ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the critical risk points and major current threats for patients to access online medical information. Methods The patient perception value questionnaire was used, to sample survey 1 164 patients with online medical experiences from hospitals in Zhejiang province in January 2018.Their risks in accessing online medical information was evaluated.The evaluation results were ranked according to their importance and satisfaction, and a cross comparison was made between the two, to identify the top ranking factors and the highest difference factor.Descriptive statistics and related analysis methods were used for the data so obtained.Results Health risks and privacy risks were the highest concerns for patients in accessing online medical information.Among the risk factors, information content credibility and transmission channel credibility rank top two.A cross-comparison found that factors of good risk control for online medical information were information author credibility, transmission mode reliability and service risk in turn. The factor of the worst risk control was privacy, while the most problematic risk points were information type credibility and transmission channel credibility.Conclusions The present focus should be placed on the factors of privacy risks and the credibility of information delivery channels, and the main cause of risks is the regulatory awareness.In this consideration, it is suggested that the relevant risk indicators be hierarchically managed according to the current perception characteristics in patients′ online medical access risks, with measures taken accordingly to minimize their risk in such information access.