Investigating the effect of online and offline reputation on the provision of online counseling services: A case study of the Internet hospitals in China

Abstract

The sustainable development of Internet hospitals and e-health platforms relies on the participation of patients and physicians, especially on the provision of health counseling services by physicians. The objective of our study is to explore the factors motivating Chinese physicians to provide online health counseling services from the perspectives of their online and offline reputation. We collect the data of 141029 physicians from 6173 offline hospitals located in 350 cities in China. Based on the reputation theory and previous studies, we incorporate patients’ feedback as physicians’ online reputation and incorporate physicians’ offline professional status as physicians’ offline reputation. Results show that physicians’ online reputation significantly and positively influence their online counseling behaviors, whereas physicians’ offline reputation significantly and negatively influence their online counseling behaviors. We conclude that physician’s online and offline reputations show a competitive and substitute relationship rather than a complementary relationship in influencing physicians to provide online counseling services in Internet hospitals. One possible explanation for the substitute relationship could be the constraints of limited time and effort of physicians.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Internet hospitals / physicians’ online counseling / online reputation / offline reputation

References

[1] Ameri,F Keeling,K Salehnejad,R ( 2020). You get what you pay for on health care question and answer platforms: Nonparticipant observational study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22( 1): e13534

[2] Anand,S Fan,V Y Zhang,J Zhang,L Ke,Y Dong,Z Chen,L C ( 2008). China’s human resources for health: Quantity, quality, and distribution. Lancet, 372( 9651): 1774– 1781

[3] Atanasova,S Kamin,T PetričG ( 2017). Exploring the benefits and challenges of health professionals’ participation in online health communities: Emergence of (dis)empowerment processes and outcomes. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 98: 13– 21

[4] Cao,X Bai,G Cao,C Zhou,Y Xiong,X Huang,J Luo,L ( 2020). Comparing regional distribution equity among doctors in China before and after the 2009 Medical Reform Policy: A data analysis from 2002 to 2017. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17( 5): 1520

[5] CentralIntelligence Agency (CIA) (2019). The World Factbook

[6] Chang,H H Chuang,S S ( 2011). Social capital and individual motivations on knowledge sharing: Participant involvement as a moderator. Information & Management, 48( 1): 9– 18

[7] Chen,J Lan,Y C Chang,Y W Chang,P Y ( 2020). Exploring doctors’ willingness to provide online counseling services: The roles of motivations and costs. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17( 1): 110

[8] Deng,Z Hong,Z Zhang,W Evans,R Chen,Y ( 2019). The effect of online effort and reputation of physicians on patients’ choice: 3-wave data analysis of China’s Good Doctor Website. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21( 3): e10170

[9] Duan,W Gu,B Whinston,A ( 2008). Do online reviews matter? An empirical investigation of panel data. Decision Support Systems, 45( 4): 1007– 1016

[10] Gao,G G Greenwood,B N Agarwal,R McCullough,J S ( 2015). Vocal minority and silent majority: How do online ratings reflect population perceptions of quality. Management Information Systems Quarterly, 39( 3): 565– 589

[11] Goh,J M Gao,G G Agarwal,R ( 2016). The creation of social value: Can an online health community reduce rural-urban health disparities?. Management Information Systems Quarterly, 40( 1): 247– 263

[12] Gong,K Xu,Z Cai,Z Chen,Y Wang,Z ( 2020). Internet hospitals help prevent and control the epidemic of COVID-19 in China: Multicenter user profiling study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22( 4): e18908

[13] Guo,S Guo,X Fang,Y Vogel,D ( 2017). How doctors gain social and economic returns in online health-care communities: A professional capital perspective. Journal of Management Information Systems, 34( 2): 487– 519

[14] Han,X Li,B Zhang,T Qu,J ( 2020a). Factors associated with the actual behavior and intention of rating physicians on physician rating websites: Cross-sectional study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22( 6): e14417

