Going Vertical: Panoramic Analysis of 9 Oncology-Focused Mobile Health Apps

After the "explosive growth" of mobile health in 2015, market opportunities for full-department models were largely carved up by a few major platforms, yet abundant opportunities remain in specialized vertical sectors.

The Oncology Market Offers Vast Potential

Oncology remains a specialized vertical sector ripe for deeper exploration. Factors such as persistently high incidence rates and patient volumes, rapidly escalating related medical costs, and a shortage of physicians have created ample market opportunities for oncology-focused startups:

1. According to the 2015 Annual Report of the National Cancer Registry Center, China recorded approximately 3.37 million new cancer cases in 2011, an increase of 280,000 compared with 2010. Over the past decade, both the incidence and mortality rates of cancer in China have shown a significant upward trend.

2. According to relevant research institutions, the domestic market size for oncology medical services in 2015 was estimated at approximately RMB 165 billion based on hospitalization costs, while estimates based on the patient population indicate that the oncology market size exceeded RMB 300 billion.

3. According to statistics from the 2014 China Health Yearbook, there were a total of 21,000 oncologists in China (excluding personnel from imaging, radiology, and other related departments), corresponding to 3–4 million new cancer cases annually; thus, the number of oncologists is insufficient, and their workload is heavy.

Three Major Categories of Oncology Apps

VCBeat released in late 2014《Detailed Analysis of Internet Medical Oncology Apps》, More than a year later, VCBeat has once again conducted an in-depth scan of oncology app startups, finding that after experiencing the investment boom of 2015 and the subsequent capital winter, current oncology apps mainly fall into the following categories:

1. Doctor-Patient Platforms—These primarily offer functions such as online consultations, appointment scheduling, and post-consultation follow-ups. Examples include Yijiayi, which focuses on pre- and post-diagnosis services, and Dongdong Oncology, a consultation platform specializing in second medical opinions.

2. Physician Tools—Addressing diverse needs across physicians’ career trajectories, such as DingDing Doctor for oncology specialists, YiLiu Assistant for patient management, YiSuiZhen—a follow-up platform integrating hospitals, physicians, and patients, LiangYiHui Oncology Insights—an information and knowledge portal focused on physicians’ educational and learning needs, and KeyanBao, which assists oncology specialists in managing research projects.

3. Others—Primarily comprising patient communities and O2O health checkup services, with the former represented by Kang’ai Weishi (Cancer Guardian) and the latter by Aijia Zaocha, which specializes in cancer-prevention screenings.

Three Key Characteristics of Oncology Startups

VCBeat’s interviews and research have revealed that although the leading oncology-focused apps differ in their entry points and business priorities, their primary monetization models or pathways share commonalities: after achieving a substantial user base and strong user stickiness, they channel traffic to pharmaceutical companies and offline healthcare service providers.

At its core, this model remains analogous to the media advertising revenue model. The key to its sustainability lies in whether oncology-focused apps can achieve continuous growth in user base and user stickiness, and whether they can maintain sufficient competitive advantages when faced with aggressive expansion by generalist healthcare apps.

WeChat Official Accounts are playing an increasingly significant role in mobile internet entrepreneurship, a trend that is also evident in the oncology sector. As observed, most of the apps tracked in this article have launched corresponding WeChat Official Accounts, primarily to provide users with information and news services. In light of Zhang Xiaolong’s announcement in January that WeChat would introduce “App Accounts” (Mini Programs), it is likely that more oncology-focused and other vertical healthcare startups will migrate to the WeChat ecosystem in the future. Consequently, WeChat Official Accounts will serve not only as channels for information dissemination but also as platforms hosting a broader range of functional applications.

Another noteworthy development is that oncology-focused mobile applications, represented by Yi Suizhen, have begun to establish a tiered diagnosis and treatment system within the field of oncology. This initiative provides convenient and high-quality medical services to patients in regions with relatively scarce healthcare resources. Going beyond merely addressing information asymmetry between doctors and patients, this approach represents a more profound effort to integrate existing medical resources and promote their rational allocation. Although implementing this model presents greater operational challenges, its prospects are highly promising.

Next is VCBeat’s panoramic scan of nine oncology apps in the Chinese market.

