US firm HealthTap, which has built up a network of 40,000 doctors who field questions from patients, has moved into app recommendation.

The company has launched a new service called AppRx which it bills as “the only place for consumers to discover the best and most useful health apps recommended by top doctors”.

There are currently more than 40,000 health and wellness apps, according to Healthtap, which makes knowing which one to trust tricky for consumers. And plenty of apps are of “questionable relevance and quality”, it says.

The new AppRx service offers doctor-recommended apps across 30 health and wellness categories.

“Each month, millions turn to HealthTap to get the best answers to their health questions and valuable tips from top doctors. Now everyone can also learn from our doctors which apps can help them stay healthy, or improve their health and well-being,” said Ron Gutman (pictured), founder and CEO.

Actually Healthtap is not the first to target this market. Happtique, a health app store, is one of the pioneers. A recent report said its parent had backed away from the strategy, although that was denied by Happtique.

Mobihealthnews said the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) had taken £1 million out of subsidiary Happtique’s budget, a move which had precipitated CEO Ben Chodor’s resignation. The company denied the budget had been cut, and said Chodor “has transitioned to a role focused more on Happtique’s strategic growth and less on day-to-day management”.