Description
With data from a Chinese online medical platform where doctors can help and serve patients, the paper examines whether doctors’ active management of online channel attract more online patients. We also investigated the differentiated impact of online and offline quality indicators of doctors on patient acquisition online._x000D_ We found in our preliminary results that the offline quality indicators such as title and hospital affiliation are not as important as online quality indicators in terms of attracting patients on the platform. Doctors who actively manage their online involvement can attract more patients online while moderate the impact of offline quality indicators. The rating for bedside manner is rather important. The number of patient appreciation exhibit show strong positive impact. It seems that patients are paying more intention to online word-of-mouth and “soft” quality of doctors (bedside manner) rather than offline credentials. Online platforms seem to equalize the field for doctors._x000D_
Recommended Citation
Ge, Ling; Guo, Xitong; and Liu, Xiaoxiao, "Super Stars or Equalized Field: An Empirical Analysis of an Online Healthcare Platform" (2015). AMCIS 2015 Proceedings. 25.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2015/HealthIS/GeneralPresentations/25
Super Stars or Equalized Field: An Empirical Analysis of an Online Healthcare Platform
With data from a Chinese online medical platform where doctors can help and serve patients, the paper examines whether doctors’ active management of online channel attract more online patients. We also investigated the differentiated impact of online and offline quality indicators of doctors on patient acquisition online._x000D_ We found in our preliminary results that the offline quality indicators such as title and hospital affiliation are not as important as online quality indicators in terms of attracting patients on the platform. Doctors who actively manage their online involvement can attract more patients online while moderate the impact of offline quality indicators. The rating for bedside manner is rather important. The number of patient appreciation exhibit show strong positive impact. It seems that patients are paying more intention to online word-of-mouth and “soft” quality of doctors (bedside manner) rather than offline credentials. Online platforms seem to equalize the field for doctors._x000D_