Paper Type
Complete
Abstract
Spurred by the rapid adoption of telemedicine during the Covid-19 pandemic, physicians and patients have flocked to online platforms for the treatment of medical issues. Yet, we know little about how the various modes of communication between these transacting parties influence diagnostic accuracy. In this paper, we leverage a field experiment on a major health platform to examine how communication mode, be it text or text blended with voice messaging, affects diagnostic accuracy in asynchronous online medical consultations. Results indicate not only that text-only communication yields diminished accuracy, but these worsening outcomes accelerate as the case complexity rises and becomes the strongest when complex cases are handled by high-ranking physicians. Finally, analysis of the mechanisms underpinning these findings indicates that while text-only communication can promote structured reasoning, it also leads to reduced information seeking by physicians, with the latter dominating and leading to lower diagnostic accuracy. These findings offer theoretical insights as well as practical guidance for patients, physicians, and platform managers.
Paper Number
1957
Recommended Citation
Zhong, Zhaoyi; Wang, Shuting (Ada); Cao, Chengxin; Greenwood, Brad; and Wei, Hang, "Communication Mode and Asynchronous Care: The Effect of Text and Voice Messaging on Diagnostic Accuracy" (2026). AMCIS 2026 Proceedings. 37.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2026/conftheme/conftheme/37
Communication Mode and Asynchronous Care: The Effect of Text and Voice Messaging on Diagnostic Accuracy
Spurred by the rapid adoption of telemedicine during the Covid-19 pandemic, physicians and patients have flocked to online platforms for the treatment of medical issues. Yet, we know little about how the various modes of communication between these transacting parties influence diagnostic accuracy. In this paper, we leverage a field experiment on a major health platform to examine how communication mode, be it text or text blended with voice messaging, affects diagnostic accuracy in asynchronous online medical consultations. Results indicate not only that text-only communication yields diminished accuracy, but these worsening outcomes accelerate as the case complexity rises and becomes the strongest when complex cases are handled by high-ranking physicians. Finally, analysis of the mechanisms underpinning these findings indicates that while text-only communication can promote structured reasoning, it also leads to reduced information seeking by physicians, with the latter dominating and leading to lower diagnostic accuracy. These findings offer theoretical insights as well as practical guidance for patients, physicians, and platform managers.
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