Objective This research aims to develop a more scientific and reasonable performance evaluation indicator system for the implementation of an essential drug system in community health service institutions.

Methods The Delphi method was used to establish an indicator system based on three rounds of expert consultations, and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method was used to determine the weights of the indicators.

Results The participation in the three rounds of consultations were 100% (10/10), 90% (18/20), and 85% (17/20), which showed that the experts had real enthusiasm for participating in this research. The authority coefficients of the first-, second-, and third-level indicators were 0.75, 0.76, and 0.76, respectively, which showed that the consultation results were dependable. The concordance coefficients of the second and third rounds were 0.489 and 0.487, respectively (P <0.001), indicating that the expert opinions were highly consistent. The performance evaluation indicator system consisted of three first-level indicators (supporting, implementation, and effect indicators), nine second-level indicators, and 21 third-level indicators.

Conclusion In this new performance evaluation indicator system, the selected experts were representative, the consultation results were dependable, the constructed evaluation indicator system was reasonable, and the setting of weights was scientific.