With complete medicines, affordable prices and convenient logistics, buying medicines online is becoming a new trend
One-click order delivery of medicines (consumption window · reducing the impact of the epidemic and stabilizing residents' consumption⑦)
Our reporter Luo Shanshan
"People's Daily" (19th edition on April 08, 2020)
Core reading
Buying medicine online has broken the limitation of time and space, benefiting more consumers, and is becoming a new trend in buying medicine. Drugs are not ordinary daily necessities, which are related to people's life safety and physical health, and standardization development is particularly important
Demand for online medicine purchases is strong
The survey showed that after the outbreak, the number of online drug users increased by 16.86%. 80.65% of respondents chose online channels because of their "easy purchase, no need to go out"
"I will choose to buy eye drops and other conventional medicines online, place orders with one click, and deliver them to your door quickly, saving time and effort." Wang Qing, a resident of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, is usually busy at work. After being recommended by a friend, she began to buy medicine online . "I was a little uneasy at first. I always felt that buying medicine in a physical store was more prudent and I was not used to buying medicine online. After a few trials, I found that it was really convenient. Just like take-out, I need to place an order at any time." Wang Qing said.
With the continuous popularity of the Internet, online pharmacies are popping up like mushrooms. Consumers just need to gently open a website or APP on a computer or mobile phone. Some medicines that could only be bought in hospitals or offline pharmacies in the past will soon Delivery to consumers through logistics companies.
From late February to early March, Zhejiang Provincial Consumer Protection Commission commissioned a third-party organization to conduct an online questionnaire survey. The survey shows that 53.15% of the respondents have purchased medical supplies online. After the outbreak, the number of online drug users increased by 16.86%. The main reasons for choosing online channels are: "convenient to buy, no need to go out" accounted for 80.65%, "convenient logistics, timely delivery" accounted for 51.34%, "rich category, large choice" accounted for 43.01%.
Wang Qiang, vice president of Ali Health and head of the pharmaceutical business department, said that the advantage of online medicine purchase is that it is efficient and fast, and is not limited by time and space. In terms of access to medicines, e-commerce has the natural attributes of centralized supply and a complete range of medicines, which makes up for the shortcomings of limited medicines in physical pharmacies. Users can buy medicines online, distribute them without going out, and buy medicines that are inconvenient to buy at local retail pharmacies, reducing transaction costs.
The reporter found in an interview that because online pharmacies save on rent, labor and other costs, the drugs they sell are cheaper than physical pharmacies. "Physical pharmacies have many intermediate links to enter medicine, and most online pharmacies take medicines directly from manufacturers, eliminating many intermediate links." Said Ma Yao, a salesperson at a pharmacy in Zhengzhou, Henan.
Zhang Dingding, marketing director of Beijing Good Pharmacy Pharmacy Chain Co., Ltd., told reporters that online pharmacies started with the sale of medical devices such as blood pressure monitors and blood glucose meters. Later, consumers will purchase common health care products online. Since the outbreak, the demand for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, gastroenterology, and mental insomnia has increased significantly on the Internet.
According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 400 million chronically ill patients in China. Wang Qiang believes that during the epidemic, some chronically ill patients, such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and epilepsy, who need to take treatment drugs for a long time face difficulties in buying medicines. Medical e-commerce provides them with a new way to facilitate the purchase of medicines.
A few days ago, Alibaba Health and JD Health launched the "Chronic Care Program" successively, which united offline chain pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies, and pharmaceutical distribution companies to ensure the supply of chronic diseases through e-commerce platforms.
Online services are being optimized
Help patients to obtain medicine sales services in a more economical way by prescribing online, picking up at online booking stores or delivering online
Recently, Ms. Liao, who suffers from high blood pressure and needs long-term medication in Fuzhou, Fujian, easily placed an order at the "cloud pharmacy" of a designated pharmacy through a smartphone and settled medical insurance online. He received commonly used antihypertensive drugs in about half an hour.
A few days ago, Fuzhou City launched the "Cloud Pharmacy" platform. For patients with hypertension and diabetes who have been filed for special diseases and have medical insurance outpatient drug settlement records within the past 6 months, if there is a need for long-term renewal dispensing, you can Choose “Cloud Pharmacy”, which is in compliance with Fuzhou Medical Insurance prescription circulation management service platform, and “Cloud Pharmacy” relies on offline physical pharmacies to provide “channel booking shop picking” and “network booking shop delivery” dual-channel services for patients' prescription dispensing .
Experts said that during the epidemic, some places accelerated the exploration of "Internet +" drug supply services and gradually implemented the long prescription policy. Helping patients obtain drug sales services in a more economical way through "online store pick-up" or online delivery. It is expected that there will be more cities and hospitals in the future, promoting the methods of online follow-up consultation, prescription renewal, drug purchase, and direct medical insurance.
