A Growing Market for Mobile Medical Apps

By Joe Zhang

According to the 2020-2021 China Internet Medical Industry Development White Paper by iiMedia Research， the mobile medical market in China reached RMB 54.47 billion in 2020， and the integration of the Internet and the medical industry is gradually deepening. At the same time， the improvement in efficiency caused by online medical treatment is generally recognized. The most recognized factors in the pre-diagnosis， in-diagnosis， and post-diagnosis links are the flexible service time and location， the fast medical treatment process， and convenient online payment.？With the support of advanced technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence， the era of the Internet + medical industry will soon come， further developing the potential of the mobile medical market.

Great potential for Internetbased medical market

According to the analysts from iiMedia Research， the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 greatly stimulated the demand for medicine e-commerce and Internet medical platforms， and the penetration of the Internet into the medical market is further expanding and deepening， bringing about new opportunities for the Internet medical industry in China.

This is reflected in the data from iiMedia Research， in which 46.0% of user respondents expressed that they were“relatively knowledgeable” about current Internet medical services， while “very knowledgeable” accounted for 22.2%. Among these， the most recognized factors in the pre-diagnosis， in-diagnosis， and post-diagnosis links are the flexible service time and location， the fast medical treatment process， and convenient online payment. The efficiency improvement of Internet medical treatment has been universally recognized.

With the support of big data， artificial intelligence， cloud computing and other advanced technologies， the potential of the Internet medical market will be fully released， especially in precision medicine， drug research and development， medical robots and other application scenarios， boosting Internet medical care into a new era.

Internet medical treatment refers to medical consultations or services provided via Internet based platforms， taking the form of health education， medical information inquiry， online disease advice， remote treatment and rehabilitation， and so on， in order to educate the public on medical knowledge and provide medical services in a more convenient way. With the advancement of mobile Internet technology， the medical industry is becoming closely integrated with e-commerce platforms， so as to extend the industry chain， and develop the huge potential of the Internet medical market.

As the Internet gains popularity and tools such as mobile payment and remote videos are developed， mobile medical services have emerged in great numbers and reach a wider range of users. According to data from iiMedia Research， the number of mobile medical users in China reached 661 million in 2020. The pandemic in 2020 brought about great opportunities for medical e-commerce and online medical platforms， driving the rapid growth in user numbers.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 tightened the supply of medical equipment such as medical masks， blood oximeters， thermometers， and so on， and made it difficult for other patients， such as patients with chronic diseases or mild flu， to seek medical treatment， which encouraged public hospitals to develop Internet medical services， and also encouraged third-party Internet medical platforms. In order to ease the tight supply of offline medical resources， many platforms conducted free online advisory services， improving the penetration of the Internet medical industry.

Continuous deployment of Internet medical economy

The health care industry has played an important role in the fight against the pandemic， especially in terms of its unique advantages relating to the Internet. The future for the massive health industry is bright in general， as the public are paying more attention to health. According to data from iiMedia Research， the overall revenue of the massive health industry in China reached RMB 7.4 trillion in 2020， marking an increase of 7.2%. The Internet medical service industry ushered in a historical opportunity for popularization and development in 2020， and as such， the industrys economic prospects are considerable.

According to iiMedia Research， the elderly made up to 17.2% of the Chinese population in 2018， and this rate has continued to rise in recent years. The aging Chinese population can benefit from the convenient Internet medical industry， for example， when visiting doctors， purchasing medicines and for the follow-up medical services. Meanwhile， the younger generations are paying more attention to their health， helping establish a favorable environment for the Internet medical market.

Analysts from iiMedia Research believe that the integration between the Internet and the medical industry in China is gradually improving， while the development of e-commerce for medical equipment is bringing about new opportunities for the Chinese Internet medical market.

