life, otherwise it will increase the risk of disease due to bleeding, and even endanger her life.

Ms. Li said that through the introduction of patients, she entered an "emergency dispensing group". Therefore, it is understood that through the Internet hospital can dispense drugs like offline. "I'm in my 70s, so my phone isn't playing very well. I've always heard that there are Internet hospitals, but I won't use them. There are small doctors in this dispensing group to help operate, and the doctors who deliver the medicines are also acquaintances, and the elderly are very relieved. ”

Taking Shanghai Tongji Hospital as an example, "in the past month, the outpatient pharmacy has dispensed more than 40,000 prescriptions, with an average daily dispensing of nearly 700 people, and an average daily dispensing volume of nearly 1,400." In terms of the transportation capacity of the conventional logistics of the Internet hospital, in addition to the distribution of professional logistics companies, the hospital has also set up a 'medicine knight' volunteer service team composed of 25 medical personnel to deliver to the door for patients who choose to come to the hospital to pick up medicines and cannot come to pick them up in time. Xing Surong, director of the outpatient emergency office of Shanghai Tongji Hospital, said.

According to the press conference on epidemic prevention and control in Shanghai, since the outbreak of this round of epidemics, the business diagnosis and treatment volume of Internet hospitals in Shanghai has increased significantly, with an average increase of 50%-80%. Up to now, the city has approved 76 public medical institutions to obtain Internet hospital qualifications, including municipal hospitals, district-level hospitals, community health centers, etc.

In March 2020, the National Medical Insurance Bureau, together with the National Health Commission, issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Implementation of "Internet +" Medical Insurance Services During the Prevention and Control of the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Epidemic, which clarifies that the online follow-up services for common diseases and chronic diseases provided by Internet medical institutions that meet the requirements can be included in the scope of payment of medical insurance funds in accordance with regulations.

Since then, public Internet hospitals have entered the public eye. Among this type of Internet hospital, 53% can already achieve medical insurance payment. Medical insurance has become a major advantage for public Internet hospitals to attract patients. With the future medical insurance coverage of public Internet hospitals and the expansion of the scope of off-card payment, this advantage is even more obvious.

Multi-party assistance in dispensing

Since April, a number of "Drug Dispensing Route Summary" and "Drug Purchase Strategies" documents on social media have emerged, which have searched for various ways to buy and dispense drugs.

Among them, the "buy medicine" divisions of takeaway delivery apps such as Meituan, Ele.me, and Jingdong Dajia were the first to enter Shanghai in the epidemic. After the public searches for relevant drugs, the App will show whether there is inventory in the nearby pharmacy that is open, and if there is any inventory, it can be purchased under an order, and the rider will pick up the order and send it to the door of the community. If it is a prescription drug platform, it will also jump to the online consultation, and the Internet doctor will help prescribe internet drugs after consultation.

The reporter learned that during the epidemic in Shanghai, most pharmacies are operating normally, and the supply of commonly used drugs such as anti-inflammatory tablets and gastrointestinal dispersions is sufficient. When buying medicines, choose pharmacies with the words "Platform Delivery", which have reached an agreement with the platform riders and will be faster to deliver.

The relevant person in charge of Gaoji Medical said in an interview with the "China Times" reporter, "Since the sealing and control, the pharmacies under Gaoji Medical have been maintaining business, and there are hundreds of orders every day. In order to process orders conveniently, the clerks all live in the store. During the epidemic, the demand for drugs in Shanghai has surged, and as long as the line is opened for ten minutes, a large number of orders will pour in like snowflakes. ”

At the same time, Gaoji Internet Hospital launched the "Fight the Epidemic with One Heart, Jointly Defend Shanghai" - free oncology clinic activity, and a team of professional doctors provides free clinic services for common patients such as lung cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer and other common patients with high incidence of cancer. Gaoji Internet Hospital provides free home consultation services to the above tumor patients, so that patients can keep abreast of the progress of the disease, obtain scientific and professional medication guidance and treatment suggestions, and reduce anxiety and uneasiness in the process of illness.

In addition, Dingdang Fast Medicine, HuiYi Tianxia, YaokangFu, YaokangFu, Ping An Health, People's Big Pharmacy, Dashenlin Medicine Speed, First Medicine Mini Program, 1 Drug Network and other Internet platforms together support online drug purchase, and are distributed to the community by riders.

According to the press conference on the prevention and control of the epidemic in Shanghai, since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Shanghai has continuously played the role of Internet hospitals in serving citizens to seek medical treatment and medicine. At present, there are more than 100 Internet hospitals in Shanghai operating at the same time. Since April, the business diagnosis and treatment volume of Shanghai Internet Hospital has increased significantly, with the total number of service trips being 5.2 times that of the same period last year, and the number of prescriptions being 11.2 times that of the same period last year. Internet hospitals have effectively diverted the people's demand for medical treatment and dispensing, alleviated the pressure of hospital treatment, reduced the concentration of personnel, and reduced the risk of cross-infection.

Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, said: "In order to facilitate the public's inquiry and use, we have released the list of Municipal Hospitals' Internet Hospitals through the 'Shanghai Release' on April 23, and announced the WeChat public accounts, Alipay life numbers, pocket apps and other login methods of each Internet hospital, so that the general public can choose internet hospitals for online treatment in a targeted manner. ”

It is reported that due to the limitation of the scope of online medical treatment and the difficulty of drug distribution, the Internet hospital is still far from the needs of the public. In the next step, Shanghai will give full play to the advantages of Internet diagnosis and treatment services, encourage Internet hospitals to carry out diagnosis and rehabilitation of chronic diseases, common diseases, multiple diseases and health management monitoring, and provide online services such as new crown pneumonia consultation and epidemic prevention science to the public. At the same time, we will do our best to solve the problem of "last mile" drug distribution in various forms.

Editor-in-Charge: Sun Mengyuan Editor-in-Chief: Chen Yanpeng