Zhang Dingding introduced that according to the "Drug Management Law" that came into effect on December 1 last year, countries such as vaccines, blood products, narcotic drugs, psychotropic drugs, medical toxic drugs, radioactive drugs, pharmaceutical precursor chemicals, etc. Drugs under management may not be sold online.
The "Drug Administration Law" partially lifts the online sales of prescription drugs. As long as patients can provide real and effective prescriptions issued by the hospital and are certified by pharmacists, they can purchase prescription drugs online. In addition, regular doctors in Internet hospitals can prescribe online some prescriptions for common and chronic diseases.
Analysys analyzed the data and believes that medical e-commerce is expected to grow rapidly due to factors such as online prescription drug compliance, medical insurance interconnection and other favorable policies, linkages between medical e-commerce and hospitals, and increased consumer acceptance of medical e-commerce. . The scale of China's pharmaceutical e-commerce market will reach 175.6 billion yuan in 2020, and the market will increase by 90 billion yuan.
In the process of "Internet + medical health" entering the fast track of development, medical e-commerce has a promising future. After years of continuous improvement, pharmaceutical e-commerce has continuously adjusted and upgraded from the aspects of process, supply chain resources, technology, etc., basically achieved online and offline collaboration, medical services and drug circulation collaboration, and built a complete business closed loop. With its own advantages in technology, operation and resource integration, it can provide services for hospitals and medical insurance designated pharmacies, and promote the rapid growth of the online pharmaceutical retail market.
The application of "Internet +" and the construction of a modern logistics system have also provided the foundation for the pharmaceutical retail chain enterprises to exert their power online. More and more offline pharmaceutical chain companies have used the Internet platform to establish an interoperable and interconnected information management platform to develop with customers. Online information sharing and interactive services to achieve online order placement and offline delivery of medicines. It is convenient for patients to purchase medicines through retail pharmacy apps, WeChat public accounts and official websites, so that consumers can buy medicines and get professional without leaving the house. Pharmacy services.
Normative development is particularly important
Not only to strengthen supervision in the sales of prescription drugs, but also in the aspects of doctors, pharmacists, prescriptions, etc., corresponding supporting management measures should also be introduced
"I often buy vitamins, calcium tablets and other health products for myself and my family online, as well as some commonly used drugs." Shao Mei, an employee of a Beijing-based bank, is a frequent visitor to online pharmacies and is familiar with buying drugs online.
"Most online pharmacies will publicize the business license and other information in a prominent position on the homepage or in the drug introduction office. The drug introduction is more detailed, you can clearly view the relevant contraindications, indications, instructions for use, etc., and you can also see the detailed evaluation of other users on the drug. Content. "Shao Mei said that she also encountered some things that affect the consumer experience, such as the price difference of the same drug in different online pharmacies, and the service attitude and professional level of some online physicians are not satisfactory.
Online pharmacies have brought convenience to people's lives, but medicines are not ordinary commodities, which are related to people's life safety and physical health, and standardized development is particularly important.
China's medicines are divided into prescription and non-prescription medicines, and prescription medicines can only be prepared, purchased, and used with the prescription of a licensed physician or assistant physician. Most prescription drugs are purchased in hospitals, and patients can also buy them in pharmacies. At this time, a prescription issued by a physician is required and reviewed by a licensed pharmacist in the pharmacy.
Chen Qiulin, director of the Institute of Health Economics, Institute of Population and Labor Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the key to online drug sales, especially prescription drugs, lies in the authenticity and reliability of prescriptions. Selling prescription drugs online does not only mean buying and selling prescription drugs through an online platform, but also includes the issuance, review, and verification of prescriptions, as well as the storage, transportation, and after-sales of prescription drugs. Therefore, not only to strengthen the supervision of the sales of prescription drugs, but also in the areas of physicians, pharmacists, prescriptions, etc., corresponding supporting management measures should be introduced to form the supervision of the whole process, the whole link and the whole chain.
Wang Qiang said that the online medical supplies platform should strictly follow the requirements of national regulations and formulate various safety prevention and control measures to ensure the quality and safety of medicines. Strengthen the supervision of the authenticity of the qualifications of Internet physicians and licensed pharmacists, and ensure the safety of medication through the two points of the Internet doctor's prescribing prescription and the pharmacist's review of the rationality of medication. In terms of platform prevention and control mechanism construction, a reasonable medication system can be set up, such as functional modules such as indications, compatibility taboos, usage and dosage, special population, repeated medication, interaction, etc., to gradually guide users to purchase drugs rationally and doctors to make reasonable diagnosis and treatment.