ROUTE06 Supports the Launch of White Healthcare's "Your Medicine Box" – Helping Health Insurance Members Embrace Self-Medication with Confidence

ROUTE06(Headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Takafumi Endo) is pleased to announce its support for the launch of "Your Medicine Box," a platform developed by White Healthcare Co. for the sale of OTC and regular medicines to health insurance society members.

"Your Medicine Box" Overview

White Healthcare's "Your Medicine Box" is a website for selling OTC¹ and regular medicines to health insurance members (hereafter, "members"), supervised by pharmacists with expertise in the field. Members can conveniently purchase OTC medications online through their health insurance organization.

The platform also offers information to help members better understand the medicines they regularly take, encouraging thoughtful use. In addition, we provide a variety of information to deepen members' understanding of the medicines they themselves usually take without thinking about it.

This project aims to promote self-medication² through "Your Medicine Box," in which members take care of minor physical ailments by themselves, thereby raising their health awareness and increasing opportunities for them to take responsibility for their own health, while contributing to the optimization of health insurance medical costs.

Background of providing "Your Medicine Box"

In recent years, the rising cost of medical care has been an issue for an increasing number of health insurance companies, which have been dissolved due to deteriorating finances. Approximately 40% of corporate insurance associations have premium rates higher than the 10% Association Health Insurance rate and are considered at risk of dissolution. Since members' medical expenses are supported by health insurance contributions based on the premium rate, an increase in the medical expense burden will require an increase in the premium rate to maintain the balance of health insurance. 111 health insurance associations were dissolved between FY 2008 and FY 2021³, and the transition of dissolved health insurance associations to the Association Kenpo will result in a Some estimates indicate that the annual cost to the government may increase by 12 billion yen⁴.

The key to sound health insurance management is how to optimize medical expenses. Health insurers have been working to optimize medical costs by preventing lifestyle-related diseases through the implementation of specific health checkups and specific health guidance, and by promoting the use of generic drugs.

The promotion of self-medication through the use of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, which is the goal of the "Your Medicine Box" program, is another measure to optimize medical costs that has been attracting attention in recent years. It has been estimated that if patients prescribed prescription drugs switched to OTC drugs with the same active ingredients, it would have the effect of optimizing medical costs by approximately 320 billion yen⁵. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare also launched the Office for Promotion of Self-Care and Self-Medication in April 2021 to promote the use of these products.

White Healthcare is a pioneer in creating a system that allows members to practice self-medication with peace of mind while utilizing receipt data held by health insurers as a support service for health insurers to implement self-medication health services, and the company's efforts have been recognized by the MHLW The company's efforts have been introduced by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as an advanced example of how to optimize drug benefits.

Main features of "Your Medicine Box"

"Your Medicine Box" is available year-round, with medications delivered directly to your home as early as the next day. Beyond purchasing medicines, users can consult with a pharmacist online, find suitable medications using the "Medication Navi" by answering medical questionnaires, and check for signs of serious illness through the "Red Flag Check". You can also use the "Red Flag Check" to check for signs of serious illnesses.

• Purchase of OTC drugs
• OTC Drug Navi" suggests recommended medicines based on symptoms and physical constitution.
• Red Flag Check" checks for signs of serious illness
• Providing consultation services to pharmacists via LINE
• Contents related to medications supervised by pharmacists
• A simulator for estimating Self-Medication Tax Credit

In addition to the provision of the "Your Medicine Box" service, we are also using health insurance receipt data to encourage behavioral change among members who have room for self-medication and to verify the effects of medical cost optimization, which is the outcome of health services.

[For health insurance companies]

Inquiries about the introduction of "Your Medicine Box "

[email protected]

Support for ROUTE06

In this project, ROUTE06 provided support in the following areas

• Support for the study of business strategy for the OTC drug EC platform
• Service and business design support for "Your medicine box"
• UI/UX design and system construction
• Provision of data platform and reports using "Plain," an API platform for enterprises
• Support for service growth and business improvement

About Plain, an enterprise API platform

Plain" is a business API platform for digital transformation of all types of business transactions, contributing to the vertical launch and continuous service improvement of online marketplaces and other digital businesses, whether B2C or B2B.

URL: https://route06.com/solutions/product/plain

[Inquiries about Plain implementation and digital business launch]

Professional Services Division, ROUTE06 Inc. [email protected]

About White Healthcare, Inc.

White Healthcare is a joint venture established in July 2020 by Mitsubishi Corporation and Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. to create the future of healthcare. The company uses technology and data to provide support to health insurance associations and healthcare professionals who are facing a variety of challenges due to rising healthcare costs associated with a super-aging society. Our goal is to realize a society in which each individual can take action toward his or her own health.