Are China’s mobile medical apps just what the doctor ordered?

One of the first things patients in China think about when they get ill is how they can see a top doctor at a major hospital.

Appointments to see specialists at leading hospitals in metropolises such as Beijing and Shanghai are sought after because people from around the country flood to these institutions, without the need for any referral.

The authorities have tried various ways to ease the demand, without any obvious progress. But the business world now seems to be offering a solution – one just a click away via a phone.

Over the past two years, more than 100 health-related “mobile medical” smartphone apps have been launched, which offer services from free or fee-based medical consultations, doctor appointments, personal health management, to health tips.

Health-care spending in China is expected to exceed US$1 trillion by 2020, according to a report from McKinsey. Analysts estimate it will become the second-largest market for pharmaceuticals in the world in 2016.

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The rapidly growing mobile medical industry has attracted investors including conglomerates such as Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent and the insurer Ping An Group. But so far it had provided only limited help to the nation’s slow, costly and long-ailing health-care system, experts said.