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What affects patients’ choice of consultant: an empirical study of online doctor consultation service

Author

Listed:
  • Xiao Huang

    (Central China Normal University)

  • Pu Sun

    (Wuhan University)

  • Xiaofei Zhang

    (Nankai University)

  • Jiang Wu

    (Wuhan University)

Abstract

As a new type of online health communities (OHC), online doctor consultation services (ODCS) enable doctors deliver healthcare consulting to patients virtually. Patients can use both online information, such as online reviews, and offline attributes, such as position rank, to choose the consultant. This study uses a comprehensive model to investigate the influence of online Word-of-Mouth (online WOM) indicated by online information and quality of healthcare service reflected by offline attributes on the sales amount of doctor consultations. A panel dataset of 11,163 records from the biggest ODCS platform in China is used for empirical analysis. Results show that valence and volume of online review, the number of domain votes, recommend value, and position rank of consultant have positive effects on patients’ choice of consultant. The effect of hospital level where the consultant works at is insignificant. The moderating effect between consultant’s online recommend value and offline position rank is negative so that the consultant’s position rank becomes less important if a consultant’s recommend value is high and vice versa. Furthermore, the results also reveal that price has a negative impact on patients’ demand of healthcare consulting and patients with high-risk disease are less sensitive to it. This study contributes to the existing literature by uncovering the factors that influence patients’ choice of consultant and providing practical implications for doctors and system designers in ODCS.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiao Huang & Pu Sun & Xiaofei Zhang & Jiang Wu, 2024. "What affects patients’ choice of consultant: an empirical study of online doctor consultation service," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 2903-2925, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:elcore:v:24:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s10660-022-09617-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10660-022-09617-w
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