Study on the Effect of Implementing the National Essential Medicine System in a Tertiary Hospital in Zunyi City, Guizhou Province

Objective: This study aims to provide a scientifically robust evaluation framework for China's National Essential Medicine System, offering evidence-based insights to guide policy optimizations, refine implementation strategies, and ultimately strengthen the nationwide execution of NEMS and enhance system-wide operational efficiency in advancing the nation's healthcare reform agenda. Methods: Utilizing the Hospital Information System (HIS) and Excel 2020, we executed a five-year longitudinal analysis (2018–2023) of essential medicine availability at a tertiary public hospital in Zunyi City, Guizhou Province-a representative region in southwestern China's healthcare landscape. After the implementation of the 2018 version of the Essential Medicines List, the drug procurement data of this medical institution from November 2018 to December 2023 were statistically analyzed. Among time-series analyses, the specific varieties of national essential medicines were counted in two parts: Western pharmaceuticals (encompassing chemical drugs and biological products) and traditional Chinese patent medicines, and SPSS 22.0 statistical software was used for statistical analysis. Results: Since the implementation of the 2018 version of the essential medicines list, the medical institution has added 310 varieties of essential medicines compared with before the implementation. Among them, the number of Western medicines has increased by 210 and the number of Chinese patent medicines has increased by 100. The number of drugs included in the list has been increasing year by year, with 269 more Western medicines and 27 more Chinese patent medicines. An analysis of the number of national essential medicines used revealed that in the overall proportion of essential medicines, the proportion of essential medicines in Western medicines and Chinese patent medicines both showed an increasing trend year by year. The proportion of essential medicines in Western medicines rose from 27.28% to 35.50%, and the proportion of essential medicines in Chinese patent medicines rose from 18.92% to 48.15%. Since the implementation of drug centralized procurement in 2019, the number of essential drugs among the drug varieties in centralized procurement has increased year by year. Among them, the number of essential drugs in Western medicine has increased by 298, and the number of essential drugs in Chinese patent medicine has increased by 14. An analysis of the prescription of the medical institution found that the usage rate of essential medicines in the prescription rose from 65.31 percent to 75.65 percent. Conclusions and recommendations: It was found through research that the medical institution has achieved good results in implementing the National Essential Medicine System , which not only ensures the wide coverage of the essential medicine system but also solves to some extent the problems of "difficulty and high cost in accessing medical care" for the general public. However, the medical institution still needs to increase publicity on the implementation of the essential medicine system and reasonably increase the list of essential medicines in accordance with relevant policies. Promote rational drug use in clinical practice, improve compensation institutions and evaluation methods for implementation effects, maximize the role of the National Essential Medicine System, and promote the transformation and upgrading of the pharmaceutical industry to meet the needs of different patients. Ultimately advancing China's healthcare modernization agenda while addressing the heterogeneous needs of its 1.4 billion population.