[15] Han,Y Lie,R K Guo,R ( 2020b). The Internet hospital as a telehealth model in China: Systematic search and content analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22( 7): e17995

[16] HangzhouDaily ( 2019). The Zhejiang Province Internet Hospital has gone live (in Chinese)

[17] Huang,K Y Chengalur-Smith,I S Pinsonneault,A ( 2019). Sharing is caring: Social support provision and companionship activities in healthcare virtual support communities. Management Information Systems Quarterly, 43( 2): 395– 423

[18] iResearch ( 2017). 2017 Investigation report on the survival status of Chinese doctors (in Chinese)

[19] Jabeen,F Hamid,Z Akhunzada,A Abdul,W Ghouzali,S ( 2018). Trust and reputation management in healthcare systems: Taxonomy, requirements and open issues. IEEE Access, 6: 17246– 17263

[20] Jøsang,A ( 2008). Online reputation systems for the health sector. Electronic Journal of Health Informatics, 3( 1): e8

[21] Jøsang,A Ismail,R Boyd,C ( 2007). A survey of trust and reputation systems for online service provision. Decision Support Systems, 43( 2): 618– 644

[22] Kreps,D M Wilson,R ( 1982). Reputation and imperfect information. Journal of Economic Theory, 27( 2): 253– 279

[23] Lagu,T Hannon,N S Rothberg,M B Lindenauer,P K ( 2010). Patients’ evaluations of health care providers in the era of social networking: An analysis of physician-rating websites. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25( 9): 942– 946

[24] Leng,A Jing,J Nicholas,S Wang,J ( 2019). Geographical disparities in treatment and health care costs for end-of-life cancer patients in China: A retrospective study. BMC Cancer, 19( 1): 39

[25] Li,D Hu,Y Pfaff,H Wang,L Deng,L Lu,C Xia,S Cheng,S Zhu,X Wu,X ( 2020a). Determinants of patients’ intention to use the online inquiry services provided by Internet hospitals: Empirical evidence from China. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22( 10): e22716

[26] Li,J Tang,J Jiang,L Yen,D C Liu,X ( 2019). Economic success of physicians in the online consultation market: A signaling theory perspective. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 23( 2): 244– 271

[27] Li,L Liu,G Xu,W Zhang,Y He,M ( 2020b). Effects of Internet hospital consultations on psychological burdens and disease knowledge during the early outbreak of COVID-19: Cross-sectional survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22( 8): e19551

[28] Li,P Luo,Y Yu,X Wen,J Mason,E Li,W Jalali,M S ( 2020c). Patients’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators to the adoption of E-Hospitals: Cross-sectional study in Western China. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22( 6): e17221

[29] Lin,H C Chang,C M ( 2018). What motivates health information exchange in social media? The roles of the social cognitive theory and perceived interactivity. Information & Management, 55( 6): 771– 780

[30] Liu,W Liu,Y Twum,P Li,S ( 2016a). National equity of health resource allocation in China: Data from 2009 to 2013. International Journal for Equity in Health, 15( 1): 68

[31] Liu,X Guo,X Wu,H Wu,T ( 2016b). The impact of individual and organizational reputation on physicians’ appointments online. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 20( 4): 551– 577

[32] Luo,P Chen,K Wu,C Li,Y ( 2018). Exploring the social influence of multichannel access in an online health community. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 69( 1): 98– 109

[33] Lv,Q Jiang,Y Qi,J Zhang,Y Zhang,X Fang,L Tu,L Yang,M Liao,Z Zhao,M Guo,X Qiu,M Gu,J Lin,Z ( 2019). Using mobile Apps for health management: A new health care mode in China. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7( 6): e10299

[34] MaoY M CheJ L ( 2019). 2019 City Business Charm Ranking. YiMagazine, 2019–05–20 (in Chinese)