Doctor-Patient Platform Apps

1. YiJiaYi
Yi Jia Yi is dedicated to building an efficient communication and resource-matching platform for both patients and healthcare providers. Its app primarily offers features such as medical information, online consultations, appointment scheduling, and post-diagnosis follow-up.



A key motivation behind the founding of Yijiayi was that cancer patients often struggle to find oncologists who are the best match for their specific conditions. Yijiayi aims to help patients identify the most suitable physicians during the pre-consultation phase, employing a model based on mutual selection between doctors and patients or recommendations provided by human customer service representatives.

Given the highly specialized nature of oncology and the critical importance of comprehensively understanding patients’ conditions, Yijiayi guides patients to maintain a treatment diary to assist physicians in clinical decision-making. This diary includes records of medication usage, hospitalization and examination details, adverse symptoms, self-assessed physical performance scores, and uploaded medical reports.

Regarding physician resources, Yijiayi told VCBeat that it currently has over 30,000 oncologists (including specialists in surgical oncology, medical oncology, radiology, and other related departments), with 90% coming from Grade A tertiary hospitals and 42% holding the title of associate chief physician or above. Yijiayi revealed that it plans to onboard more physicians from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, as well as overseas countries such as the United States and Japan.

Yi Jia Yi told VCBeat that an increasing number of users are utilizing online consultation services, and these users are relatively price-insensitive. Currently, the pricing for online consultations on the Yi Jia Yi platform ranges from 50 to 2,000 yuan per case (with overseas doctors typically charging 5,000 yuan per case). Some users have spent over 3,000 yuan to seek diagnostic opinions from multiple physicians at different levels.

Online consultation services have already generated revenue, and this income stream is expected to grow as the number of consultation orders from overseas physicians increases. However, Yijiayi has not prioritized this segment; its future profitability will instead focus on in-depth pre- and post-diagnosis services, patient referral to partners, and media operations via its WeChat official account.

In the pre-consultation phase, in addition to continuing to integrate high-quality physician resources (expanding coverage from domestic physicians to overseas practitioners), we will prioritize the launch of Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) consultation services to provide oncology patients with high-level comprehensive diagnosis and treatment plans. In the post-consultation phase, we will develop additional features for post-illness rehabilitation and follow-up, such as enabling telephone communication between physicians and patients via the Yijiayi APP, which allows for tracking patient recovery while effectively safeguarding physician privacy.

After Yi Jia Yi accumulates a substantial user base, patient referrals to partner organizations will become an increasingly significant revenue stream. Currently, the platform primarily drives traffic to offline services such as health check-up centers, genetic testing providers, clinical trial programs, and overseas medical treatment facilitators. In the future, it plans to onboard a broader range of product and service partners.

In terms of media operations, Yijiayi currently primarily operates the “Yijiayi” WeChat official account, which has 100,000 users. Among them, two-thirds are patients or their family members, and one-third are physicians and pharmaceutical sales representatives. In the future, content distribution on the WeChat account will be tailored to user characteristics for targeted delivery. Regarding monetization, the WeChat account will collaborate with pharmaceutical companies and healthcare service providers on patient education initiatives, thereby creating new revenue streams.

2. Dongdong Oncology
Another oncology patient–physician platform, Dongdong Oncology, focuses on providing patients with second medical opinions. It currently offers two main services: free consultations and paid expert consultations. To help physicians better understand the patient’s condition, patients are required to complete a detailed medical history in the app and may upload images for the physician’s reference. Regarding fees, a single consultation generally costs no more than RMB 50, with most priced at either RMB 10 or RMB 20.



Tumor diagnosis and treatment are highly specialized and systematic processes for both physicians and patients; the true value of second opinions for patients remains to be seen.

Physician Tools

3. DingDing Doctor



DingDing Doctor is committed to enhancing the work efficiency of oncologists. Its flagship app, DingDing Doctor, focuses on providing patient tracking and management services for oncologists. Key features include inpatient scheduling, treatment planning, follow-up planning, collaborative team-based patient management, free voice calls, and a feature that allows patients to send tokens of appreciation to their physicians.



The WeChat account “Ding Ding Doctor” focuses on the patient side, offering services such as doctor search, rehabilitation guidance, and lectures by renowned physicians.

