Abstract
BackgroundThe internet has become a major source of health care information for patients and has enabled them to obtain continuous diagnosis and treatment services. However, the quality of web-based health care information is mixed, which raises concerns about the credibility of physician advice obtained on the internet and markedly affects patients’ choices and decision-making behavior with regard to web-based diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, it is important to identify the influencing factors of continuous use of web-based diagnosis and treatment from the perspective of trust.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to investigate the influencing factors of patients’ continuous use of web-based diagnosis and treatment based on the elaboration likelihood model and on trust theory in the face of a decline in physiological conditions and the lack of convenient long-term professional guidance.MethodsData on patients with diabetes in China who used an online health community twice or more from January 2018 to June 2019 were collected by developing a web crawler. A total of 2437 valid data records were obtained and then analyzed using correlation factor analysis and regression analysis to validate our research model and hypotheses.ResultsThe timely response rate (under the central route), the reference group (under the peripheral route), and the number of thank-you letters and patients’ ratings that measure physicians’ electronic word of mouth are all positively related with the continuous use of web-based diagnosis and treatment by patients with diabetes. Moreover, the physician’s professional title and hospital’s ranking level had weak effects on the continuous use of web-based diagnosis and treatment by patients with diabetes, and the effect size of the physician’s professional title was greater than that of the hospital’s ranking level.ConclusionsFrom the patient's perspective, among all indicators that measure physicians’ service quality, the effect size of a timely response rate is much greater than those of effect satisfaction and attitude satisfaction; thus, the former plays an essential role in influencing the patients’ behavior of continuous use of web-based diagnosis and treatment services. In addition, the effect size of electronic word of mouth was greater than that of the physician’s offline reputation. Physicians who provide web-based services should seek clues to patients’ needs and preferences for receiving health information during web-based physician-patient interactions and make full use of their professionalism and service reliability to communicate effectively with patients. Furthermore, the platform should improve its electronic word of mouth mechanism to realize its full potential in trust transmission and motivation, ultimately promoting the patient’s information-sharing behavior and continuous use of web-based diagnosis and treatment.
Highlights
BackgroundIn recent years, health care in China has been confronting problems such as increasing numbers of patients with chronic diseases and intensified population aging
From the perspective of the patient, by analyzing posting data on disease-related questions by patients with diabetes and the top-rated answers from physicians crawled from an online health community and surveyed with a questionnaire, in this paper, we develop a conceptual model to explore factors that influence the continuous use of web-based diagnosis and treatment by patients with diabetes based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and trust theory
We collaborated with the operators of an online health community by crawling backend log data and obtaining patients’ basic information from the platform; the results of this study help provide a reference for how to optimize web-based inquiry services and enhance patients’ continuous behavior related to diagnosis and treatment
Summary
BackgroundIn recent years, health care in China has been confronting problems such as increasing numbers of patients with chronic diseases and intensified population aging. Web-based inquiry breaks the patient’s constraints in seeking medical care in the sense that that online health communities bring together physicians and patients from all over the country to realize mutual assistance regarding knowledge and emotion [16] and help avoid the embarrassment of face-to-face communication about certain diseases [17]. The internet has become a major source of health care information for patients and has enabled them to obtain continuous diagnosis and treatment services. The quality of web-based health care information is mixed, which raises concerns about the credibility of physician advice obtained on the internet and markedly affects patients’ choices and decision-making behavior with regard to web-based diagnosis and treatment. It is important to identify the influencing factors of continuous use of web-based diagnosis and treatment from the perspective of trust
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