Analysis of patients′preferences for medical treatment on an online medical platform from 2016 to 2020 / 中华医院管理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To understand the preference of patients for online medical services, so as to improve the development of internet-based healthcare.Methods:The data came from the online medical cases and online medical orders of the Hao Daifu online platform from 2016 to 2020. The reasons for medical treatment, disease severity, consultation type, time of medical service, patient′s region, and the price of medical services were covered in such an analysis. Data were analyzed descriptively, and chi-square test or t-test was used for comparison between groups.Results:This study covered 41.228 6 million online medical cases and 26.683 2 million online medical orders. The diseases receiving online medical services were mainly common ones, and the distribution of disease severity in different years was statistically different( P<0.001); There was a significant difference in the distribution of inquiry forms of online medical orders in different years( P<0.001); Online medical service time was concentrated from 8 00 to 22 00 every day; The number of online medical visits per 10 000 population in the eastern region was significantly higher than that in the central and western regions( P<0.05); The price range of online medical treatment was concentrated in 1-100 yuan. Conclusions:In China, the types of online medical services were mainly common ones, and the medical service time and price range were relatively stable. The number of online medical services in the eastern region is higher than that in the central and western regions. In the future, the online medical platforms are expected to focus on online services for chronic diseases, improve the responsiveness of such services, establish a scientific doctor scheduling system, narrow the regional digital divide of such services, and optimize their rational pricing.