scholarly journals The Effects of Login Behaviors and Online Reviews on Patient Consultation in Online Health Communities: A Longitudinal Study (Preprint)

10.2196/25367 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Chen ◽  
Jiahua Jin ◽  
Tingting Zhang ◽  
Xiangbin Yan
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Patient Consultation ◽  
Health Communities

How Physicians’ Service Quality Affects Patient Consultation in Online Health Communities: A Longitudinal Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Chen ◽  
Xiangbin Yan ◽  
Tingting Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Service Outcomes ◽  
Patient Consultation ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
Online Reputation ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND With the dramatic development of Web 2.0, an increasing number of patients and physicians are active in online health communities (OHCs). While extant literature has primarily discussed factors that influence patient consultation in OHCs, there is a lack of a thorough examination of the impact of two dimensions of physicians’ service quality on patients’ choices of physicians for their consulting services. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to explore the impact of the service delivery process (i.e., physicians’ login behavior) and service outcomes (i.e., online reputation) on patient consultation. METHODS A longitudinal study is conducted to examine the effects of login behavior and online reputation on patient consultation by analyzing short panel data from 779 physicians over five time periods in a Chinese OHC. RESULTS The results indicate that physicians’ service delivery process positively affects patient consultation, specifically with respect to login behavior. The maximum number of days of physicians’ no-login should be 20 days. Two online signals (login behavior and online reputation) are not complementary to each other. In addition, the moderating effects of offline signals (i.e., offline status) on two online signals are different, with the relationship between online reputation and patient consultation being positively moderated by offline status. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to online service quality and e-health literature by investigating the effects of two dimensions of physicians’ service quality on patient consultation and making a clear distinction between the online and offline signals. This study also provides practical implications, indicating that the service delivery process can affect patient consultation alone, rather than a complementary effect with the service outcomes.

scholarly journals The Effects of Log-in Behaviors and Web Reviews on Patient Consultation in Online Health Communities: Longitudinal Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Chen ◽  
Jiahua Jin ◽  
Tingting Zhang ◽  
Xiangbin Yan
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Patient Consultation ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Positive Effect

BACKGROUND With the rapid development of information technology and web-based communities, a growing number of patients choose to consult physicians in online health communities (OHCs) for information and treatment. Although extant research has primarily discussed factors that influence the consulting choices of OHC patients, there is still a lack of research on the effects of log-in behaviors and web reviews on patient consultation. OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore the impact of physicians’ log-in behavior and web reviews on patient consultation. METHODS We conducted a longitudinal study to examine the effects of physicians’ log-in behaviors and web reviews on patient consultation by analyzing short-panel data from 911 physicians over five periods in a Chinese OHC. RESULTS The results showed that the physician’s log-in behavior had a positive effect on patient consultation. The maximum number of days with no log-ins for a physician should be 20. The two web signals (log-in behavior and web reviews) had no complementary relationship. Moreover, the offline signal (ie, offline status) has different moderating effects on the two web signals, positively moderating the relationship between web reviews and patient consultation. CONCLUSIONS Our study contributes to the eHealth literature and advances the understanding of physicians’ web-based behaviors. This study also provides practical implications, showing that physicians’ log-in behavior alone can affect patient consultation rather than complementing web reviews.

scholarly journals Converting Visitors of Physicians’ Personal Websites to Customers in Online Health Communities: Longitudinal Study

10.2196/20623 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. e20623
Author(s):  
Qin Chen ◽  
Xiangbin Yan ◽  
Tingting Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Conversion Rate ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Online Health Community ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Community Information ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Health Communities

