On-Demand Healthcare Platforms: Impact of Question and Answer Service on Online Consultations and Offline Appointments.

This article examines the impact of low-cost question and answer (Q&A) services integrated into on-demand healthcare platforms, using detailed data from a major Chinese platform. The study finds that Q&A services increase demand for both online consultations (by 2%) and offline appointments (by 4.3%), as well as boost consultation revenue by 6.6%. The Q&A service facilitates better patient-provider matching, encourages follow-ups with the same or other doctors—including specialists and those with higher professional titles—and reduces future revisits and browsing for medical information, suggesting improved healthcare outcomes. The research identifies three key mechanisms behind these effects: a sampling effect (reducing uncertainty about providers), a spillover effect (raising awareness of additional care needs), and a matching effect (guiding patients to appropriate specialties). The findings have implications for platform design, provider incentives, and healthcare resource management, highlighting the role of scalable, information-based tools in improving care access and coordination in fragmented healthcare systems.