Application of e-health among patients visiting community healthcare centers in Shanghai

Abstract

Objective To exmine the status and perspectives of e-health among patients in Shanghai community health center. Methods In November 2014, a semi-open and in-depth qualitative interview was conducted among 40 patients from two community health service centers in Shanghai. According to the results of the interview, a self-made questionnaire was designed and a cross-sectional survey was carried out from March 2015 to May 2015. Eight districts or counties of Shanghai were randomly selected, and one community health service center was randomly selected from each district or county. Total 480 patients who visited the selected center participated in the survey. The main contents of the interviews and questionnaires included: the current status of communication using information and communication technologies (ICT) in patient daily life; the status of the communication with medical personnel by using ICT; the attitudes and perspectives of patients in applying ICT for medical service; and views on e-health development. Results Among the participants, 25.0%(10/40) of the interviewees and 16.7%(62/371)of the quesitionnaire surveyees had experience of using e-health. Among the questionaired patients, telephone-call was the most common method for communication with doctors (90.3%, 335/371), followed by short message (16.1%, 60/371) and wechat (12.9%, 48/371). Illness consulting is the most common perpurse for communication(64.5%, 40/62), followed by medicine advice(40.3%, 25/62) and sudden physical help(24.2%, 15/62). Among the participants, 56.3%(209/371)of whom thought that e-health should be promoted in the community, 69.4% (145/209) of whom thought that it could save time and effort; among the patients not using or considering unnecessary to use e-health, 87.6% (142/162) of whom thought they lived closer to the hospital and easy to access. Conclusion At present, less patients have the experience of using e-health, but more than half of them believe that it is necessary to use e-health and it should be promoted in the community healthcare. Key words: Community healthcare center; Questionnaire; Medical consult