By late May, Zhengzhou had already ushered in "sauna-like weather". Despite the sweltering heat, Chai Xiuwei, the professional director of the Medical Market Development Department at CR Henan Pharma Comm (Central and West Regions), made frequent field visits to primary healthcare institutions across the province. Such grassroots research was a routine task for Chai Xiuwei, and in his notebook he meticulously recorded every issue he encountered during these grassroots inspections.

For the past year, he has been working tirelessly for the integrated distribution and supervision service of "centralized procurement of drugs", aiming to effectively address issues such as the limited variety of drugs purchased and used by grassroots medical institutions. The goal is to ensure that high-quality and cost-effective centrally procured drugs are more accessible to grassroots. 

In 2024, the Henan Provincial Government incorporated the "Drug Centralized Procurement at Grassroots" initiative into a micro-reform measure aimed at promptly addressing the "last mile" issue in public services. To achieve this, CR Pharma Comm has collaborated with local healthcare insurance authorities to actively advance an integrated regulatory and distribution service for centralized procurement drugs, thereby resolving challenges such as limited variety and difficulties in delivery faced by grassroots medical institutions. At present, more than 20,000 village health offices across the province have achieved centralized drug procurement coverage. Among these, Luoyang and Anyang have exceeded 95% coverage rates, truly realizing that "minor illnesses can be treated in villages, and common ailments at township hospitals”.

“Minor illnesses can be treated in villages, and common ailments at township hospitals”

At 9 a.m., elderly people came out from the health center of Mashangxiang, Neihuang County, with medicine. Li Quanbo, deputy director of the health center of Mashangxiang expressed his concern, "Now, ordinary people no longer need to go to the county to buy medicine. They can buy cheap and safe centrally procured medications at the township hospitals or village health offices”.

In the past, difficulty in accessing drugs and their high cost were significant challenges for grassroots patients, particularly for those with chronic conditions. Since 2019, the state has implemented a trial period for centralized procurement and use of medicines. While these centrally procured drugs are affordable, they have faced supply shortages, especially in rural areas where access was limited, forcing patients to travel to larger hospitals for prescriptions.

With the development of centralized drug procurement in the grassroots, not only have prices become cheaper, but also the speed at which people can obtain drugs has become faster, and there is no need to go to hospitals above the county level to get drugs. This improvement is attributed to the independently developed online centralized drug procurement software "Runyaotong" APP channel by CR Pharma Comm. Now, CR Pharma Comm has successfully integrated its supply chain through a digital platform and has installed advanced cold chain equipment in remote village health centers, ensuring that medicinal supplies are consistently available and punctual. It is also worth mentioning that, with the support of the technical department, we have successfully connected the HIS systems of medical institutions to the digital platform, breaking down the "data silos", enabling the local health committee and medical insurance bureau to monitor procurement data in real time. This not only ensures the safety of drug use but also provides a solid basis for policy optimization.

In the process of promoting the centralized procurement of drugs to rural areas, CR Pharma Comm has provided services such as pharmacy transformation and cold storage construction for health centers in townships and towns and village health offices. The company also collaborates with experts from top-tier hospitals to conduct training sessions in rural areas. Specifically, hypertension prevention training has benefited over a thousand grassroots doctors.

Chai Xiuwei often says, "minor details determine how well we execute our tasks”, emphasizing the importance of responsibility.

Focusing on rare diseases to inspire hope for life

In addition to bridging the last mile for the centralized procurement of drugs for the benefit of grassroots, in the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases, which is a much-needed field, CR Guangdong Pharma Comm (South China Region) has brightened the light of life for many patients with rare diseases with its professional commitment and innovative practices.

Long before 2018, CR Guangdong Pharm Comm (South China Region) had begun to pay attention to the rare diseases group. The general manager, Huo Peiqiong, was personally involved in research on drug and supply policy issues. After the National Health Commission issued the first batch of 121 rare diseases list in June 2018, CR Guangdong Pharm Comm acted swiftly, initiating a systematic layout of initiatives in rare diseases.

Difficulty of diagnosis is a major challenge faced by patients with rare diseases. CR Guangdong Pharm Comm  cooperated with the Department of Genetics of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University on 9 May 2020, to establish a multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment (MDT) outpatient clinic for rare genetic diseases. A tripartite integrated diagnosis and treatment model of "clinical diagnosis + genetic testing + drug distribution" has been established. Led by the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, the Group has set up 10 sentinel hospitals in Guangdong Province and established an online remote consultation system.

Every Thursday afternoon, expert teams from six disciplines at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University conduct comprehensive reviews of collected medical records, standardizing the diagnosis and treatment processes down to the grassroots level, significantly improving diagnostic accuracy. In Huo Peiqiong’s memory, she was reminded of an infant with uncoordinated limbs in Zhanjiang. “The baby had just been born and the doctors in Zhanjiang were unable to determine the cause. Through the platform we built, an appointment was made with Professor Liang Xiulin at the hospital for an initial diagnosis, which revealed that it is a rare neurological condition. The patient was promptly referred from Zhanjiang to Guangzhou and received timely treatment.”

With the support of medical insurance reimbursement, the child continued to take medication. The child, now over 4 years old, is nearly like an ordinary child in life. "Without the system, this child’s disease would likely have been delayed", Huo Peiqiong exclaimed.

Accessibility to the medication is another significant challenge. Currently, CR Guangdong Pharm Comm has established an "air pharmacy", equipped with 269 types of drugs, covering 58 types of rare diseases. With the help of the "Medical Imports from Hong Kong and Macau" policy, 6 new drugs for rare diseases that are not listed in Mainland China have been introduced, such as drugs for prevention of neonatal RH hemolytic disease and drugs for treatment of infantile spasm, enabling patients to access these international new drugs at designated hospitals.

In order to address the medication access challenges of grassroots, CR Guangdong Pharm Comm (South China Region) has replicated the collaborative network model from Guangdong in Guangxi and Hainan. In collaboration with the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, the "Health Express" has been launched, equipped with diagnostic instruments and a one-stop diagnostic platform. This mobile unit operates in Guizhou and other provinces, delivering medical services and medications directly to grassroots communities.

During the payment process, CR Guangdong Pharm Comm promoted the integration of innovative payment and commercial insurance. The city insurance schemes like “Suisuikang” have a reimbursement ratio for rare disease drugs reaching between 30% and 90%. Additionally, it has implemented measures such as charity assistance and fee reductions in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies. With the "Dual-Channel" qualification, the Teck Soon Hong pharmacy of the company enables patients to obtain medicine close to home, and the pharmacist team provides medication management and patient education, creating a "caring home" to carry out family care.

Huo Peiqiong expressed that in the future, CR Guangdong Pharma Comm will continue to promote the establishment of a priority assessment channel for rare disease drugs by the country, strengthen the training of grassroots doctors, and apply new technologies such as AI. The company aims to advance towards the goal of "having doctors for disease, obtaining medication from doctors, and providing insurance for medication", bringing hope to over 20 million rare disease patients.