Patients’ Preference For Internet Hospitals

Objective: To obtain Wuhan patients’ preference for Internet hospitals through a questionnaire survey.This study aims to study the influencing factors that affect Wuhan patients’ choice of Internet hospitals from the demand side and quantified the influence of each factor on their choice of Internet hospitals.Through this research,we hope to provide a reference for Wuhan to further clarify the demand of patients,and to provide superior Internet treatment services in public hospitals.Methods: The Discrete choice experiment(DCE)was used to obtain patients’ preferences for Internet hospitals.Through domestic and foreign literature analysis,which related to Internet hospitals and online medical choice preference,the influence factor related to the Internet hospital were sort out.Then through the expert consultation and the focus group discussion,10 factors affecting patients’ choice of Internet hospitals were summarized.Using the KANO model,these 10 related factors were ranked.Through the rank of demand coefficient,the 7 attributes of DCE were determined,including hospital grade、human services、doctor’s average rating、first response time after consultation、medical insurance reimbursement,page operation process,and drug delivery.DCE questionnaire was designed by efficient design module in Ngene.A total of 405 patients and family members were selected from Wuhan Central Hospital by a typical sampling method,of which 325 questionnaires were valid,with an effective rate of 80.25%.The mixed Logit model was used to analyze the data to understand patients’ preferences for Internet hospitals.Results:(1)Patients’ choice of Internet hospitals was influenced by many factors,hospital grade(β=0.4656,P <0.01)and medical insurance reimbursement(β=0.4658,P<0.01)had the most obvious influence on Wuhan patients’ choice of Internet hospitals.Drug delivery(β=0.1737,P <0.01)and page operation(β=0.0982,P <0.05)had the least influence on it.(2)Patients with different genders have similar preferences when choosing Internet hospitals.Hospital grade and medical insurance are still the biggest influencing factors for both men and women.The effect of medical insurance reimbursement on women(β=0.5299,P<0.01)was the greatest,which was much biger than that of men(β=0.3763,P<0.01),Women(β=0.3356,P<0.01)are more likely to choose hospitals with a short first response time after consultation than man(β=0.1493,P=0.015),while men(β=0.3185,P<0.01)are more likely to choose hospitals with human services than women(β=0.2566,P<0.01);(3)Whether the patients have online consultation experience has an impact on patients’ preference for Internet hospitals.For patients with online medical consultation experience,medical insurance reimbursement(β=0.4829,P<0.01)is the primary factor influencing their choice of Internet hospitals.The second is hospital grade(β=0.4527,P<0.01),page operation process has less impact of patients who have online consultation experience(β=0.1482,P<0.05),The influence factor of drug delivery is the least.(4)The awareness rate and participation rate of Internet hospitals among patients in Wuhan are low,more than half(53.53%)of the respondents had never used Internet hospitals,53 people(16.30 %)had never heard of Internet hospitals.Conclusion: To improve the utilization rate of Internet hospitals,the function of medical insurance reimbursement should be launched in time and the process of medical insurance reimbursement should be simplified.A reasonable evaluation system should be established to objectively and truly reflect the doctors’ medical services in multiple directions,and provide an accurate selection basis for patients.Drug supervision and distribution should be strengthened to ensure the continuity of drug use.We can make full use of Internet medical services,provide personalized services in service functions,and enhance the willingness of patients to use.Attention should be paid to publicity,resources should be concentrated on the development of Internet hospitals based on third-class hospitals,professionals should be equipped to solve the problems encountered by patients.Strengthening Internet hospital management and improving medical services.Paying attention to patients’ service requirements for Internet hospitals and improving their user experience.