Is Mobile Health a White Elephant? A Candid Look at the Industry's Growing Pains

It is often said that 2014 was the inaugural year of mobile health, making 2015 the period of its explosive growth. Amidst this rapid development, should we pause to reflect on what mobile health has truly changed for users? Has it resolved the longstanding challenges in China’s healthcare system, namely the difficulty and high cost of accessing medical care?

Mobile Health Integration with Hospital Entry Points: Helping to Improve Hospital Operational Efficiency and Service Quality?

In China, the persistent public livelihood issues of “difficulty in registering appointments” and “difficulty in accessing medical care” have long existed, while the involvement of market capital has indeed helped improve this situation. The Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, as the first pilot “Future Hospital” project by Alibaba, serves as an excellent success story. After the launch of its “Mobile Intelligent System,” patients no longer need to queue for registration or wait for their turn. By using Alipay, they can also skip the queue for payment. As a result, the entire medical visit takes less than 30 minutes.

However, the following situations have also occurred. It is worth noting that although smartphone usage in China has nearly reached the country’s 1.3 billion population and internet access has become widespread nationwide, only a small minority of people know how to use mobile phones or the internet for appointment registration. Last Wednesday, in response to a report by Information Times regarding an appointment consultation app that allegedly allowed users to jump the queue for medical consultations, the Renmin Zhong Road branch of Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center was “forced” to reopen its manual registration counters. This incident highlights that while mobile healthcare provides convenience for some, it remains debatable how to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of patients seeking offline appointment registration and medical consultations.

Light Consultation: Doctors Resolve Users' Queries Online—Cost-Effective, Worry-Free, and Effortless?

Initially, mobile health apps surged into the traditional healthcare services market under the banner of addressing the uneven distribution of medical resources in China. By mobilizing the “underutilized” medical resources of secondary hospitals, these apps aimed to provide patients with more convenient access to care—a proposition that sounded promising in theory. However, during implementation, these apps encountered varying degrees of awkwardness due to their neglect of physicians’ perspectives and experiences.

Users have always adhered to the principle of “consulting online for minor ailments, and also consulting online for major illnesses” when using mobile health apps. Consequently, doctors often find the inquiries submitted through these consultation platforms to be overly simplistic. The answers users seek typically fall somewhere between what can be found via a Baidu search and what is provided during an in-person clinic visit—a somewhat awkward middle ground. Does this not constitute a waste of medical resources?

Doctor House Calls: Can Patients Enjoy Services from Renowned Physicians Without Leaving Home?

Home visits by physicians date back to ancient China, yet implementing this model today is far from straightforward. Recently, the joint launch of the “Didi Doctor” large-scale public welfare campaign by Didi Chuxing, Alibaba Health (under Alibaba Group), and Mingyi Zhudao has become a hot topic in the industry. During the two-day pilot phase of “Didi Doctor,” more than 2,000 service requests were placed, but only slightly over 40 users successfully secured appointments. Why was the success rate for fulfilling orders so low? Alibaba Health and Didi Chuxing offered the following explanations: first, distance; second, the requested medical specialties were not covered by the campaign. Additionally, the number of consultations a physician can complete in a single day is limited.

In fact, the legality of such house-call services provided by physicians has long been a subject of controversy. As China has not yet liberalized its policy on independent medical practice, and most physicians are contracted with hospitals, does it constitute a legal violation for doctors to conduct consultations and charge fees in their personal capacity? Furthermore, are the personal safety of both the physicians providing services through platforms like “Didi Doctor” and the patients receiving care adequately safeguarded?

Wearable Devices: Hardware Sales, Not Services?

In China, the current core development of mobile healthcare in terms of hardware focuses on leveraging technology at the front end to transform service models and facilitate data collection. Virtually all mobile health companies are employing similar strategies to enhance product stickiness and customer loyalty. Currently, certain wearable devices can synchronize data in real time with mobile apps, thereby eliminating the need for users to manually enter data. However, this advancement has given rise to a new challenge: physicians are unable to provide timely guidance based on these dynamic data streams.

If users are unaware of the significance behind these data, what is the point of monitoring? Are wearable devices merely decorative items labeled as “health management”?

Addressing the "High Cost of Medical Care": Are Health Insurance Card Payments Still Restricted?

Without even discussing the reasonableness of fees for products and services on mobile health apps, the fact that mobile health has yet to integrate with medical insurance is sufficient to constrain its development. Although many apps have integrated third-party payment platforms, Alipay is currently the only one enabling real-time mobile reimbursement through medical insurance, and even this settlement method comes with limitations. First, the hospital must be part of Alibaba’s “Future Hospital” initiative, and users must have designated their medical insurance at that specific hospital to qualify for real-time settlement. While Alipay has begun addressing process disruptions and diminished user experience caused by gaps in the payment workflow, restrictions imposed by medical insurance reimbursement regulations and manpower constraints have long prevented medical insurance authorities from opening interfaces to mobile payment providers. As a result, Alipay’s functionality remains limited to its own “Future Hospital” network. This raises the question: why should patients opt for mobile health consultations when not everyone lives near a “Future Hospital”?

▍Conclusion:

Although the development of mobile healthcare currently faces multiple obstacles, this is an inevitable stage for any emerging industry. We cannot deny the contributions that mobile healthcare has made to traditional medical consultations. With the state’s vigorous promotion of tiered diagnosis and treatment, the opening up of mobile healthcare policies, and the continuous advancement and refinement of technology, we look forward to witnessing the growth of mobile healthcare.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the position of VCBeat. This article is published by VCBeat with the author’s authorization. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Author: Chen Suiqi | WeChat Official Account: yidongyiliaoquan. He works in the internet industry, has a keen interest in researching mobile internet-related businesses, and offers unique insights into mobile healthcare.