Mobile Information Systems Usage and Doctor-Patient Relationships: An Empirical Study in China

Xin Zhang, Liang Ma, Yanbo Ma, Xiao Yang
2021 Mobile Information Systems  
How to improve the doctor-patient relationship has been a continuing topic in academia and management and there have been several attempts to utilize online communications to facilitate healthcare. The application of information technology to create an "Internet + medical care" platform has upended the traditional medical service model in China. As an example of the application of the Internet by the healthcare system, this paper investigates a mobile online appointment system used by
more » ... Data on system use came from questionnaires submitted by 225 patients and analyzed by the structural equation model method. The results showed that patients perceived the hospital's online appointment system as an attempt at transparency to which they reacted positively. The patients' perception of transparency promoted trust in the hospital and the doctors and positively affected their feelings of satisfaction, which, of course, improved the doctor-patient relationship. Patients' perceptions of transparency, trust in the hospitals and doctors, and feelings of satisfaction played a partial mediator role between the availability of an online appointment system and better doctor-patient relationships. There were significant gender differences among patients in terms of their feelings of trust and satisfaction with the new appointment method and whether it really improved the doctor-patient relationship.
doi:10.1155/2021/6684448 doaj:4c1ce8a7fd5d46439275aba9d717342d fatcat:gvjdbmzpjjgmxa52wmhn3mxm64