China Yongxin Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a leading manufacturer, distributor and retailer of pharmaceuticals in Northeastern China, has rolled out its Electronic Diagnosis System in all of the chain drugstores located in Changchun, Jilin.
In order to ensure safety of drug usage in China, patients have to provide prescriptions from licensed medical physicians to purchase drugs classified as prescription drugs. Yongxin recently launched an Electronic Diagnosis System to enable its customers to remotely receive medical diagnosis and conveniently purchase prescription drugs in its all chain drugstores located throughout the Changchun. This system is the first electronic diagnosis system of its kind to be launched in Jilin province. Pending success of the initial roll-out, the company's long-term plans include offering this diagnostic service to all of its existing and future drugstores.
The system connects stores with a centralized service centre where licensed medical doctors provide diagnosis services to patients through an integrated, proprietary video and audio system. This service, which is offered to customers free of charge, enables them to immediately purchase drugs prescribed by the doctors in Yongxin's chain drugstores, instead of having to schedule an appointment with a physician beforehand and potentially going to a competing drugstore. The Electronic Diagnosis System can also reduce errors caused through traditional written prescriptions, improve efficiency and prevent fake prescriptions.
Yan Jiangyin, spokesperson and vice chief of Politics & Law Department of China's State Food and Drug Administration, visited Yongxin and praised the launch of its Electronic Diagnosis System. Chinese Central TV, Chinese Medicine Newspaper and other local media reported this event and introduced the system in their news reports, providing initial awareness among consumers.
"We are very pleased to announce the launch this system, which has proven through trials to be a safe, reliable, convenient and efficient way to provide both medical diagnosis and prescription services to our retail patient customers. The system further improves the level of service and convenience we provide, and we expect it to be a significant driver to the future growth of our retail business," commented Yongxin Liu, chairman and chief executive officer of China Yongxin. "During first nine months of 2008, revenues generated from prescription drugs represented approximately 25 per cent of total drugstore sales and contribute gross margins of approximately 23.5 per cent. We expect revenues from prescription drugs in these stores equipped with this system to increase by approximately 20 per cent during the next year as the market adopts this new service offering. Our focus on further improving the quality of our service combined with expanding the number of chain drugstores we operate will enable us to gain incremental market share in Northern China and position the Company for continued future growth."
China Yongxin Pharmaceuticals Inc was founded in 1993 as the Changchun Yongxin Dirui Medical Co, Ltd (Yongxin), a wholesale drug distributor. Its products include Chinese traditional medicines, pharmaceutical preparations, natural health products, health food, cosmetics, and medical equipment.