Department of Pharmacy, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Chongqing, China.
Front Public Health. 2022 Nov 3;10:1034450. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1034450. eCollection 2022.
Online health care services have been encouraged by the Chinese government in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed the rapid growing of internet hospitals. As an integral part of online health care services, little is known about the economic value and characteristics of cloud pharmacy especially for children. This study aimed to reveal the economic value and comprehensive characteristics of pediatric cloud pharmacy during the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary children's hospital in western China.
A total of 33,254 online prescriptions over the course of February 2020 through December 2021 were analyzed with respect to the user profiles, diseases, consulting behaviors, distribution of departments, delivery region and distance, drug information and degree of satisfaction. The cost savings for patients calculated lost wages and the high-speed railway fees for transport to and from hospital.
A total of 33,254 prescriptions, including 56,216 drugs were delivered to 27 provinces and municipalities of China. The internet cloud pharmacy saved a total of more than RMB 11.17 million in financial costs for patients. Of the 33,254 delivered prescriptions, 50.40% were sent to Chongqing Province, the top 5 provinces for out-of-province prescription deliveries were Sichuan (37.77%), Guizhou (8.00%), Yunnan (1.18%), Hubei (0.66%) and Guangdong (0.42%). In terms of department distribution, neurology (31.7%), respiratory (15.0%) and endocrinology (14.6%) were the top three departments. Epilepsy (16.2%), precocious puberty (10.3%) and asthma (8.7%) were the top three frequently consulted diseases. The peak times of day for online prescriptions occurred at 9 AM and 8 PM. 99.67% of users gave full marks for their internet counseling.
The pediatric cloud pharmacy is efficient, cost-saving and convenient for children with chronic disease or mild symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The widespread use of this pediatric cloud pharmacy can help alleviating pressure on offline hospitals and facilitated people's lives beyond geographical and time-related limitations. Further efforts are needed to be made to improve the quality and acceptance of pediatric cloud pharmacy, as well as to regulate and standardize the management of this novel online health care service.
近年来，中国政府鼓励在线医疗服务，而 COVID-19 大流行加速了互联网医院的快速发展。作为在线医疗服务的一个组成部分，儿科云药房的经济价值和特点知之甚少，特别是针对儿童。本研究旨在揭示 COVID-19 大流行期间中国西部一家三级儿童医院儿科云药房的经济价值和综合特征。
对 2020 年 2 月至 2021 年 12 月期间的 33254 份在线处方进行了分析，包括用户概况、疾病、咨询行为、科室分布、配送区域和距离、药品信息和满意度。为患者计算了节省的工资和往返医院的高铁费用。
共配送 33254 份处方，56216 种药品，覆盖中国 27 个省、市、自治区。互联网云药房为患者节省了超过 1117 万元的财务成本。在 33254 份已送达的处方中，50.40%发往重庆市，发往外省市的前 5 个省份分别是四川省（37.77%）、贵州省（8.00%）、云南省（1.18%）、湖北省（0.66%）和广东省（0.42%）。从科室分布来看，神经内科（31.7%）、呼吸科（15.0%）和内分泌科（14.6%）是前三位科室。癫痫（16.2%）、性早熟（10.3%）和哮喘（8.7%）是咨询最多的三种疾病。在线处方的高峰时间出现在上午 9 点和晚上 8 点。99.67%的用户对他们的互联网咨询给予满分。
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，儿科云药房对患有慢性病或轻症的儿童来说是高效、节省成本且方便的。广泛使用这种儿科云药房有助于缓解线下医院的压力，使人们的生活不受地理和时间的限制。还需要进一步努力提高儿科云药房的质量和接受度，并规范和标准化这种新型在线医疗服务的管理。
