Physician-patient interactions in online healthcare communities : The effects of preconsultation on service delivery and patient satisfaction

• Main Authors: ZHAO, Anqi, TANG, Qian
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2024
• Subjects: Preconsultation; Online healthcare communities; Service delivery; Patient satisfaction; Categorical Data Analysis; Health and Medical Administration
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/9991
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Preconsultation by medical professionals is a common practice in offline healthcare services to improve consultation efficiency but is rarely adopted for online healthcare services. In a noteworthy departure from this trend, a Chinese online healthcare community (OHC) has instituted preconsultation by assistant physicians prior to online consultations. Using comprehensive service data from this OHC, this study scrutinizes the effects of preconsultation on online healthcare services from both the physician and patient perspectives. The findings reveal that preconsultation by the assistant physician can significantly increase the attending physician’s response speed, length, and provision of informational support, while maintaining a consistent level of emotional support. Paradoxically, this improvement in attending physician’s service delivery is accompanied by a decline in patient satisfaction. Our findings underscore the intricate interplay between service delivery and patient satisfaction in online healthcare interactions.