Research On The Influence Of Internet Hospitals On The Choice Of Medical Institutions For Urban Residents

With the rising of per capita disposable income and health awareness,people’s demand for high-quality medical services is gradually increasing,leading to the fact that high-quality medical resources are mostly squeezed out by general medical needs in China.Nowadays,there is an imbalance in supply and demand structure of medical resources in China,which means the primary health care institutions have fewer patients,but high-level hospitals are overcrowded.In the era of digital health,the emergence of Internet hospitals can break the constraints of time and space.In theory,through online diagnosis and treatment,residents can clearly understand their own physical conditions at a lower cost,thereby optimizing the model for residents to choose medical institutions,which can realize the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment before going to physical hospitals.Besides,the prescription refill needs of chronic patients can be met through online follow-up.After online follow-up,the doctors can guide the patients with basic examinations needs to primary health care institutions,which can make full use of medical resources.So it is possible for Internet hospitals to find another way to alleviate the pressure of residents on "difficult and expensive medical treatment".However,due to the relatively short time for Internet hospitals to develop,their actual impact remains to be verified,that is,the net impact of the emergence of Internet hospitals on the choice of medical institutions for urban residents remains to be studied.Based on this,by sorting out relevant domestic and foreign literature,this paper first sorts out the basic concepts and influencing factors of the choice of medical institutions,as well as the development process and main operation mode of Internet hospitals.Then this paper further put forward research hypotheses based on the health service demand behavior theory and Anderson model.At the empirical level,based on the data of China Family Panel Studies(CFPS)in 2014,2016 and 2018,this paper uses the multi-period DID model to evaluate the impact of Internet hospitals on the choice of medical institutions for urban patients and its possible impact mechanism.Then this paper conducts heterogeneity analysis according to the chronic disease status and age levels.The empirical results show that the emergence of Internet hospitals can significantly improve patients’ understanding of their own health.After the emergence of Internet hospitals,the probability of residents going to high-grade hospitals for medical treatment dropped by 5.3 percentage points.At the same time,the impact has obvious heterogeneity,that is,the probability of people with chronic diseases and people under the age of 60 going to high-grade hospitals for medical treatment has dropped more.Therefore,in order to better play the role of Internet hospitals in the process of hierarchical diagnosis and treatment,this dissertation puts forward some countermeasures and suggestions from the government and hospitals sides:(1)Government departments need to further optimize the policy environment of Internet hospitals by strengthening access management,eliminating fuzzy borders of supervision,standardizing follow-up consultation requirements,optimizing cross-hospital information transmission,and breaking through medical insurance payment barriers.(2)The hospitals need to expand the coverage of the population by strengthening education for chronic patients and providing convenient services for the elderly,which can further realize the sinking of high-quality medical resources.