Optimizing the Dual-Channel Drug Distribution Path of Medical Insurance Using Graph Attention Network
Main Article Content
Abstract
Efficient path planning for dual-channel medical insurance drug distribution requires adaptive coordination among heterogeneous nodes under dynamic inventory, demand, and policy constraints. This study proposes a graph attention network (GAT)-based optimization framework that models hospitals, pharmacies, warehouses, and distribution hubs as a directed weighted graph and integrates multi-head attention with reinforcement learning to achieve intelligent path scheduling. The attention mechanism dynamically captures inter-node dependencies and learns context-aware representations, while the reinforcement learning scheduler continuously updates routing decisions according to realtime network states. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the proposed approach reduces the average delivery time from 54.9 min to 37.3 min, increases the demand fulfillment rate to 92.1%, and lowers the overall operational cost by 29.8%, while significantly improving inventory coordination and response efficiency at high-demand nodes. The framework provides robust dynamic optimization capabilities for large-scale distribution networks and offers a transferable graph-based resource allocation strategy for intelligent communication infrastructures, where efficient information propagation, network topology optimization, and adaptive routing are critical to electromagnetic information transmission and distributed system management.
Downloads
Article Details

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
References
M. Dong, Y. Che, Y. Wang, and Q. Qiao, “Construction of a precise supervision mechanism for medical insurance dual-channel drugs based on collaborative filtering algorithm in the era of intelligent medical insurance,” J. COMBIN. MATH. COMBIN. COMPUT, vol. 127, pp. 5315-5331, 2025, doi: 10.61091/jcmcc127b-294.
H. Kong, “Design and application of a "dual-channel" drug management system based on hospital information system,” Journal of Computational Methods in Sciences and Engineering, pp. 14727978251371193, 2025, doi: 10.1177/14727978251371193.
X. Zhu, H. Hu, and D. Yao, “Exploring community pharmacy manager/pharmacist perceptions and responses to China’s dual-channel policy for improving access and rational use of innovative drugs: a qualitative study,” International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, pp. 1-10, 2025, doi: 10.1007/s11096-025-01957-5.
Z. Qin, S. Xu, Q. Li, X. Guan, M. He, and M. Zhou, “Quantitative evaluation of dual-channel drug supply policy on nationally negotiated anti-tumor drugs in Xuzhou: based on interrupted time series analysis,” Frontiers in Pharmacology, vol. 16, pp. 1571822, 2025, doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1571822.
S. Li, Y. Li, Q. Kong, X. Feng, Y. Long, and N. Zhou, “Pricing of medical services and channel selection strategies for pharmaceutical supply chain under the zero-markup drug policy,” Managerial and Decision Economics, vol. 45, no. 8, pp. 5883-5898, 2024, doi: 10.1002/mde.4357.
L. Huang and Y. Wu, “Research on coordination of a pharmaceutical dual-channel supply chain considering pharmaceutical product quality and sales efforts,” Open Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 297-328, 2022, doi: 10.4236/jss.2022.105020.
J. T. Shi and L. H. Sun, “Research on the Joint Reformation for Public Health Services, Medical Insurance and Medical Production Circulation from the Perspective of System Science,” Asian Social Pharmacy, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 209-215, 2024.
G. Yang and X. He, “Enhancing the efficacy of pharmaceutical E-commerce through omni-channel coordination,” International Journal of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management (IJISSCM), vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 1-20, 2023, doi: 10.4018/IJISSCM.330147.
X. LI and J. XU, “Dilemma and promotion strategy of "dual channel" management policy for China’s medical insurance negotiated drugs,” China Pharmacy, pp. 906-911, 2024.
X. T. Hu, B. B. Chen, L. Dong, and L. H. Sun, “Research on the Problems and Countermeasures of the Landing of Negotiated Drugs,” Asian Social Pharmacy, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 225-231, 2024.
G. Yang, “Determinants of Business Model Choices for New Entrant in the Pharmaceutical E-commerce Environment,” SAGE Open, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 21582440241295813, 2024, doi: 10.1177/21582440241295813.
Y. Li and Z. Huang, “Comparison of the Development Model of DTP Pharmacy between China and the United States and Its Enlightenment,” Asian Social Pharmacy, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 168-177, 2024.
Y. Wen and L. Liu, “Comparative study on low-carbon strategy and government subsidy model of pharmaceutical supply chain,” Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 10, pp. 8345, 2023, doi: 10.3390/su15108345.
X. Z. Gan, “Digital Transformation Trend of the Pharmaceutical Distribution Industry in the Context of New Infrastructure in China,” Asian Social Pharmacy, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 159-167, 2024.
J. Liu, Z. Zhao, and M. Hu, “HPR141 Model Analysis on Budget Impact and Patients’ Burden of National Price-Negotiated Drugs and Different Reimbursement Payment Modes in China: Hyperkalemia As an Example,” Value in Health, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. S218-S219, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2024.03.2372.
C. R. Da, P. Narvekar, and P. Okorozo, “HPR116 Do US Managed Care Organizations Restrict Coverage More Than the Food and Drug Administration Label?,” Value in Health, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. S214-S215, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2024.03.1185.