DingDing Doctor also operates two WeChat official accounts, “Hippocrates Says” and “Hippocrates Academy,” positioned as peer-learning and mutual-assistance platforms for young physicians. Together with the DingDing Doctor app and its main WeChat account, they form a relatively comprehensive product matrix that covers both patients and healthcare providers.

DingDing Doctor told VCBeat that it currently covers approximately 15,000 physicians across China, most of whom are from Grade A tertiary hospitals in first- and second-tier cities, primarily Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. The platform serves more than 30,000 cancer patients.

In terms of promotional strategies, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou primarily rely on in-house ground promotion teams, while other first- and second-tier cities mainly collaborate with pharmaceutical companies for promotion, supplemented by academic marketing and online promotional channels.

Regarding its future development goals, Dingding Doctor is not content with being merely a tool for physicians. Instead, it aims to establish an oncology-focused healthcare and pharmaceutical platform once it has achieved a substantial user base, integrating services such as nursing care, laboratory testing, and pharmaceutical e-commerce. In the longer term, the company hopes to leverage trends like multi-site practice and physician groups to build a tiered diagnosis and treatment system centered on oncologists.

The leading patient management apps are mainly "Yi Liu Zhu Shou" and "Yi Sui Zhen."

4. OncoAssist

"Yi Liu Zhu Shou" enters the market through in-consultation scenarios, positioning itself as a full-cycle management service platform for oncology care. Its revenue model aims to achieve profitability by integrating pharmaceutical e-commerce and third-party medical service providers.

Oncology Assistant is available in two versions: a physician version and a patient version. The physician version primarily provides functionalities such as a physician collaboration group system, a multimedia patient education system, and efficiency-enhancing tool systems.

 



The patient-facing side is primarily designed to support physicians in patient management, offering features such as health information, text-and-image consultations, hospitalization arrangements, and access to personal medical records.

5. Easy Follow-up
Yi Suizhen’s parent company, Western Angel, was founded in 2003 and possesses extensive experience in developing post-discharge follow-up systems for hospitals. Yi Suizhen focuses on building a mobile internet-based follow-up platform that integrates hospitals, physicians, and patients into a unified tripartite system. This platform enables real-time, dynamic, and continuous aggregation of all medical records—both in-hospital and out-of-hospital—throughout the patient’s entire care journey. Furthermore, it has initially established a tiered diagnosis and treatment system in the field of oncology, providing convenient and high-quality healthcare services to patients in regions with relatively limited medical resources.



Following its rapid development in 2015, Yi Sui Zhen’s revenue model has begun to take shape: over the next one to two years, the primary focus will be on “condition monitoring packages” for patients, while long-term profitability will be driven by deep collaborations with pharmaceutical companies and insurance providers.

The “Disease Monitoring Package” is a post-diagnosis health management service provided to patients, built upon the initial tiered diagnosis and treatment hospital network for oncology established by YiSuizhen. On-duty physicians on the YiSuizhen platform address patients’ superficial, urgent consultation needs, while routine consultations are triaged to the attending physicians at local cancer hospitals. In cases of disease progression or deterioration, remote multidisciplinary team (MDT) consultations with renowned oncology experts in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai can be scheduled. YiSuizhen has revealed that hospitals have responded quite positively to this tiered oncology diagnosis and treatment system.

Collaboration with pharmaceutical companies and insurance providers will be a key focus in the coming years. In terms of partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, efforts will center on two aspects: one is the more common patient education initiatives, and the other is leveraging the data advantages and growing user base gradually accumulated by YiSuizhen to recommend precise, advanced therapeutic services to patients. Collaboration with insurance providers will primarily build upon YiSuizhen’s data strengths—namely, comprehensive medical record data covering both hospital-based care and out-of-hospital patient follow-ups. This robust data foundation can support insurers in designing relevant products and provide their customers with risk assessment and risk mitigation services.

Yi Suizhen told VCBeat that its app is primarily promoted by partnering with hospitals, leveraging these institutions to drive patient adoption and, in turn, encourage physicians to use the platform. The company currently has contracts with 35 specialized oncology hospitals, collaborates with more than 10,000 doctors, and serves over 100,000 patients.