Background With the dramatic development of Web 2.0, increasing numbers of patients and physicians are actively involved in online health communities. Despite extensive research on online health communities, the conversion rate from visitor to customer and its driving factors have not been discussed. Objective The aim of this study was to analyze the conversion rate of online health communities and to explore the effects of multisource online health community information, including physician-generated information, patient-generated information, and system-generated information. Methods An empirical study was conducted to examine the effects of physician-generated, patient-generated, and system-generated information on the conversion rate of physicians’ personal websites by analyzing short panel data from 2112 physicians over five time periods in a Chinese online health community. Results Multisource online health community information (ie, physician-generated, patient-generated, and system-generated information) positively affected the conversion rate. Physician-generated and patient-generated information showed a substitute relationship rather than a complementary relationship. In addition, the usage time of a personal website positively moderated patient-generated information, but negatively moderated physician-generated information. Conclusions This study contributes to the electronic health literature by investigating the conversion rate of online health communities and the effect of multisource online health community information. This study also contributes to understanding the drivers of conversion rate on service websites, which can help to successfully improve the efficiency of online health communities.

Understanding online review behaviors of patients in online health communities: an expectation-disconfirmation perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Chen ◽  
Jiahua Jin ◽  
Xiangbin Yan
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Process Quality ◽  
Online Review ◽  
Outcome Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Perception ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Expectation Disconfirmation ◽  
Health Communities

PurposeAlthough online health communities (OHCs) and online patient reviews can help to eliminate health information asymmetry and improve patients' health management, how patients write online reviews within OHCs is poorly understood. Thus, it is very necessary to determine the factors influencing patients' online review behavior in OHCs, including the emotional response and reviewing effort.Design/methodology/approachBased on expectation-disconfirmation theory, this study proposes a theoretical model to analyze the effects of service quality perception (i.e. outcome quality and process quality perceptions) and disconfirmation (i.e. outcome quality and process quality disconfirmations) on patients' emotional response and reviewing effort. The authors test the research model by using empirical data collected from a popular Chinese OHC and applying ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and zero-truncated negative binomial (ZTNB) regression models.FindingsBoth service quality perception and disconfirmation have a positive effect on patients' positive emotional intensity in textual reviews, and disease severity enhances these relationships of process quality. Moreover, there is an asymmetric U-shaped relationship among service quality perception, disconfirmation and reviewing effort. Patients who perceive low service quality have higher reviewing effort, while service quality disconfirmation has the opposite relationship. Specifically, patients' effort in writing textual reviews is lowest when perceived outcome quality is 3.5 (on a five-point scale), perceived process quality is 4 or outcome quality and process quality disconfirmations are −1.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine patients' online review behavior and its motivations and contributes to the literature on online reviews and service quality. In addition, the findings of this study have important management implications for service providers and OHC managers.

scholarly journals Converting Visitors of Physicians’ Personal Websites to Customers in Online Health Communities: Longitudinal Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qin Chen ◽  
Xiangbin Yan ◽  
Tingting Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Conversion Rate ◽  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Online Health Community ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Community Information ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Health Communities

BACKGROUND With the dramatic development of Web 2.0, increasing numbers of patients and physicians are actively involved in online health communities. Despite extensive research on online health communities, the conversion rate from visitor to customer and its driving factors have not been discussed. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze the conversion rate of online health communities and to explore the effects of multisource online health community information, including physician-generated information, patient-generated information, and system-generated information. METHODS An empirical study was conducted to examine the effects of physician-generated, patient-generated, and system-generated information on the conversion rate of physicians’ personal websites by analyzing short panel data from 2112 physicians over five time periods in a Chinese online health community. RESULTS Multisource online health community information (ie, physician-generated, patient-generated, and system-generated information) positively affected the conversion rate. Physician-generated and patient-generated information showed a substitute relationship rather than a complementary relationship. In addition, the usage time of a personal website positively moderated patient-generated information, but negatively moderated physician-generated information. CONCLUSIONS This study contributes to the electronic health literature by investigating the conversion rate of online health communities and the effect of multisource online health community information. This study also contributes to understanding the drivers of conversion rate on service websites, which can help to successfully improve the efficiency of online health communities.

Protecting privacy and confidentiality in online health communities

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Amoozegar ◽  
Douglas Rupert ◽  
Jennifer Gard Read ◽  
Rebecca Moultrie ◽  
Kathryn Aikin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Health Communities ◽  
Health Communities ◽  
Privacy And Confidentiality
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