M. You, Z. Zhang, and Y. Shi, “The incentives for information sharing and online expansion strategy in medical supply chains,” RAIRO-Operations Research, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 653-682, 2025, doi: 10.1051/ro/2025001.
J. Liu, Z. Zhao, and M. Hu, “HPR83 The Distribution and Influential Factors Analysis of National Price-Negotiated Drugs in Medical Institutions and Pharmacies in China: A Case Study of Hyperkalemia,” Value in Health, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. S208-S209, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2024.03.1152.
M. Taherifar, N. Hasani, M. Zokaee, A. Aghsami, and F. Jolai, “A scenario-based sustainable dual-channel closed-loop supply chain design with pickup and delivery considering social conditions in a natural disaster under uncertainty: a real-life case study,” Environment, Development and Sustainability, vol. 26, no. 8, pp. 19443-19490, 2024, doi: 10.1007/s10668-023-03421-8.
S. M. Hosseini-Motlagh, M. Johari, M. Nematollahi, and P. Pazari, “Reverse supply chain management with dual channel and collection disruptions: Supply chain coordination and game theory approaches,” Annals of Operations Research, vol. 324, no. 1, pp. 215-248, 2023, doi: 10.1007/s10479-022-04909-8.
X. Mo, Z. Huang, Y. Xing, and C. Lv, “Multi-agent trajectory prediction with heterogeneous edge-enhanced graph attention network,” IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 23, no. 7, pp. 9554-9567, 2022, doi: 10.1109/TITS.2022.3146300.
Z. Li, T. Zhong, D. Huang, Z. H. You, and R. Nie, “Hierarchical graph attention network for miRNA-disease association prediction,” Molecular Therapy, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 1775-1786, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2022.01.041.
H. Gao, J. Xiao, Y. Yin, T. Liu, and J. Shi, “A mutually supervised graph attention network for few-shot segmentation: The perspective of fully utilizing limited samples,” IEEE Transactions on neural networks and learning systems, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 4826-4838, 2022, doi: 10.1109/TNNLS.2022.3155486.
J. Li, J. Wang, H. Lv, Z. Zhang, and Z. Wang, “IMCHGAN: inductive matrix completion with heterogeneous graph attention networks for drug-target interactions prediction,” IEEE/ACM transactions on computational biology and bioinformatics, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 655-665, 2021, doi: 10.1109/TCBB.2021.3088614.
N. Jiang, J. Wen, J. Li, X. Liu, and D. Jin, “Gatrust: A multi-aspect graph attention network model for trust assessment in osns,” IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 5865-5878, 2022, doi: 10.1109/TKDE.2022.3174044.
D. Ahmedt-Aristizabal, M. A. Armin, S. Denman, C. Fookes, and L. Petersson, “Graph-based deep learning for medical diagnosis and analysis: past, present and future,” Sensors, vol. 21, no. 14, pp. 4758, 2021, doi: 10.3390/s21144758.
D. Wen, L. Dou, Y. Sun, and S. Wang, “Investigation on the current situation of China’s DTP pharmacy and suggestions for its development,” Asian Social Pharmacy, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 165-176, 2023.
A. S. Raikar, P. Kumar, G. V. S. Raikar, and S. N. Somnache, “Advances and challenges in IoT-based smart drug delivery systems: a comprehensive review,” Applied System Innovation, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 62, 2023, doi: 10.3390/asi6040062.
Y. Tan and C. Guo, “A dual-channel secondary closed-loop supply chain considering retail groups and fairness concerns,” Plos one, vol. 18, no. 10, pp. e0292753, 2023, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292753.
J. Hu, W. Kang, J. Guo, J. Xu, H. Tang, D. Zhao, and G. Zhang, “Analysis of PLWH switching to medical insurance ART: a cross-sectional study in six Chinese provinces,” BMC Public Health, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 3361, 2024, doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20728-x.
Y. Liu, L. Gou, Z. Guo, Z. Wu, Q. He, and H. Feng, “Evaluation of the implementation effect of hepatitis C medical insurance reimbursement policy in China: A RWS based on medical institutions,” Frontiers in Public Health, vol. 10, pp. 1072493, 2023, doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1072493.
R. Chauhan and A. Majumder, “Involvement of carbon regulation in a smart dual-channel supply chain for customized products under uncertain environment,” Environment, Development and Sustainability, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 6997-7032, 2025, doi: 10.1007/s10668-023-04178-w.
A. Mostofi, V. Jain, Y. Mei, and L. Benyoucef, “A new pricing mechanism for pharmaceutical supply chains: a game theory analytical approach for healthcare service,” International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 1228-1250, 2024, doi: 10.1080/13675567.2022.2122421.
A. M. Vargason, A. C. Anselmo, and S. Mitragotri, “The evolution of commercial drug delivery technologies,” Nature biomedical engineering, vol. 5, no. 9, pp. 951-967, 2021, doi: 10.1038/s41551-021-00698-w.
L. K. Vora, A. D. Gholap, K. Jetha, R. R. S. Thakur, H. K. Solanki, and V. P. Chavda, “Artificial intelligence in pharmaceutical technology and drug delivery design,” Pharmaceutics, vol. 15, no. 7, pp. 1916, 2023, doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15071916.