6. Oncology News by Good Doctor Alliance
Liangyi Hui Oncology Information focuses on providing information services for doctors and patients in the oncology field, aiming to explore profitable cooperation models with pharmaceutical companies after establishing a substantial user base and strong user stickiness.



The functional modules mainly include News (categorized into General and Subscriptions), Open Courses (all in video format), Case Discussions, and Physician Tools such as Chemotherapy Favorites, TNM Staging, Academic Conferences, and Body Surface Area Calculator.

Liangyihui Oncology Information told VCBeat that its current total user base is nearly 100,000, with almost 70,000 of them being physicians. In terms of user demographics, the majority are located in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, as well as provincial capital cities. Regarding the tier of hospitals where these physicians practice, more than 70% are from Grade A Tertiary hospitals and specialized oncology hospitals. In terms of professional titles, over 50% are chief physicians, associate chief physicians, and senior attending physicians. Liangyihui Oncology Information reported that its current daily active user (DAU) rate exceeds 10%, and its monthly retention rate is over 50%.

In terms of future development, in addition to continuing to strengthen the construction of knowledge content for physicians, we will also vigorously enhance the development of popular science content for patients. For instance, we will collaborate with Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishers and the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO) to jointly carry out patient education and public health outreach.

The profitability model of mobile healthcare has always been a focus of attention in the industry. Currently, Oncology Information is collaborating with world-renowned multinational corporations in the oncology field as well as domestic innovative pharmaceutical companies. It has accumulated considerable experience in helping pharmaceutical enterprises explore new marketing models through e-marketing and has achieved a certain scale of revenue.

7. Research Treasure



KeYanBao specializes in clinical oncology research data services, helping clinical departments establish a tumor research data management system based on “clinical medical records as the core, compatible with prospective studies.” It currently offers eight major functions, including study management, follow-up management, statistical analysis, single-patient view, multi-source data entry, data quality management, oncology knowledge base, and mobile-assisted management. Features such as biobank management and genomic data analysis are scheduled to be launched soon.

Others

8. Cancer-Fighting Guardian
In addition to the aforementioned models, there are Kang’ai Weishi (Cancer Defense Guardian), which enters the market through oncology information and patient communities, and Aijia Zaocha (Family Care Early Screening), which enters through O2O cancer prevention health checkups.



The information and knowledge section of "Kang Ai Wei Shi" offers comprehensive coverage, featuring popular science columns on diagnosis, nursing care, and medications, as well as curated recommendations for hospitals and physicians specializing in oncology.



The Anti-Cancer Town encompasses various types of online communities. Mood Notes is a personal homepage similar to Weibo; the Anti-Cancer Square is a topic-based forum categorized by disease type; and Ask the Doctor is a physician-centered Q&A community. Other sections, such as the Renowned Physicians’ Lecture Hall, Activity Center, and Contribution Points Mall, provide professional information and online mini-games.

9. Ai Jia Early Screening
Ai Jia Zao Cha is a distinctive venture in the oncology startup space, focusing on O2O cancer screening services. Since its official launch on January 8 this year, it has served over 500 users. The user base primarily consists of middle-aged individuals who prioritize their own health and have personal experience with family members diagnosed with cancer, as well as younger adults purchasing the service for their parents out of filial piety.



Ai Jia Zao Cha currently conducts health education and promotion primarily through new media channels, such as popular science articles and cancer prevention educational classes; offline, it focuses mainly on serving and promoting to large corporate clients.

Ai Jia Zao Cha’s service model is specifically designed to provide family clients with comprehensive professional cancer screening solutions, covering all stages including plan design, pre-examination consultation, purchase and payment, appointment coordination, report delivery, and follow-up tracking. For its partner offline examination institutions, Ai Jia Zao Cha selects professional medical facilities equipped with internationally standardized screening technologies and capable of performing physical examinations. As a service consulting agency, Ai Jia Zao Cha collaborates with these offline examination institutions to coordinate non-medical activities and optimize operational processes, thereby ensuring professional examination quality and a seamless experience for family clients.

Industry professionals are welcome to add the author on WeChat at yeyurenlei to jointly discuss development trends in the healthcare industry.