Consumer Staples Author：Yue Liu Editor：Luke Sheehan Jul 21, 2020 12:00 PM (GMT+8)

Among the four major listed pharmacies, Yifeng Pharmacy is the first to obtain an Internet hospital license.

Image credit: Christina Victoria Craft/Unsplash

Committed to building a new pharmaceutical retail business that integrates online and offline development, Yifeng Pharmacy (603939:SH) announced that it would establish an Internet hospital and telemedicine center to provide 'Internet + medical health' services for offline drugstores. 

Online pharmacies' drug sales lag far behind those of hospitals and physical pharmacies, due to incomplete medical insurance payments. However, unlike the Internet hospitals built by medical e-commerce or Internet pharmaceutical companies, Yifeng Pharmacies, a designated medical insurance pharmacy brand, has a natural advantage in terms of medical insurance.

Internet hospitals and electronic prescriptions can help solve the problem of the source of prescriptions, the biggest obstacle for pharmaceutical e-commerce companies, and are thus incubating a new growth phase for chain pharmacies.