[35] Michtalik,H J Pronovost,P J Marsteller,J A Spetz,J Brotman,D J ( 2013). Identifying potential predictors of a safe attending physician workload: A survey of hospitalists. Journal of Hospital Medicine, 8( 11): 644– 646

[36] National Health Commission ofPRC ( 2009). A Notice Regarding Physicians Practicing (in Chinese)

[37] National Health Commission ofPRC ( 2011). Interim Measures for Hospital Accreditation (in Chinese)

[38] Robin DiMatteo,M Prince,L M Taranta,A ( 1979). Patients’ percentions of physicians’ behavior: Determinants of patient commitment to the therapeutic relationship. Journal of Community Health, 4( 4): 280– 290

[39] Rothberg,M B Morsi,E Benjamin,E M Pekow,P S Lindenauer,P K ( 2008). Choosing the best hospital: The limitations of public quality reporting. Health Affairs, 27( 6): 1680– 1687

[40] Shmueli,G Koppius,O R ( 2011). Predictive analytics in information systems research. Management Information Systems Quarterly, 35( 3): 553– 572

[41] Tang,Y Yang,Y T Shao,Y F ( 2019). Acceptance of online medical websites: An empirical study in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16( 6): 943

[42] Tu,J Wang,C Wu,S ( 2015). The Internet hospital: An emerging innovation in China. The Lancet: Global Health, 3( 8): e445– e446

[43] TuckerP BrownM DahlgrenA DaviesG EbdenP FolkardS HutchingsH ÅkerstedtT ( 2010). The impact of junior doctors’ worktime arrangements on their fatigue and well-being. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 36( 6): 458– 465

[44] Wang,Y Wu,H Xia,C Lu,N ( 2020). Impact of the price of gifts from patients on physicians’ service quality in online consultations: Empirical study based on social exchange theory. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22( 5): e15685

[45] Wu,H Lu,N ( 2016). How your colleagues’ reputation impact your patients’ odds of posting experiences: Evidence from an online health community. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 16: 7– 17

[46] Wu,H Lu,N ( 2017). Online written consultation, telephone consultation and offline appointment: An examination of the channel effect in online health communities. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 107: 107– 119

[47] Yan,Z Wang,T Chen,Y Zhang,H ( 2016). Knowledge sharing in online health communities: A social exchange theory perspective. Information & Management, 53( 5): 643– 653

[48] Yang,H Du,H S He,W Qiao,H ( 2021). Understanding the motivators affecting doctors’ contributions in online healthcare communities: Professional status as a moderator. Behaviour and Information Technology, 40( 2): 146– 160

[49] Yang,H Zhang,X ( 2019). Investigating the effect of paid and free feedback on patients’ and physicians’ behaviors: Panel data analysis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21( 3): e12156

[50] Yang,S ( 2015). Understanding personal online reputation management: A grounded theory study. In: Proceedings of 19th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2015). Singapore: Association for Information Systems, 66:

[51] Ye,Y Zhao,Y Shang,J Zhang,L ( 2019). A hybrid IT framework for identifying high-quality physicians using big data analytics. International Journal of Information Management, 47: 65– 75

[52] Yu,H Y Chen,J J Wang,J N Chiu,Y L Qiu,H Wang,L Y ( 2019). Identification of the differential effect of city-level on the Gini coefficient of health service delivery in online health community. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16( 13): 2314

[53] Zhang,X Guo,F Xu,T Li,Y ( 2020). What motivates physicians to share free health information on online health platforms?. Information Processing & Management, 57( 2): 102166

[54] Zhang,X Liu,S Deng,Z Chen,X ( 2017). Knowledge sharing motivations in online health communities: A comparative study of health professionals and normal users. Computers in Human Behavior, 75: 797– 810

[55] Zhu,B Hsieh,C W Mao,Y ( 2020). Spatio-temporal variations of licensed doctor distribution in China: Measuring and mapping disparities. BMC Health Services Research, 20( 1): 159

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press 2022