Internet technology has effectively promoted the development of the mobile medical industry. In 2020， Internet medical services were stimulated by the pandemic， and the application of 5G and artificial intelligence technologies have given the industry more impetus. 5G and artificial intelligence technologies are the foundation of the Internet medical industry， since 5G interconnects terminal medical equipment， while artificial intelligence can help constantly upgrade many aspects of the industry， such as control and management and intelligent diagnosis. The improvement in medical hardware and the establishment of professional digital medical networks will also provide technical support for the Internet medical industry in the long term.

According to iiMedia Research， the medical equipment industry reached RMB 765.5 billion in 2020. The Catalogue for Guiding Industry Restructuring （2019 Version） issued by the National Development and Reform Commission included eight encouraging entries regarding the pharmaceutical（medical equipment） industry. This focus on the medical equipment industry could further stimulate market.

Compared with developed countries， the medical equipment industry in China started much later. Since China launched its reform and opening up policy， China has developed its own industry based on many pieces of imported advanced medical equipment from abroad for various scenarios， and will place higher requirements on products in the future in terms of power consumption， professionalism， safety and so on. Inevitably， the products should be innovative， friendly and more specific. At the same time， as China vigorously promotes the long-term development of domestic enterprises， domestic medical equipment will replace imports sooner or later， and the competition in the domestic market will become fiercer.

Online inquiries improve the efficiency of seeing doctors

According to data from iiMedia Research， the physical examination market in China in 2020 reached RMB 176.73 billion， serving more than 600 million people. Analysts from iiMedia Research believe that， when acting as a preventive measure and the start of the health industry chain， the physical examination industry will continuously develop toward large-scale standardization and industrialization.

Enterprises specializing in physical examinations must adopt an “online and offline” integrated business model. Namely， online platforms connect consumers and offline service providers， functioning as an Internet-based operation and management center， and an intelligent guidance system.

According to iiMedia Research， specifically， online inquiries and online appointment registration have the highest penetration rates of 68.4% and 65.4%， respectively. Analysts from iiMedia Research explained that， due to the pandemic， tools such as online inquiries and online appointment registration have become popular， and are supported by local governments， while sectors such as medical e-commerce， medical insurance， and medical equipment will also grow rapidly now.

According to iiMedia Research， 66.7% of user respondents thought that the flexible pre-diagnosis time and location were the advantages of Internet medical services， while 58.6% chose convenient appointment registration. iiMedia Research analysts believe that Internet medical services can greatly facilitate appointment registration， inquiries， and reasonable allocation of medical resources.

According to iiMedia Research， after diagnosis， 51.7% of the user respondents listed post-diagnosis online payment as the largest advantage of the Internet medical industry， followed by the convenient purchase of medicines and follow-up health management. Analysts from iiMedia Research also said that， compared with traditional payment methods， Internet based payments are more convenient， and can avoid problems such as queuing to make payments for treatment and medicines.

According to iiMedia Research， over 60% of user respondents believed AI-integrated medical services can help improve health management， while providing timely alerts through routine tracking and monitoring. Moreover， over 50% of user respondents believed that the “AI + Medical” model can perfect the allocation of limited medical resources， support the research and development of diagnosis and treatment technology and drugs， and improve the effect and success rate of medical treatments.

The statics showed that 30% of respondents expressed their willingness to experience “AI + Medical” services， and nearly 50% said they would give it a try. It can be seen that there is a high demand for artificial intelligence in the medical industry and that users have strong intention. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and a favorable social environment， as well as friendly policies， analysts from iiMedia Research believe that a huge blue ocean market for artificial intelligence + medical services is forming.

In addition， there is a huge vertical space for the Internet medical industry， especially in the sectors of vertical health services such as esthetic medicine. With upgrading consumption and ever-changing esthetic standards， consumer demand is expected to remain strong. On one hand， the Internet can help solve the problems experienced by many vertical health service providers of acquiring customers and high costs. On the other hand， the Internet provides customers with solid information， such as prices and shared service experiences， making the industry more open and transparent. In the future， vertical sectors of the Internet medical industry will extend the product and service lines， and integrate the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.